Researchers at UC Merced, led by water resources management professor Dr. Josue Medellin-Azuara, have estimated direct agricultural losses due to drought total $3 billion over the last two years — $1.7 billion this year and $1.3 billion in 2021. As many as 752,000 acres of farmland could be fallowed this year because of water shortages, which could amount to a total of 2.6 million acre-feet.
The research project–funded by CDFA–reports that California is in the midst of one of the hottest, driest three-year periods on record, and it also shows extensive losses in the food processing sector, with estimates reaching nearly $6 billion in 2021 and 2022, and more than 12,000 lost jobs.
CDFA Undersecretary Christine Birdsong with Paul Towers, executive director of Community Alliance with Family Farmers (middle) and U.S. Congressman Jim Costa.
When CDFA Undersecretary Christine Birdsong recently toured Yo’Ville Community Garden and Farm in Fresno, a resident-led community garden that also serves as an incubator farm, a large plot brimmed with marigold flowers being grown by historically underserved farmers.
Marigolds (cempasúchil in Spanish) feature in traditional Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations, which begin today and continue through November 2.
The occasion features decorated altars resplendent with offerings ranging from photographs of the dead to candles, keepsakes, favorite foods and drinks, and yes, marigolds.
Marigolds also hold spiritual significance in Hinduism for many of our farmers and food processing workers in places like Bakersfield, Patterson and throughout the valley, and the flowers were utilized in recent traditional Diwali observations.
“It was wonderful to see the cultural connections at Yo’Ville Community Garden, with agriculture tied to these significant holidays,” said Undersecretary Birdsong. “Our farmers and workers have personal connections to these occasions, and you can see the importance of growing these flowers for our local communities in the Central Valley.”
The Central Valley received $30 million for F3 in the 2021-2022 California State Budget, money that will be utilized to establish a Climate-Smart Agrifood Technology and Engineering Cluster while also serving the area’s approximately 4,500 historically underserved farmers, in addition to assisting workers with training to help meet agriculture’s future in technology.
And if that also means more marigolds, well, so much the better — along with the seemingly endless variety of culturally important foods, flowers, herbs, plants and other agricultural commodities that are planted and harvested in our state every day.
Top photo — Deputy Secretary Kevin Masuhara is bid farewell at a retirement reception by his successor, Arima Kozina. Bottom photo — Masuhara with, from left, USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt, CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, and CDFA Deputy Secretary Rachael O’Brien.
Today is the last day of state service for CDFA Deputy Secretary for Administration and Finance Kevin Masuhara, who is retiring after 16 years at the agency.
Masuhara has also served as CDFA’s Director of Marketing Services and as the County/State Liaison, a position that works directly with California’s agriculture commissioners and sealers of weights and measures.
As deputy secretary, Masuhara provided crucial leadership during the COVID-19 crisis, when the agency pivoted to a new workforce paradigm, first remote and then hybrid — and he has helped lead CDFA forward on equity initiatives both inside the department and among stakeholders seeking to participate in agency programs. In addition, he has guided CDFA through the booms and busts of fiscal cycles, and positioned the agency to strengthen its commitments to to leadership development, upward mobility, and succession planning.
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross: “We wish Kevin all the best in retirement but he will definitely be deeply missed. He has contributed significantly to the operations of the agency through leadership development, process improvement, emergency preparedness, and equity advancement; and as a farmer himself, he has been a tireless advocate for California’s farmers and ranchers and through his administrative leadership.”
(Top) CDFA Undersecretary Christine Birdsong speaks to those in attendance. (Bottom right) Birdsong pauses for a group photo of CDFA, USDA and CDE officials attending the event, including USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffit (left) and CDE Food and Nutrition Services Director Kim Frinzell (right). (Middle left) Birdsong and CDFA Special Advisor for Climate, Water and Drought Kayla Ungar enjoy a tour of the Waggoner Elementary School garden led by students after yesterday’s announcement. (Bottom left) A Waggoner Elementary School students describes a school garden sign, “Saving Water in the Garden,” which is one of the signs in the school garden funded through a grant from CDFA’s 2021 Farm to School Incubator Grant Program.
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Undersecretary Christine Birdsong spoke at an event yesterday held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service at Waggoner Elementary School in Winters to announce the award of more than $23 million through the Local Foods for School Cooperative Agreement Program. The funds will allow the California Department of Education to purchase and distribute local and regional foods and beverages for schools to serve children through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
“CDFA is proud to be here today in partnership with USDA and the California Department of Education to help more students develop lifelong relationships with healthy food, area farmers and local, resilient food systems,” Birdsong said. “This aligns perfectly with the partnership our CDFA Farm to School Program enjoys with school leaders statewide to promote more farm to school activities, school gardens and integrated, food-based education for California students.”
Yesterday’s announcement was made by USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt, who served previously as CDFA’s undersecretary.
“This cooperative agreement supporting California schools is another example of how USDA is working to build a more resilient food system rooted in local and regional production,” Lester Moffitt said. “The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program provides an opportunity for states to strengthen ties between local farmers, ranchers, food businesses and schools, and gives students access to nutritious foods unique to the area they live in, building stronger connections across local communities.”
Santiago Elementary School in Lake Forest (Orange County) is growing the next generation of water-wise Californians by encouraging students to recycle clean water for its school garden. In an Instagram post about the project the school asked, “Do you pour water from school down the drain each evening? When we see alternatives to the kitchen sink, there are lots of great ways to reuse our clean water – like giving it to plants!” CDFA applauds such forward thinking, in step with California agriculture’s water-wise practices, which have helped farmers and ranchers produce 38 percent more food with 14 percent less water over a 35-year period.
For more water-saving tips and ideas like this one, visit California’s Save Our Water website. And for more about what CDFA is doing to support the health and well-being of California students through food-based education and access to healthy foods, visit our Farm to School Program page.
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross (left) joins California Congressman Jimmy Panetta (second from left), Frank Yiannas, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response (right), Tim York, California Leafy Greens Market Agreement (LGMA) CEO (second from right), and others in a Salinas field this morning to discuss collaborative efforts at the farmer, industry, state and federal levels to promote food safety during this year’s leafy greens harvest and beyond. LGMA organized the tour with industry members both in the field and in processing facilities, and partners who hosted roundtables included the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California and the Monterey County Farm Bureau.
California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross toured the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties in Fairfield today. Joel Sjostrom (foreground), the food bank’s president and CEO, invited Secretary to get a closer look at their new warehouse facility – the largest expansion in their history – featuring a brand new, 104,000 sq. ft. building. Sjoestrom conducted the tour along with Operations Director Hisham Hamdy (second from right) and Steve Brazeel (left), founder of SunTerra Produce, a longtime donor. They have just completed work on the 8600 sq. ft. cold box (704 pallet positions) that will enable them to triple their produce, dairy, and protein inventory. The site serves half a million clients a month between the two counties as well as 16 other counties across Northern California.
Food Bank Operations Director Hisham Hamdy talks distribution with Secretary Ross
The future workforce on Valley farms will include more robots to plant, pick and weed.
The FIRA conference at the Fresno Convention Center features creations like The Amiga by Farm-ng, which offers different applications from towing to seeding.
“It’s really interesting when we bring this to a farmer and they say, ‘Oh, that’s so practical and they just start thinking of all these ideas like this compost spreader,” says CEO Ethan Rublee. “A farmer saw our base platform and said, ‘I want to spread compost with a machine.'”
What happens downtown could have a big impact on the direction the ag industry takes when it comes to automation.
Companies, scientists and visitors from 26 countries are here.
Weeding robots have drawn attention from farmers dealing with labor shortages.
“We’re really glad to see the weeding progress because we feel like that’s the first place the dam’s going to break open,” says Western Growers VP of Innovation Walt Duflock. “That’s the first place the market’s going to say okay, we can really do this at scale.”
Harvest automation has come a long way. Two companies have developed robots, which are picking apples in Washington
“There are two different ways,” says Jeff Cleveringa with the Starr Ranch Group. “One is using a small suction to grab the apple, then spin it and take it back, and then the other is a finger system, so they actually grab the apple and take it back.”
The sight of robots on the farm might worry workers who fear for their job, but Hernan Hernandez of the California Farmworker Foundation says that shouldn’t be the case.
“All of a sudden, you go from 100 individuals that are going to be able to harvest this season to now 10 that will harvest with a machine,” he said. “But the way we look at it is as well, when we talk to farmworkers and engage them, and we look at data, there is also opportunity. We know a lot of the farmworkers want opportunities to further their skill sets.”
During National Farm to School Month, CDFA continues to recognize and thank partners across California helping to improve the wellbeing of students through food-based education and equitable access to healthy food. One such partner is the McFarland Unified School District in Kern County, which is a grantee of the CDFA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program.
In 2021, the school district received funding to provide a healthy food curriculum to all students, exploring where their food comes from and how to make healthy choices. The funding also will help high school Ag Farm students learn how to produce and process almonds through an 80-acre Crop Science Field lab.
The school district is providing field instruction through a strong partnership with the McFarland chapter of Future Farmers of America (FFA). This partnership was recently featured in the PBS series “American Grown: My Job Depends on Ag.” The video highlights how important FFA and ag programs are for helping students gain insight for careers in agriculture.
