CDFA science advisor Dr. Amrith Gunasekara (left) at Casella Family Brands winery in New South Wales.

New South Wales: Our trip to Australia included a trip near the village of of Yenda, for a tour with the irrigation, energy and wastewater management team for Casella Family Brands, the owners of Yellow Tail and Peter Lehmann wines, among other labels. Yellow Tail was launched in the USA in 2001 and quickly surpassed all initial projections to become one of the world’s most recognized wines.

The family-owned winery is a leader in adopting technology in the vineyards and its processing facility. All irrigation pumps are linked by radio and cellular phone for scheduling by computer. Soil moisture probes feed into the information system every 15 minutes along with a network of weather station data. The integrated data management system requires fewer pumping hours–a 25-30 percent savings of energy use- brings reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,  and it saves money! The computer system from Australia’s Right Energy Solutions was a capital investment with a fifteen-month payback!

This warehouse contains 1.5 million cases of Yellow Tail wines, about a month’s supply for customers around the world.

New South Wales: One of our last stops in Australia was so fun – Ferrero Rocher, the world’s third largest confectionary!! Claudio Cavallini, general manager of the company’s Australian agriculture program, welcomed us to the 2,000-hectare property -a former cattle ranch being converted to hazelnut plantings. In addition to its famous namesake chocolates, Nutella is one of the company’s products.

The company sources its hazelnuts from Turkey, Italy, Chile, Argentina, the U.S., Spain, South Africa and Serbia. Australia is the latest addition to its growing sites, which are selected for climate, chill hours, soils and access to water. Diversifying sourcing locations helps manage risk and ensure the best quality and freshest hazelnuts.

Ferrero Rocher started as a family pasticceria in the Piedmont area of Italy. It is headquartered in Milan. I am impressed by its corporate commitment to responsible stewardship and its programs to foster healthy rural development in +regions where its products are sourced. The company has met its goal for sustainably-sourced palm oil and is on track to meet goals for sustainably-sourced chocolate.

A Ferrero Rocher hazelnut orchard in New South Wales

The farm we visited is designed not only as a production farm but also as a research, development and demonstration site to assist growers in bringing hazelnuts to the region. It includes a nursery and an amazing deployment of technology to improve water use efficiency and reduce energy use. Compost is used extensively to get the shrubs started. Sorghum and casuarina are planted every five rows for windbreaks.

After planting has been completed later this year, the next phase of the project will be a cracking and drying facility where the company plans to deploy an aggressive clean energy strategy. The high cost of energy has been mentioned as a driver for change in all of our meetings this week.

Australian citrus farmer Frank Mercuri greeting the Climate Smart Agriculture delegation.

New South Wales: Australian farmers grow some of the same specialty crops as we do in California, including citrus. Frank Mercuri, chairman of Pacific Fresh, hosted us for a tour of as citrus packing house and an orchard. Pacific Fresh is owned by 8 farmers and packs for another 22 growers. The co-op was established in 1997 and has quickly grown to the country’s fifth-largest. It is affiliated with Sunkist in California. Exports are critical to the Australian citrus industry. It ships 65 percent of its production overseas.

Old Parliament House in Canberra, Australia. Once the seat of Parliament, it has served as a museum in recent years.

CANBERRA, the Australian capital: A number of us were late in arriving to Canberra because of weather delays while traveling. So we made a quick turnaround to join up with the rest of the delegation and our hosts for day-one of our visit, starting at the offices of the Australian agriculture ministry.

We then observed the Parliamentary “Question Time” at the Capitol building. Now that is an interesting way for members to question/challenge the prime minister and majority party about leadership policies and proposals!

Australian troops awaiting review by the prime minister.

As we left the building there was quite a display of military in front of the Parliament awaiting review by the prime minister. The Capitol itself is an impressive structure; it is built upon a hill overlooking a reflecting pool, the nation’s war museum, and a mall leading to a war memorial.

The afternoon of our first day ended with a fascinating meeting with staff at Australia’s Climate Change Authority and its Department of the Environment and Energy. The Authority is an independent agency established to advise the government on emissions reduction strategies. It has a nine-member board of experts, including a chief scientist. It has recently undertaken an “action on the land” research project to seek ways to better coordinate action to reduce carbon emissions, enhance the natural environment, and improve on-farm profitability.

Australia’s current Parliament building.

We had a great discussion about what works and what doesn’t; Australia’s reverse credit auction process; and how to achieve/fund multiple benefits from land management practices. The California delegation peppered them with questions. I guess we were inspired by “Question Time!”

CDFA is in the midst of preparing California’s recommendations for the 2018 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill is renewed every five years and serves as the policy guideline for food and farming in the United States. The legislation touches all of us in numerous ways, as this series of blog posts will explain in greater detail.       

The Farm Bill affects well-being of families across the country, including right here in California, by helping to facilitate access to nutritious foods. With the support of the Farm Bill, California is committed to increasing food access for our most vulnerable and food-insecure communities. According to some estimates, up-to 20 percent of Californians are at risk of food insecurity, including more than two-million children, and more than one-million residents live in “food deserts,” where they lack access to basic grocery stores stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables. As the country’s largest producer of specialty crops, we must work to change that. Two titles in the Farm Bill – Nutrition and Horticulture – are helping us reach this goal.

Nutrition

The first of these titles is Title 4, or the Nutrition title. As the largest piece of the Farm bill pie (Nutrition accounts for over 80 percent of Farm Bill spending), the Nutrition title creates the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. SNAP is the country’s largest food safety net program, and it helps millions of American families. In California, SNAP is known as CalFresh, and it provides nearly 4.2 million Californians with benefits. This support program also stimulates the economy. According to the USDA, every dollar invested in SNAP generates $1.79 in economic activity. Alongside SNAP, the Nutrition title also provides:

• $200 million for job training to help Americans get back on their feet
• $125 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative to help bridge the gap between underserved communities and healthy food retailers
• $100 million in incentives to increase fresh fruit and vegetable purchases
• An additional $250 million for the Emergency Food Assistance Program to help low- income families and senior citizens access food.

Specialty Crops

Numerous studies suggest that lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables (specialty crops) can result in negative health impacts, including higher rates of diabetes and obesity. Through the Horticulture title, Title 10, the Farm Bill provides California with the support it needs for growth in the specialty crops sector through a variety of approaches, including the creation of promotional programs.

One example of this is “California Food for California Kids: Promoting California Grown Fruits and Vegetables in Summer Meals”. This program, established through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program(SCBGP), promotes the quality and benefits of healthy, freshly prepared meals made with California grown fruits and vegetables. Specialty crop programs receive:

• $30 million to increase the consumption of locally and regionally produced agricultural products
• $72.5 million to the SCBGP to support marketing, pest management and food safety efforts
• $11.5 to the Organic Cost Share program to assist organic producers in their certification efforts

Both of these Farm Bill titles are instrumental in ensuring that Californians as well as all Americans have access to nutritious, safe and healthy food. California is the country’s number-one producer of specialty crops. Our farmers and ranchers are committed to producing fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables that have positive impacts for our families.