http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2013/07/fascinating-jobs-in-the-state-of-california-seed-botanist.html  

CDFA Associate Seed Botanist Robert Price

This is the second installment in our (Sacramento Bee) series on California state employees whose jobs don’t immediately come to mind when you think of government work.

Name: Robert Price

Job Title: Associate seed botanist, Department of Food and Agriculture

Number of years working with state: Four

What does a typical week in the life of a seed botanist look like?

“All sorts of things come to our offices (via the mail). Basically, we are sitting at our microscopes. The people who have my job are looking for seed purity, looking at seed and plant material to see what is there and analyzing them according the state and federal law. We do both standard kinds of samples, to see that labels are accurate in the state of California, or we do things for companies, certificates for export. … Farmers ask us to do specific tests on types of products. … It is very diverse. That is one of the fun aspects of the job, you never know what will happen on any given day of the week.”

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What is the most extraordinary or interesting thing that has happened while you were on the job?
“People sometimes try to ship in various types of fruits and vegetables that they have not declared in customs. They have dog teams that look for vegetable matter that is not declared. Particularly, they are looking for insects that could damage the state’s agriculture (and) we just get all sorts of strange things that we try to figure out what they are. … (We had) this big shipment of poppy seeds that was flagged by the border agency. They (poppy seeds) have to be non-living for commerce in the United States, but the ones we found were all alive. We were not sure what someone was intending to do with them.”

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How did you come to be a seed botanist?
“Friends of mine told me that were was an opening in the Department of Agriculture. I have a broad background in botany. I’ve been a university teacher and I have been a scientific editor and it just seemed like a really interesting job to do.”

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Is there anything you want people to know about your job?
“It’s a very rewarding job to know that we are protecting the field of agriculture in California, which is a billion-dollar industry. We especially … try to prevent (invasive species) from getting established because they are very hard and offensive to get rid of, so if we can, we keep them out in the first place.”

Over the years, numerous research projects have investigated different aspects of fertilizer management for crops grown in California. In many cases, however, a comprehensive , current, research-based overview of fertilizer management is missing.

In an effort to address this, FREP is working collaboratively with researchers at UC Davis to make this  information accessible in a user-friendly way. This project aims to synthesize information from peer-reviewed journal articles and research reports, and to make these summaries available online.

This joint effort has resulted in a series of interactive fertilization guidelines for major crops grown in California that present accurate, timely, efficient and effective crop nutrient information in a user-friendly, visually interactive interface. The guidelines include information about application rates, time of application, fertilizer placement and types of fertilizers. In addition, deficiency symptoms are described and the use of soil and plant tissue analysis is discussed.

An initial ten priority crops were identified by considering acreage and nitrate sensitivity of the area in which they are grown. Guidelines for almonds, processing tomatoes, broccoli, and lettuce are already available online. The remaining guidelines will be uploaded to the web page on a flow basis.

Developed by Dr. Daniel Geisseler, a post-doctoral researcher at UC Davis, the guidelines provide an overview of the fertilization management of these crops. However, they are not thought of as a replacement for in-depth discussions with local farm advisors or fertilization experts about site-specific adjustments based on soil type, climate and crop management.

The guidelines complement the searchable, web-based database of FREP-funded research  introduced last year. Over the past 20 years, CDFA’s Fertilizer Research and Education Program (FREP) has funded over $12 million dollars worth of scientific research on the environmentally safe and agronomically sound use of fertilizing materials.  Summaries of completed FREP research projects can now be accessed through the database.

These initiatives are part of a larger departmental effort to bring practical solutions that aid growers in enhancing on-farm environmental stewardship practices and effectively using agricultural inputs. Balancing agricultural inputs with the output of food and fiber production to supply a growing global population is an important part of farming in California.

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=13-021

The California State Board of Food and Agriculture will address the issue of hunger in the San Joaquin Valley at its upcoming meeting on August 6th in Fresno. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at California State University, Fresno – Satellite Student Union, 2485 E. San Ramon, Fresno, CA 93740.

“The San Joaquin Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the nation and yet we have a number of individuals in these communities who do not know where their next meal is coming from,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Bringing together the agricultural community with local food banks, faith based organizations and other stakeholders, is an important step in addressing food insecurity in the Valley.”

 In 2012, the University of California, Los Angeles – Center for Health Policy Research identified that approximately 3.8 million individuals were food-insecure within California. This report also identified the San Joaquin Valley as having one of the highest rates of food insecurity within the state. This meeting will provide an overview of successful farm-to-food bank programs occurring in other areas of the state and provide a forum for local stakeholders to discuss potential initiatives at the local level.

Invited speakers include: Lori Silverbush, director of the documentary A Place at the Table; Sarah Reyes, California Endowment; Genoveva Islas-Hooker, California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley; Lindsay Coate, Ag Against Hunger; Christy Porter, Hidden Harvest; and Gail Gray, California Association of Food Banks. Additional speakers will include California farmers and ranchers as well as representatives from local farm bureaus, food banks, faith based communities, and other community stakeholders.

“Over the last three years the state board has worked to double farm contributions to food banks,” said Craig McNamara, president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. “Hunger in the San Joaquin Valley, and all of California, is an issue we need to address and farmers can play an important role by working with their local food banks.”

The California State Board of Food and Agriculture advises the governor and the CDFA secretary on agricultural issues and consumer needs. The state board conducts forums that bring together local, state and federal government officials, agricultural representative and citizens to discuss current issues of concern to California agriculture.

Follow the board on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/Cafood_agboard

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=13-022

A portion of Tulare County has been placed under quarantine for the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) following the detection of psyllids at three locations in the Porterville area.

The quarantine zone measures 178 square miles, bordered on the north by an area near Blue Ridge Drive and Campbell Creek Drive; on the west by an area near State Highway 190 and Coyote Dr.; on the south by Avenue 68 near State Highway 65; and on the west by an area near Avenue 104 and Road 192. A link to a map may be found at: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/maps/quarantine/3435ACP_Tulare_20130730.pdf

The quarantine prohibits the movement of host nursery stock out of the quarantine area and requires that all citrus fruit be cleaned of leaves and stems prior to moving out of the area. An exception may be made for nursery stock and budwood grown in USDA-approved structures designed to keep ACP out. Residents with backyard citrus trees in the quarantine area are asked to not remove fruit from the area.

In addition to Tulare County, ACP quarantines are now in place in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Imperial, Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. A total of more than 45-thousand square miles are under quarantine.

The ACP is of grave concern because it can carry the disease huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening. All citrus and closely related species are susceptible hosts for both the insect and the disease. There is no cure once a tree becomes infected. The diseased tree will decline in health until it dies. HLB has been detected just once in California – last year on a single residential property in Hacienda Heights, Los Angeles County.

Residents in the area who think they may have seen the Asian citrus psyllid are urged to call CDFA’s Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899. For more information on the Asian citrus psyllid and huanglongbing disease please visit: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/index.html

One of the programs at the just-completed California State Fair was a youth media project, which provided young people with an opportunity to work under the mentorship of video professionals. Together, they promoted the State Fair through a series of pieces posted on the fair’s web site. Among the vignettes is this one on the Junior Poultry Competition.

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=13-020&print=yes

http://www.modbee.com/2013/07/26/2829199/local-ag-has-room-to-grow-chief.html

The state’s top ag official talked over lunch this week with the Modesto Rotary Club.

Her topic: the importance of lunch — not to mention breakfast and dinner — to the health of people around the world.

Karen Ross, secretary of food and agriculture for Gov. Jerry Brown, noted the growth in California farm exports during her remarks at the DoubleTree Hotel.

She also cited the growing interest among Americans in how their food is produced, something they can learn about at produce stands, farmers markets, festivals and other venues.

“We are in a time and a place when consumers here and across the country are yearning to reconnect with their food,” Ross said.

She said agriculture is considered by some to be a “legacy” industry that the state is moving beyond, but nothing could be further from the truth. Gross farm income statewide went from $38.5 billion in 2010 to $43.5 billion in 2011, according to statisticians in her department.

(A few hours earlier, the 2012 figure for Stanislaus County was announced — a record $3.28 billion.)

The secretary talked of efforts by schools to improve the nutritional value of what students eat — and in some cases to source the meals from local farms as much as possible.

She singled out the Manteca Unified School District, where the leadership believes that kids who eat well score well on tests.

The state’s farmers can help the estimated 4 million Californians without access to enough healthy food, Ross said. And they can do the same with “the 220,000 new mouths” born each day around the world.

Ross said China now has about 300 million middle-class people — close to the entire U.S. population — and food imports from California are growing fast. She cited almonds, walnuts, dairy products, wine and a few other products.

“When a family has more discretionary income, what do they want to do? They want to feed their family better,” she said.

Ross listed challenges for the state’s farmers, such as strained water supplies, development threats to farmland and a changing climate. But she also noted its strengths, such as technology, academic institutions and a reputation for consistent quality and safety.

“The desire for California agricultural products is off the charts,” Ross said.

She directed the crowd to a new series of videos at www.cdfa.ca.gov that highlight farm products.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/explainer/2013/07/california_

grows_all_of_our_fruits_and_vegetables_what_would_we_eat_without.html

By Brian Palmer

On The Today Show this morning (July 25), NBC News correspondent Jane Pauley reported on the Giacomini sisters of Marin County, who have returned to the family dairy farm in Point Reyes and are emerging as a leading producer of artisan cheese.

This video content is no longer available.