Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

Monthly Archives: February 2014

USDA’s Emergency Conservation Program Approved for Drought Assistance in Multiple California Counties

USDA News Release USDA California Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Val Dolcini has announced Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) availability for multiple counties in California. ECP provides emergency funding and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

World Ag Expo in Tulare – a unique opportunity to build local and global partnerships

  I am honored to represent the State of California and the California Department of Food and Agriculture at this year’s World Ag Expo, one of the premier events of its kind in the country. The Expo represents a unique … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Record grape crop – USDA releases preliminary crush report

California’s 2013 crush totaled a record high 4,685,075 tons, up 7 percent from the previous record high 2012 crush of 4,387,434 tons.  Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 2,405,942 tons, up 5 percent … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

President Obama plans February 14 visit to Fresno to discuss drought – from the Fresno Bee

By John Ellis The White House announced Friday that President Barack Obama will come to Fresno on Feb. 14 to discuss the drought and federal efforts to deal with it. A White House official said further details about the president’s … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Addressing California’s Water Challenges Through Action and Collaboration – From the USDA

From the USDA Blog California is in the throes of the worst drought in the 160 years during which records have been kept. As a result, the state’s overextended water system is in crisis. All segments of California’s economy— one … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Spinach Dinosaurs To Sugar Diamonds: 3-D Printers Hit The Kitchen – from NPR

A mathematician’s sweet dream: For about $10,000, you can print out rainbow sugar dodecahedrons and interlocking cubes.   i If you can design a shape on the computer, than you can print it with sugar or chocolate. From cool casts for a … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Inheriting the farm – carry on or sell? From the Sacramento Bee

By Claudia Buck It’s a love for the land that sinks as deep as a taproot. Or not. For agricultural families, whether it’s a pear orchard, a wine vineyard or a tomato-processing plant, there’s no handbook for knowing when – … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

CDFA introduces drought information web page

This blog post may also be read in Spanish. CDFA has developed a drought resources web page, which is intended to be a central location for information about the drought in California and assistance programs available to farmers, ranchers and farmworkers. The web … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment