From Morning Ag Clips

Cover crops, typically planted in early fall, deliver a host of agricultural and conservation benefits. But many growers have gone away from planting them due to technical challenges and extra costs associated with the practice. In partnership with the Contra Costa County Resource Conservation District, two University of California Cooperative Extension advisors collaborated to support farmers’ cover cropping efforts and reduce costs.

Kamyar Aram, UCCE specialty crops advisor for Contra Costa and Alameda counties, and Rob Bennaton, UCCE Bay Area urban agriculture and food systems advisor, developed online project content for a free educational series on cover cropping, which entails growing non-cash crops to add beneficial biomass to soils.

The series – comprising 10 webinars and five virtual farm-site visits – features UC farm and urban agriculture advisors and some of California’s foremost experts on cover cropping. It helps growers overcome their hesitations about the practice, which provides benefits such as alleviating compaction, improving water retention and increasing organic matter and nutrients in the soil.

“Our site visit videos include a diversity of cropping systems, operation types and scales, and levels of experience with cover crops, so we really capture a variety of perspectives,” Aram said. “Now, with the videos online, I hope that they will serve as tools for other farm educators, as well as a resource for growers directly.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic scrapped plans for in-person workshops and visits, the series organizers pivoted to online webinars, starting in fall 2020, which drew more than 150 participants. The recorded videos – which cover basic methods, financial assistance, tips for orchards and vineyards and more – expanded the potential reach and impact of the series far beyond Contra Costa County.

“Each video, whether it’s a webinar recording or a virtual site visit, emphasizes different aspects, and the titles are designed to help viewers find the resources they are most likely to benefit from,” said Aram. “There really is something for everyone.”

The series is available for view at http://ucanr.edu/CoverCropsCoCo

Read more here

From a USDA News Release

The United States and United Arab Emirates have officially launched the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), alongside 31 countries and more than 48 non-government partners. In remarks at the World Leaders Summit at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), President Biden announced that the United States intends to mobilize $1 billion in investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years (2021-2025).

Previewed at President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate in April, AIM for Climate is a pioneering initiative uniquely focused on increasing investment and enabling greater public-private and cross-sectoral partnerships, intended to both raise global climate ambition, and underpin transformative climate action in the agriculture sector in all countries. AIM for Climate has already begun to bear fruit, garnering an “early harvest” of $4 billion in increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years.

AIM for Climate partners are mobilizing this investment to close the global investment gap in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. Climate-smart agriculture is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes, while adapting and building resilience to climate change and/or reducing/removing greenhouse gas emissions. AIM for Climate seeks to create incentives for, and mechanisms for maximizing the impact of, new investments toward an agriculture sector that is ready to face a changing climate.

Government partners are providing the crucial foundation of AIM for Climate, through a wave of public investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. Other sectors, including business, philanthropy, and other non-government partners are invited to build upon that foundation with “innovation sprints” – investments in specific, impactful, measurable, expedited efforts – or by providing critical knowledge for identifying investment gaps, challenges, and opportunities.

AIM for Climate has three primary objectives:

• Demonstrate collective commitment to significantly increase investment in agricultural innovation for climate-smart agriculture and food systems over five years (2021-2025);
• Support frameworks and structures to enable technical discussions and the promotion of expertise, knowledge, and priorities across international and national levels of innovation to amplify the impact of participants’ investments; and
• Establish appropriate structures for exchanges between Ministers, chief scientists, and other stakeholders as key focal points and champions for cooperation on climate-related agricultural innovation, to engender greater co-creation and cooperation on shared research priorities.

Read more here

Surrounded by her family on the south steps of the California Capitol this morning, Christine Birdsong was sworn in as Undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture by Secretary Karen Ross. Birdsong has been Senior Vice President, General Counsel  and Director of People and Culture for the Sun Valley Rice Company since 2016. She was General Counsel for the National Cotton Council of America from 2011 to 2016, Counsel for the Committee on Agriculture for the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010, and Federal Government Affairs Leader for CropLife America from 2004 to 2005. Birdsong earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

The USDA is profiling its Hungry Pests program this fall and in this video CDFA Secretary Karen Ross shares California’s support for the program as well as CDFA’s commitment to protect the state’s crops and natural resources from invasive species, underscoring that we are all in this together as Plant Health Champions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv1FREGNQXU

By Nathalie Basha

At 97 years old, Victor Jaramillo is said to be the oldest beekeeper in Los Angeles.

He is known in El Sereno as the “honey man” because he’s been selling jars of honey from his hives that he harvests himself in front of his house for decades. Everyone in the neighborhood knows the image of Jaramillo sitting next to his jars of honey with his sister by his side. Local restaurants source their honey from Jaramillo, and families walk to his house for their monthly fill.

To Jaramillo, there is no life without bees.

“I love them because I was born with them,” he said. “When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the bees.”

The tradition of beekeeping in Jaramillo’s family goes back 300 years, all the way back to his great grandfather in Zacatecas, Mexico. Victor came to Los Angeles as a child in 1943, already a beekeeping expert since the age of 6, and he and his family continued the tradition in El Sereno. Despite his age today, Jaramillo still suits up and tends to his hives with the help of his son John, who will carry on the family beekeeping business.

“According to my dad, his father did it, then his father, and his grandfather too,” Jaramillo explained.

But lately, Jaramillo said he has fewer jars to sell than usual because the bees are producing less honey than normal, and he said it’s all because of the ongoing drought.

“The drought has affected my business a lot,” he said. “There’s not a lot of honey because there are not a lot of flowers.”

And while Jaramillo is right, there’s a little more to the story when it comes to bees and drought. 

Urban beekeeper Paul Hekimian is one of the founders of Honey Love, a local nonprofit dedicated to inspiring and educating new urban beekeepers.

Hekimian pulled out one of the frames from his hives, which was dripping with bees and honey from the combs.

“See all that nectar?” he said.

And Hekimian added that our drought is indeed affecting bees — but not the urban garden variety, where people still water their yards. It’s the feral colonies that live outside the city that are struggling. 

“If you go over to, like, Topanga Canyon, out into the Valley, where it looks green but technically nothing’s really blooming out there, so it is a little bit harder for bees to survive out there,” Hekimian said. “I can always tell the difference between city bees and feral bees.”

Feral bees are colonies that aren’t being taken care of. They’re wild and make their hives anywhere and everywhere, though we often don’t notice them.

Without rain or watering, bees scale back on producing honey to conserve energy and struggle to keep their hives at the right temperature. Colonies that are too dehydrated could experience die-off.

But that’s a problem because feral bees are just as important as urban bees. Our native plants wouldn’t survive with just urban bees alone.

“We need feral bees because if not, we would be a very stark looking city,” Hekimian said.

Back in Jaramillo’s neighborhood in El Sereno, even though it’s an urban area, he said people have scaled back on watering their yards because of the drought, which is why he has fewer jars of honey for sale than usual. Less water means fewer flowers in people’s yards and less pollen that the bees can collect to aid in honey production.

But Jaramillo noted that he’s extremely proud to be carrying on a 300-year-old family tradition no matter what.

“Yes, I’m very happy, and honestly, if God gave me another 300 years of life, I would still work with the bees,” he said.

Link to story on Spectrum 1 News web site

Formalizes state agencies’ partnership with the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to address state, national and global supply chain challenges

Directs state agencies to develop longer-term proposals that support port operations and goods movement for consideration in the January 10 Governor’s Budget

Amid global disruptions to the goods movement supply chain, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order directing state agencies to identify additional ways to alleviate congestion at California ports. The executive order builds on earlier efforts this year by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to ease supply chain issues by engaging the diverse network of stakeholders along the supply chain to discuss key challenges and identify short-term and long-term solutions. Record demand for imported goods combined with capacity issues across the entire supply chain have slowed distribution at ports on the California coast.

“California’s ports are critical to our local, state and national economies and the state is taking action to support goods movement in the face of global disruptions,” said Governor Newsom. “My administration will continue to work with federal, state, labor and industry partners on innovative solutions to tackle immediate challenges while also bringing our distribution processes into the 21st century.” 

Today’s executive order directs state agencies to continue coordinating with the Biden-Harris Administration Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force to address state, national and global supply chain challenges. The executive order also directs the Department of Finance to work with state agencies to develop longer-term solutions that support port operations and goods movement for consideration in the January 10 Governor’s Budget, which may include port and transportation infrastructure improvements, electrification of the goods movement system from port to delivery, and workforce development.

Additionally, today’s executive order directs state agencies to identify state-owned properties and other locations that could be available to address short-term storage needs once goods are unloaded from ships; to identify priority freight routes to be considered for a temporary exemption to current gross vehicle limits to allow for trucks to carry additional goods; and to create workforce training and education programs. AB 639’s (Cervantes, 2020) implementation is also expedited through this executive order.

Earlier this year, GO-Biz launched the California Supply Chain Success Initiative, a partnership with the California State Transportation Agency, the Port of Long Beach, and the CSU Long Beach Center for International Trade and Transportation to engage the diverse network of stakeholders along the supply chain to discuss key challenges and identify creative solutions. This effort, which brought together federal, state and local leaders, is focused on both short-term and long-term steps to address port congestion, including implementing a new 24/7 environment across the supply chain, a move the state worked with the Biden-Harris Administration on, improving collaboration, and exploring policies to remove obstacles and improve the movement of goods.

A copy of the executive order signed today can be found here.

Luther Burbank High School (LBHS) in Sacramento welcomed students back to school this year with an updated outdoor learning space of chairs and desks beside its Burbank Urban Garden (BUG). Home to the LBHS Urban Agriculture Academy, BUG is a 1-acre, student-built farm on the high school campus.

The BUG program inspires and engages youth to pursue futures in sustainable agriculture, food, and natural resource management. The school’s Career Technical Education Program is embedded in the school day. It utilizes tools like an urban garden, internships, and portable kitchens to engage and empower LBHS students.

To learn more about the BUG program, follow it on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BurbankUrbanGarden) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/burbankurbangarden/). 

This school garden spotlight is part of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) celebration of October as National Farm to School Month. To learn more about school gardens, contact the CDFA Farm to School Program at cafarmtoschool@cdfa.ca.gov.