Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Help Socially-Disadvantaged Producers

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting applications to provide technical assistance to socially-disadvantaged groups in rural areas.

“These grants will help socially-disadvantaged business owners develop the tools and skills they need to grow their enterprises and succeed at creating jobs and expanding economic opportunities in rural areas,” Vilsack said. “American agriculture is becoming increasingly diverse in many ways, with more minorities and women seeking to enter the field, as well as greater diversity in the age of farmers, the size of operations, in production methods, and in the types of crops being grown. All of these forms of diversity help strengthen U.S. agriculture for the future.”

Funding will be made available through USDA’s Socially-Disadvantaged Groups Grant Program (formerly the Small, Socially-Disadvantaged Producer Grant Program), which assists organizations that provide technical assistance to socially-disadvantaged groups in rural areas. Examples of technical assistance are conducting feasibility studies, developing business and strategic plans, and providing leadership training.

USDA plans to make up to $3 million in grants available. The maximum award under this notice is $175,000. More information on how to apply can be found on page 28937 of the May 20 Federal Register. Applications submitted by mail must be postmarked by July 20, 2015. Electronic applications must be submitted atwww.grants.gov no later than midnight Eastern Time July 14, 2015.

Eligible applicants include groups of cooperatives, cooperative development centers and individual cooperatives that serve socially-disadvantaged groups. The cooperatives or centers can be located in any area, but the groups assisted must be located in an eligible rural area. Also, the majority of the governing body of the organization must be compromised of individuals who are members of socially-disadvantaged groups.

USDA Rural Development is encouraging applications for projects in census tracts with poverty rates of 20 percent or higher. All grants are awarded through a national competition.

The program is making a difference in many rural areas. For example, in 2013, the Southern California Focus on Cooperation (SCFC) received a $200,000 Small, Socially-Disadvantaged Producer Grant to provide technical assistance to help 95 refugee immigrant and minority farmers improve their productive capacity, increase revenue, and strengthen their ability to govern and manage their cooperative businesses.

Many of the farmers benefiting from the project had little or no access to formal schooling and had been persecuted and oppressed for years in their native land. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), in concert with SCFC, developed marketing channels including various farmers markets and restaurants where the refugee farmers could sell their produce. Farmers have learned how to manage these marketing channels themselves, without assistance from IRC, and have gained new clients. They have also increased the level of cooperation among Hispanic, Korean and African farmer groups. These groups are working toward merging their efforts to form a single cooperative. The technical assistance provided by SCFC has enabled these farmers to build skills that have truly been life changing.

Link to news release

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USDA seeks input from growers about 2015 crops, stocks, inventories and values

talley

During the next several weeks, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural Survey and the June Area Survey. The agency will survey more than 2,600 operations across California and Nevada to determine crop production and supply levels in 2015.

“Due to the widespread impact of its results, the June Agricultural Survey, also known as the Crops/Stocks Survey, and the June Area Survey, are two of the most significant surveys NASS conducts,” explained Vic Tolomeo, director of the NASS Pacific Regional Field Office. “Information growers provide serves as the first clear sign of the prospective production and supply of major commodities in the United States for the 2015 crop year.”

NASS gathers the data for the June Agriculture Survey online, by mail and/or by phone. For the June Area Survey, agency representatives will visit randomly selected tracts of land and interview the operators of any farm or ranch on that land. Growers will provide information on crop acreage – including biotech crops—as well as grain stocks, livestock inventory, cash rents, land values, and value of sales.

NASS will compile and analyze the survey information and publish the results in a series of USDA reports, including the annual Acreage report and quarterly Grain Stocks report, both to be released June 30, 2015. Survey data contribute to NASS’s monthly and annual Crop Production reports, as well as the annual Small Grains Summary and USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.

As with all NASS surveys, information provided by respondents is kept strictly confidential, as required by federal law.

“NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state and national-level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified,” stated Tolomeo. “We recognize this is a hectic time for farmers and ranchers, but the information they provide is essential to everyone involved in U.S. agriculture. I urge them to respond to these surveys and thank them for their cooperation,” said Tolomeo.

All reports are available on the NASS website: www.nass.usda.gov. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Pacific Regional Field Office at 1-800-851-1127.

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Say hello to the dementor wasp; it turns cockroaches into zombies – from the Washington Post

Ampulex dementor, the "zombie wasp."

Ampulex dementor, the “zombie wasp.”

By Elahe Izadi

Add this to my nightmare list: A creature that turns prey into a zombie, then eats it alive.

That’s pretty much the M.O. of Ampulex dementor, a wasp named after the mythical “Harry Potter” creatures that suck souls with abandon. Dementor wasps inject venom into cockroach prey, right in the belly, rendering it a “passive zombie,” according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund. The report details 139 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong region during 2014.

“Cockroach wasp venom blocks receptors of the neurotransmitter octopamine, which is involved in the initiation of spontaneous movement,” according to the report. “With this blocked, the cockroach is still capable of movement, but is unable to direct its own body. Once the cockroach has lost control, the wasp drags its stupefied prey by the antennae to a safe shelter to devour it.”

The red-and-black wasp is only known to live in Thailand. It has marked wings and “belongs to an ant-mimicking group of species with attractive coloration and rather bizarre habitus and probably also behavior,” authors write in a 2014 research article published in PLoS One.

The Museum für Naturkunde, a natural history museum in Berlin, asked 300 visitors to pick the wasp’s name from among four options: “Bicolor,” after its red-black pattern; “Mon,” after a local ethnic group where the wasp lives; “Plagiator,” since it mimics, or “plagiarizes,” ants; and “Dementor,” described to visitors as “magical beings, which can consume a person’s soul, leaving their victims as an empty but functional body without personality and emotions.”

Link to article

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Citrus trees may ‘eat their spinach’ to ward off huanglongbing – from AgProfessional.com

Oranges-spinach

In a landmark step in the fight against citrus greening disease, also known as hunaglongbing (HLB), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved an application from Southern Gardens Citrus of Florida for an Experimental Use Permit under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. This allows researchers to move forward in the development of the possible use of a spinach protein to help control this devastating disease.

Ricke Kress, president of Southern Gardens, said this latest development is a milestone in efforts to fight off HLB.

“A final solution to eliminating this disease may still take some years,” Kress said, “but the latest EPA action and continuation of all research projects are major steps in the right direction.”

Research conducted by Dr. Erik Mirkov, a plant pathologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco, resulted in the production of proteins that appear to provide effective control of citrus greening disease.

“Citrus greening is a bacterial disease that affects the vascular system of the tree,” Dr. Mirkov said. “It basically shuts off the tree’s ability to take up and use water and nutrients, causing the tree to die. We were able to improve the transgenic trees by having the genes express themselves in the vascular system.”

HLB is the most serious citrus disease in the world. It was first identified and confirmed in Florida in 2005. HLB is now found in every Florida county where citrus is grown commercially. There are no successful control programs yet available for this disease. (NOTE – HLB has been detected just once in California, at a residential property in Los Angeles County in 2012)

Consistent with the conditions established by EPA, researchers may now move forward with field tests to evaluate the efficacy of the spinach protein against HLB in citrus plant tissues and continue generating the environmental, health and safety data that are required under federal law to support a fully registered product for commercial use.

Link to article

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Drought relief program offers training for impacted workers

CA ETP Brochure Covers

The California Drought Employment Training Program provides 12 different training opportunities, each requiring roughly 250 hours for completion, to workers, employers and students impacted by the drought.

Training programs include Irrigation Technicians, Logistics Technicians, Industrial Maintenance Technicians, Water Treatment Operators, Forklift and Warehouse Technicians, Food Safety Technicians, Qualified Applicators License, and Manufacturing Production Technologists.

The program is funded through an interagency agreement between the Employment Training Panel (ETP) and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), using General Funds made available by the State Legislature. The project was developed based on recommendations by the ETP Drought Subcommittee.

Training programs will be provided to a variety of individuals who certify that their employment has been affected by the drought, such as those who are unemployed, laid off, under-employed, incumbent, or from low-socioeconomic groups.

Training programs have begun and will run through Spring 2016. Details online here.

The brochures (pictured above) are available on this page.

 

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Secretary Ross Delivers Commencement Address at UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources

California Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross was honored to deliver the commencement address for the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources on May 16, 2015. Her remarks:

Dean, faculty members and staff, families, and—of course—students and graduates.  What a great night for a college graduation.  Congratulations to you for your achievement!

You will leave here tonight holding a degree from one of the finest universities in our country – and the greatest public university in the world.  This university – whose roots are in agriculture – is steeped in tradition and blessed with the very best minds in the world studying, teaching, mentoring – being leaders in their disciplines.

Given the outstanding academic experience you have had, I hope you feel ready to find your life purpose and pursue your passion.  Our world needs you – your intellect, your energy and your commitment to serve.

When I reflect on the pathway my life has taken, I laugh to think that I spent my first 25 years wanting to get away from agriculture.  I grew up on a farm in western Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska as an English major of all things!  I earned my degree while I worked full time and attended seven and a half years in night classes.

But then I got into politics and experienced the powerful connection of public policy to food access, farming and the environment.  That’s how I discovered my passion!  Little could I imagine that my life’s work would bring me to this special place – California.

Many of you are Californians by birth. The rest of you are Californians because you chose to study in one of the most innovative and dynamic places in the world.  California is a place like no other – a land of dreamers and visionaries.  I hope you choose to stay here.

What makes California so special are the individuals that brought it to life:

  • Students and scholars came here because this is where the “next thing” would happen.  Today, our universities grace the list of places the rest of the world watches with admiration and anticipation.
  • Farm workers came here because this is where they could support their families and build for a better future.  It is a legacy that still lives today.
  • Entrepreneurs, inventors and investors came here because we offer unmatched resources.   A talented work force; research capacity; infrastructure; and, raw materials.  California is still that destination.
  • Visitors and vacationers came here because… well, I really don’t even have to explain it. It’s California!  Today more visitors come to California than ever before.

This place is just that special. At its best, California is a mirror that shows each of us what we hope to become.  And your university – now, your “alma mater” – has put you in the envious position of advancing along that line, toward turning hope into accomplishment.

You find yourselves at a starting point that has no prescribed ending and no defined path forward.  Yet, the future with all the challenges it holds is exciting and the opportunities are indescribable!

Our state’s history is fraught with challenges, some of which seemed downright intractable.  Economic downturns and fitful recoveries. Natural disasters. And, of course, droughts that teach us the critical importance of water that makes all the things we love about California work – our economy; our bountiful production of nutritious food; our treasured environment; our very quality of life.

Governor Brown said it best in December:  “I think this drought will test our imagination and our science, our technology and our political capacity to collaborate.”

And it is testing us as we debate everything from which crops we should grow to the value of lawns and golf courses, the use of gray water and desalination and how much water should be dedicated to the environment.   Each of these is part of the equation, but individually these arguments all miss the point.

The point is that California’s diversity is its strength.  We know we have the range of viewpoints, the depth of combined experience, and the finely-honed innovative spirit to overcome, to evolve, to become better together.  When we collectively realize this and embrace that strength, we’ll work together rather than trying to solve problems by pointing fingers and pretending that changing just one thing will fix it.

We understand that droughts and extreme weather events will be a prevalent aspect of our future because of climate change.  And, with Governor Brown’s leadership we are embracing our collective power to address it.

I know that climate change has been a topic in your academic experience, and with good reason.   The rate at which the global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is rising creates a sense of urgency to how we address such a complex problem. Reaching 400 parts per million for the first time in recorded history is not the right milestone!  How my generation – and yours – defines and responds to this challenge will have an enormous impact on the quality of life, the opportunities and the limitations that future generations will face, for better or worse.

In similar fashion, we are dealing with a global epidemic of poor nutrition.  Scarcity.  Obesity.  Malnutrition.   Making sure all citizens have access to a reliable supply of nutritious food seems like such a basic step, but in too many places – here and around the world – it remains an elusive goal rather than an achievement. More than 800 million people suffer from chronic hunger. 1.9 billion are overweight, including 600 million who are obese.

According to a recent report from the Chicago Global Affairs Council, nutrition is essential to global food security. “Malnutrition – from undernourishment to obesity – is a global challenge affecting every country on earth and placing more than a quarter of the world’s people at serious health risk.” That places a burden of rising costs on the health care system and lost productivity on the economy.

Despite this challenge, I look at California agriculture and I see a future distinguished by our continued leadership as we work to provide better nutrition to an expanding world population and doing it with less arable land, less available water, and a changing climate. The nutrition piece is essential, and I hope you will be a part of the solution. Under the umbrella of “Natural Resources,” there may be no more demanding – or more rewarding – professional path that you might choose.

In a very real way, California will have even more global influence than it does today. We may not be able to grow enough healthy, nutritious food here in our fertile valleys to feed the whole world… but we can show the world how it can be done.

Research, like the work done at the University of California, will provide the answers. The creativity and innovation of our people in Silicon Valley and all across this state will turn those discoveries into inventions and solutions, even transformational solutions to nourish the world and care for our environment.

Despite drought and climate change. Despite challenges to our global food supply. Despite the uncertainty an unsettled economy can bring, I look at you and I see reason to be hopeful, positive, and inspired. Your generation stands ready – better prepared than any – to embrace challenges like these.

One thing I think we teach here in California is that it’s okay to walk away from the status quo. That’s what farmers do every day. It’s the purpose they have dedicated their lives to.  They are mankind’s original innovators, solving whatever problem presents itself that day and that growing season. They are working within a biological system of plants and animals, pests and disease; not enough water or too much, freezes and extreme heat; ever more complicated equipment; and, fast-changing markets. Whatever it is, they figure it out!

Just like that farmer, you are well-positioned to help us fix these grand problems. You have a world-class education. You have learned patience, and process. And you have passion, not just for success, but also for service to your community’s well-being.

I challenge you to put these talents and qualities to good use. I sincerely hope some of you (or all of you) will find your life purpose related to food and agriculture and the stewardship of our precious natural resources.   Whatever your life’s work, measure your own success not just in dollars and dividends, but in what you do to take care of this world.

Do it for yourselves and your children – but do it also for generations you will never know, for a time you may never see.

Bring diverse peoples, diverse viewpoints, and diverse expertise together.  Help us sustain California as the special place that it is.   A California willing to change; willing to step up to the challenge; and always innovating.

The pursuit of your life’s purpose and passion, your contribution to the well-being of your community is what will change the fabric of our landscapes and our tomorrows.  Class of 2015, the world is in your hands.  I know you’ll take good care of it.

 

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USDA to Expand Investment in Water Conservation, Resilience across Drought-Stricken States

Targeted drought funding builds on substantial drought relief efforts

From the USDA:

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will invest approximately $21 million in additional Farm Bill dollars to help farmers and ranchers apply science-based solutions to mitigate the short and long term effects of drought.  These investments will focus financial and technical assistance in the most severely drought-stricken areas in eight states to help crop and livestock producers apply conservation practices that increase irrigation efficiency, improve soil health and productivity, and ensure reliable water sources for livestock operations.

“Since the historic drought of 2012, dry conditions have persisted in many parts of the country, particularly in the West,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “Every day, NRCS conservationists work side-by-side with agricultural producers and help them conserve water and increase resilience in their operations. Today’s investment will provide additional resources in drought-stricken areas to help farmers and ranchers implement solutions to mitigate the impacts of sustained drought.”

This announcement expands on the substantial efforts already underway to help producers conserve water, improve soil health and build long term agricultural resilience into their operations.  Already this year, NRCS state offices have targeted significant portions of their fiscal year Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) allocations to address water conservation, soil health, and resilience.  In California, for example, more than $27 million of fiscal year 2015 EQIP funding is directed towards beneficial drought management practices.

With this announcement, NRCS will provide an additional $21 million in technical and financial assistance through EQIP to target areas that are experiencing either exceptional or extreme drought conditions as of the May 5, 2015 U.S. Drought Monitor, which includes parts of California, Kansas, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Utah.  The EQIP funding will allow NRCS to help producers apply selected conservation practices to better deal with the effects of drought in their operations, including prescribed grazing, livestock watering facilities, cover crops, nutrient management, irrigation systems, and other water conservation practices.   On average, farmers and ranchers contribute half the cost of implementing conservation practices.

View the original news release on USDA’s site here.

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Another example of how Ag is always looking for ways to save water: “hullsplit strategic deficit irrigation” in almonds

California almond blossoms at leaf break.

California almond blossoms at leaf break.

Tucked away in the Almond Board of California’s Outlook newsletter for growers last week was a gem of an article about something called “hullsplit strategic deficit irrigation.” The upshot of the piece is: “A five-year study found that well-timed deficit irrigation can significantly reduce hull rot and potentially result in seasonal water savings of 10 to 15 percent without long-term impacts on yields.”

For those of us who don’t grow almonds, we don’t need to dig into the details – “maintaining tree stress levels of -14 to -18 bars” and so forth. The takeaway for the rest of us is the fact that this work is going on in the first place, and that the almond industry is just one of many examples.

Growers across the state, across many crops and regions and watersheds, are finding ways to save water. They’re investing in five-year studies that started before the drought. They’re inventing and creating and imagining and innovating. And they’ve been doing it all along.

This drought is serious – in many ways, it’s unprecedented. We’re in this together, California. And our farmers and ranchers are part of the solution.

See the full article online here.

 

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Water Wisdom – from the Growing California video series

The latest segment in the Growing California video series, a partnership with California Grown, is “Water Wisdom,” a profile of Central California farmer Don Cameron and his innovative water management to lessen the pain of the drought.

 

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Study: California dairy industry contributes $21 billion to state’s economy, stimulates ripple effect of $65 billion

From the California Milk Advisory Board:

New study conducted by University of California Agricultural Issues Center shows significant impact of state’s leading agricultural commodity

2015 Economic Impact: California Dairy Industry  Info-graphic
Click Image to View Larger Version

Cementing its place as California’s most important agricultural commodity by farm revenue, California farms sold about $9.4 billion worth of milk while the dairy industry contributed approximately $21 billion in value added to the gross state product in 2014, according to a California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) study conducted by the University of California Agricultural Issues Center (AIC). Including sales of inputs to dairy farms and milk processors along with raw milk and wholesale milk product sales, the dairy industry contributed $65 billion in total sales to the California economy in 2014. The growing demand for dairy products like cheese and yogurt as well as strong dairy exports accounted for 189,000 jobs that are dependent on the state’s milk production and processing.

“The dairy industry’s contributions are vital to California’s economy, from creating jobs to stimulating local and regional economies to providing nutritious and enjoyable products to consumers everywhere,” said John Talbot, CEO at the California Milk Advisory Board. “A large number of California residents depend on the dairy industry for employment and these jobs would not exist without it.”

The $21 billion to California’s gross state product included $7.4 billion as income to industry workers and owners and $13.4 billion through related, outside industries such as feed, veterinary and accounting services used for dairy production and electricity, packaging, equipment and trucking services used by processors. The tax revenue generated from these jobs supported important statewide initiatives to improve education, healthcare, roads, community services and the environment.

Overall, 189,000 jobs in California are associated with the dairy industry. Of this amount, approximately 30,000 jobs are on the farm and 20,000 jobs represent dairy processing. For every dairy farm job, there are several more jobs that are tied to the business and create a linked chain of economic impacts.

Additionally, the induced effect of the dairy industry also creates jobs in the community to support the area’s dairy workers and their families, such as school teachers and local bus drivers.

California Holds Rank as Nation’s Dairy Leader

California leads the nation in dairy production and dairy continues as the top commodity in the country’s top agricultural state. It has been the nation’s largest milk producer since 1993 and is also the country’s leading producer of butter, ice cream, nonfat dry milk and whey protein concentrate. California is also the second largest producer of cheese and yogurt.

Farm milk sales generated $9.4 billion gross revenue in 2014. Wholesale dairy product (cheese, fluid milk, ice cream, butter and other dairy) sales hit $25 billion in 2014.

Dairy Farmers Improve Business Performance

As an essential part of California’s farming heritage, dairy farmers understand the importance of protecting the land, water and air for their families, their communities and future generations. In 2014, California dairy farmers produced more milk with fewer resources. Talbot credits “improved dairy practices and management adopted by farmers” for the increased business efficiencies. The pounds of milk produced per cow increased to 24,000 pounds in 2014 from 15,000 in 1984. Farmers are applying 23 percent less water to their fields than they did in the early 1980s and have seen their average crop yields increase by more than 40 percent despite using less water.

Beyond the economic impacts calculated in the report, California dairy farmers and employees are active participants in their communities and contribute to social, environmental and other broad public goals.

 Study Leaders and Methodology

The study was conducted by a team of researchers at the University of California Agricultural Issues Center (AIC). Daniel A. Sumner, the director of AIC who holds the Frank H. Buck, Jr. Chair Professorship in the department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis, led the study. Josué Medellín-Azuara, a project scientist at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, and Eric Coughlin, a junior research specialist at AIC, were part of the research team. They measured myriad impacts using dairy-specific data for 2012 and projections for 2014 and a database and model of economic linkages (IMPLAN).

About the California Milk Advisory Board                                                  

The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s more than 1450 dairy families. With headquarters in South San Francisco and Modesto, the CMAB is one of the largest U.S. commodity boards. It executes advertising, public relations, research and promotions on behalf of California dairy products, including Real California Milk and Real California Cheese. For more, visit RealCaliforniaMilk.com.

See the original press release on CMAB’s site here.

A summary and links to the full report are available here.

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