Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

Monthly Archives: October 2014

Great ShakeOut at CDFA!

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World Food Day a reminder of everyday challenges with food access

It is encouraging to see World Food Day observed today, a designation made possible by the inspiring work of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The goal of this day is to reach a point in time … Continue reading

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Pumpkin farmer sets North American record in annual Half Moon Bay contest – from NBC Bay Area

A California farmer broke a North American record on Monday when his large, bulbous gourd clocked in at 2,058 pounds during the annual Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-off, which has been drawing veteran growers and hobbyists alike since 1974. The … Continue reading

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Farm-to-School – Northern California elementary school students to visit White House Garden

Tomorrow, five students from the Pittsburg Unified School District in Contra Costa County will join First Lady Michelle Obama and students from schools in Arizona, Ohio and Washington D.C. to harvest vegetables from the White House Garden and work with … Continue reading

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California drought in perspective – from Drovers Cattle Network

By Angela Bowman In January, the Drought Monitor first began to report areas of exceptional drought in California. Thirty-seven weeks later, the drought continues to rage. According to the latest Drought Monitor report, currently 58 percent of California is in … Continue reading

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Drought cuts California food exports – from the Sacramento Business Journal

By Allen Young Exports of California food products took a dive in August, with fruit and tree nuts decreasing by 8 percent when compared to the same time last year and vegetables dropping by 7.8 percent, according to data released Friday by Beacon … Continue reading

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USDA report outlines opportunities in the emerging bioeconomy

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a comprehensive report synthesizing current literature that explores opportunities in the emerging bioeconomy. The report, entitled Why Biobased?, was created as a precursor for a more comprehensive … Continue reading

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USDA Expands Access to Credit to Help More Beginning and Family Farmers

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2014 – Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will improve farm loans by expanding eligibility and increasing lending limits to help more beginning and family farmers. As part of … Continue reading

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Fingerprint of climate change on California drought – from the Washington Post

By Angela Fritz Researchers studying the fingerprint of human-caused climate change on extreme weather events in 2013 have found that it played a role in half of the events that they looked at, including the California drought and extreme heat events. Climate … Continue reading

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Growing California video series – Apple Hill

This is a reprise post from our Growing California video series. Apple Hill is now open for its annual fall run in El Dorado County. This video content is no longer available.

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