Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

News Release – Fertilizer conference scheduled for November in Tulare.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Fertilizer Research and Education Program (FREP) and the Western Plant Health Association (WPHA) have teamed up to present their annual conference on fertilizing techniques on November 16-17 in Tulare, CA.

The agenda is geared toward a wide range of agriculturalists, including agricultural supply and service consultants, growers, university extension specialists, crop advisers and local, state and national governmental agency representatives. Speakers from academia and industry will present ground-breaking research, practical implementation and regulation of subjects like nutrient management planning, implementation of effective nutrient
management strategies, and the basics of nitrogen, phosphate and potash management.

Certified Crop Adviser and Pest Control Adviser continuing education units (CEU) have been requested and should be available at the conference on both November 16 and November 17.  The approved units will be posted at http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/ffldrs/frep.html

Early conference registration postmarked by October 24, 2011 is $75 per day or $140 for both days.  The fee for currently enrolled students is $35 per day or $70 for both days.  After October 24, the registration fee is $100 per day or $175 for both days and the student fee is $40 per day or $80 for both days.

Conference registration is being handled through the WPHA. Please contact WPHA at:

Western Plant Health Association
4460 Duckhorn Drive, Suite A
Sacramento, CA 95834
Tel: (916) 574-9744, Fax (916) 574-9484
Email:
corrie@healthyplants.org
www.healthyplants.org

The CDFA FREP coordinates and funds research projects that advance the environmentally safe and agronomically sound use of fertilizer materials.  FREP serves growers, agricultural supply and service consultants, university extension personnel, and local, state and national governmental agencies and organizations.  For additional information on the FREP, please visit:  http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/ffldrs/frep.html

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New Federal Regulations Can Impact California Fertilizer Industry – Public Meeting Scheduled for October 18 in Sacramento

California farmers and ranchers, as well as fertilizer manufactures and handlers, may be impacted by new federal regulations that will require registration with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

In August, DHS announced a proposed rule, via the Federal Register, which will create an Ammonium Nitrate Security Program. This program would require that persons engaged in the use, transfer or distribution of ammonium nitrate to register with DHS and uphold specific documentation standards depending on use and handling of the substance. While California has similar standards for ammonium nitrate in place, the new federal program could increase record keeping requirements and registration rules for California firms.

A DHS public meeting on the issue is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at:

DoubleTree Hotel Sacramento
2001 Point West Way – (Capitol Ballroom Salon B/C)
Sacramento, CA 95815

Click here for further information on the federal Ammonium Nitrate Security Program

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News Release – Secretary Ross urges California companies to participate in agricultural trade programs.

California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross is encouraging companies to participate in agricultural export development and training programs. These export assistance programs aid companies in entering foreign markets and financing overseas promotional activities, as well as expanding commercial export markets for U.S. agricultural products.

“California has a significant role in the world economy – providing a wide variety of food and agricultural products to foreign markets which helps to meet global food demands,” said Secretary Ross. “I encourage companies to access these important programs to assist in developing export markets for their products.”

Opportunities for California agriculture exporters include:

2012 Branded Program
The Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA) has announced the availability of applications for the 2012 Branded Program. This cost-share program provides eligible companies up to 50 percent reimbursement on international marketing costs – supporting small businesses in creating, expanding and maintaining foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products. This program is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program and companies are encouraged to apply before November 1, 2011. An online application and further information regarding the program is available at www.wusata.org.

California Agricultural Export Training Certificate
The Fresno Center for International Trade Development is providing a California Agricultural Export Training Certificate Program for California specialty crop companies. The program is a series of six classes over three months that focus on several aspects of exporting food and agricultural products. This training program is designed to meet the educational needs of agricultural companies seeking to export their products worldwide. Classes are scheduled to begin in March 2012 and companies can register for the program at www.fresnocitd.org/calagx.

In 2009, California exported $12.4 billion in agricultural products to more than 150 countries. Leading export products included almonds, rice, wine, pistachios and walnuts. The top destinations for California agricultural products included Canada, the European Union, Japan, China/Hong Kong and Mexico. On average, California farmers and ranchers export 22 percent of the products that they produce.

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“Show Me The Honey” bee event upcoming at UC Davis.

California has the largest beekeeping industry in the nation, and continues to be one of the top honey-producing states, but how much do you know about honey and the bees that produce it?

Three bee scientists from the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, will be among the speakers at the first-ever “Honey!” event on the UC Davis campus. Set from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21 in the UC Davis Conference Center, the public celebration of bees and honey is sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. The Department of Entomology is a co-sponsor.

The conference center is located across from the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. (For reservations and the schedule, see the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science website.)

Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology since 1976, will discuss “The Wonder of Honey Bees.” He was recently featured in a two-part series in the American Bee Journal. Assistant professor/bee biologist Brian Johnson, who specializes in the behavior, genetics and evolution of honey bees, as well as apiculture, will speak on “How Bees Cooperate to Make Honey and What they Do With It When We Don’t.” Johnson, former a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley, joined the faculty of the UC Davis Department of Entomology in July. Emeritus professor/bee scientist Norman Gary, an author and professional bee wrangler, will cover “Hobby Beekeeping in Urban Environments.” Gary retired from the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1994 from UC Davis after a 32-year academic career.
All three will speak during the morning session.

Afternoon speakers are Louis Grivetti, professor emeritus, UC Davis Department of Nutrition, discussing “Historical Uses of Honey as Food” and Liz Applegate, professor, UC Davis Department of Nutrition and director of Sports Nutrition Program, “Sweet Success—Honey for Better Health and Performance.”

The event also will include a honey-focused lunch, displays and music. Honey tasting, coordinated by Mussen, takes place from 3 to 3:45 p.m. The Honeybee Trio, a trio of teenagers from Vacaville, will perform at an evening reception.

Reservations may be made online at http://robertmondaviinstitute.ucdavis.edu/honey or with Kim Bannister at bannister@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-5171.

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Ag Vision Comes Up Big in New Food Security Laws

California’s Ag Vision, a collaborative effort to plan for the future of agriculture, enjoyed two big wins last week when Governor Brown signed a pair of bills to improve food security and support for working families.

One of Ag Vision’s top priorities is to improve access to safe and healthy food for all Californians. With that in mind, agriculture, public health and food bank groups joined hands to support the bills, both of which were authored by Assembly member Felipe Fuentes of Southern California’s San Fernando Valley.

AB 6 eliminates the use of finger imaging for CalFresh (formerly the food stamp program), which the USDA estimates will increase participation in California by seven percent. The result will be millions of additional federal dollars flowing into our state for food purchases while stimulating the state’s economy.

AB 152 will make more healthy food available to low-income Californians and create a state infrastructure for the purchase and distribution of healthy food to low-income communities. The law creates a tax credit for California growers to help defray the costs of donating healthy agricultural products to California food banks. AB 152 will leverage millions of pounds of food for those in need.

The California State Board of Food and Agriculture, a founding partner in Ag Vision, has committed to doubling California farm contributions to food banks within the next five years.

Sue Sigler is executive director of the California Association of Food Banks. Kerry Tucker is a member of the State Board of Food and Agriculture. Sigler and Tucker co-chair the food access subcommittee of Ag Vision.

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Detector dogs protect California’s food supply and natural resources

The California Agriculture Detector Dog Team Program was developed to serve as an additional line of defense in preventing the introduction of harmful plant pests into the State of California via privately-shipped parcels (FedEx, US Postal Service, UPS, etc.).

Statewide pest detection efforts by human inspectors are enhanced by using detector dogs at parcel facilities. Dogs are able to efficiently and effectively detect parcels containing agricultural material which are then subject to inspection for pests. Without the use of detector dogs, significant agricultural pests could go undetected in parcels and could subsequently become established in California.

Each dog in the program has been rescued through animal shelters, breed rescue groups, newspaper/internet ads, etc. The dogs have been screened for high food drive, sociability, intelligence, physical soundness, and low anxiety levels.

Without supplemental inspection of incoming parcels by detector dogs, California businesses could experience significant revenue losses due to direct damage to, and decreased sales of, agricultural commodities affected by harmful plant pests such as citrus, grapes, and nursery stock.

The program currently consists of 13 dog teams in nine counties; Alameda (one team), Contra Costa County (two teams), Fresno (one team), Los Angeles (two teams), Sacramento (one team), San Bernardino (two teams), San Diego (two teams), San Joaquin (one team) and Santa Clara County (one team). The teams travel to neighboring counties to cover additional areas.

The program is a cooperative effort between the United States Department of Agriculture, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the County Agricultural Commissioner’s and Sealers Association. For more information, please visit the program’s web page.

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Equine herpes virus quarantines released in Tuolumne and San Joaquin counties

CDFA has lifted quarantines for equine herpes virus in Tuolumne and San Joaquin counties. There are current no active cases of the disease in California. For more information, please visit: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ahfss/animal_health/equine_herpes_virus.html

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Press Release – CDFA receives more than $18 million from USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/egov/Press_Releases/Press_Release.asp?PRnum=11-052

Research, outreach and other projects designed to benefit California’s farmers have been given the green light as part of the specialty crop block grant program announced today by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A total of $55 million was awarded nationwide, with California receiving more than $18.6 million.

“We have identified an impressive list of projects that will improve the prospects of California’s specialty crop farmers,” said California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross. “This block grant program provides an opportunity for researchers, educators and other innovators in the agricultural community to pursue a wide variety of projects designed to make our crops safer, more competitive and more accessible.”

The federal block grant program provides grants to states to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Specialty crops are defined as “fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture).”

Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) projects were funded in eight categories – Plant Health and Pest Challenges; Environmental Concerns and Conservation; Food Safety; Agriculture Education and Outreach; International Trade; Market Enhancement and Promotion; Food Security; and Healthy Eating. Projects were selected through a competitive review process.

California’s 72 projects include workshops that will prepare small specialty produce growers in California to avoid market risk while profiting from the new markets; research to evaluate winter cover crops to reduce nitrate leaching; an international trade project to document the impact of European Union trade and support policies for olives on the competitiveness of the California olive industry; a project that aims to increase competitiveness and long-term sales of Lake County wine and wine grapes; and an effort to develop an effective lure for reliable detection and control of the female Navel Orangeworm Moth.

California’s students will learn about agriculture through grants supporting projects such as Ag Venture, which will provide field trips to introduce more than 11,000 third-graders to a variety of farmers in San Joaquin County; the Centennial Farm, which will create gardens, exhibits and curriculum to teach urban youth about farming; and a mobile agriculture classroom called Ag In Motion (AIM) at the National Ag Science Center in Stanislaus County.

Other projects include improving health and nutrition by supplying school meal programs with locally grown fresh specialty crops; developing school farm stands to offer healthy choices; and establishing mobile vending to visit disadvantaged communities to sell specialty crops.

Abstracts of California’s 72 grant projects are available online at: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/grants.

Although it is not required by USDA regulations, many grant applicants secured matching funds for their projects totaling $6.7 million in California. As a result of this leverage, the total amount invested in California’s specialty crops is $25.3 million.

California is the nation’s largest producer of specialty crops, accounting for 40 percent of the United States’ specialty crop production. Projects selected for funding reflect the diversity of California’s crops, growers and geographic regions.

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Op-ed from Secretary Ross and California State Board of Food and Agriculture member Kerry Tucker on the need for collaboration in agriculture

As published in Ag Alert, a publication of the California Farm Bureau Federation

Date: October 5, 2011
By Karen Ross and Kerry Tucker

A focus in many food policy discussions is the development of a substantial food system to feed a hungry world, and the trends we’re seeing internationally show there is an urgent need. Food has become a geopolitical hot potato this year. The uprisings in the Middle East and Africa reaffirm that food is a basic building block for peace, harmony and, of course, survival.

An article this year in the publication Foreign Policy spotlighted a world population that continues to explode, while farm production struggles to keep pace. As a result, world food prices are at an all-time high, according to the U.N. Food Price Index. Every day, there are nearly 220,000 new mouths to feed on the planet—a staggering number. By 2050, it is believed the world must double food production, while using fewer natural resources. All of this brings challenges and opportunities for California agriculture.

New, affluent sectors in countries around the world are on a growth spurt for the foreseeable future, with an anticipated growing demand for the type of products California farmers produce: animal proteins and specialty crops. The leading countries with emerging affluent sectors include China, India, Brazil, Korea and Mexico.

According to the Agricultural Issues Center at the University of California, Davis, China will more than triple its per capita income by 2030, from $2,802 to $10,718. This kind of wealth generation tends to result in first-step dietary adjustments that include more consumption of meat, dairy products, fruits, vegetables and nuts.

India’s numbers start smaller, from $965 per capita last year to $3,309 in 2030, but its population will continue to grow by 1 percent per year long after China’s population peaks in about 2030, according to Daniel Sumner, director of the AIC. As a result, India’s population will stay young and energetic for years to come, with a growth rate that could soon overtake China.

The food industry is well aware of these numbers. Companies like Nestlé, Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Heinz and Walmart have these countries in their sights. The food they’ll provide could easily be produced in California.

Because they’re located in one of only five regions on Earth capable of large-scale production of Mediterranean specialty crops, California farmers and ranchers are well positioned to prosper in the international marketplace.

Also working to the state’s advantage is the health profile of its product line. The 2011 Food Foresight trend report shows concern for obesity and diabetes rising worldwide. Add the rising cost of health care to the discussion and it’s bound to move nutrition and disease prevention center-stage in the health care debate, spotlighting foods thought to protect against the development of chronic disease—foods that are produced in California. This opportunity exists for all types of the state’s farmers and ranchers.

California agriculture is incredibly diverse: large farms and small, plants and animals, food and fiber, organic, conventional and biotech. It includes urban farmers, farmworkers and minority farmers. This diversity makes California agriculture stronger and more successful.

There is keen consumer interest in the thriving trend of local, regional food systems—the growth of farmers markets, CSAs and other direct-to-consumer marketing opportunities that are shortening the distance between eaters and farmers. This is the new and exciting frontier in our domestic markets; it presents opportunities for collaboration in the public policy arena. To encourage local farming, we must preserve farmland and maintain access to affordable water. There are enormous possibilities for agriculture if it works together to build new coalitions.

Yet there is tension in the search for common ground. Some consumer and stakeholder perceptions—small farms are good, “Big Ag” is bad—can get in the way of the cooperation required to meet the food demands of the future. On the other hand, belittling small, organic farms as unable to address global food security issues, or the demonization of one agricultural segment by another (“My way of farming is better than yours”) is not constructive. Regardless of size or farming practices, we need a continuum of farms and ranches operating as productively as possible while protecting our precious natural resources and the environment. There is truly a place for all in California agriculture.

One way to build coalitions is Ag Vision, a program spearheaded by the California State Board of Food and Agriculture to bring together diverse stakeholders who share a common goal: the long-term viability of California agriculture. Ag Vision is not the only answer but it is a good beginning, because this diverse group working with farmers and ranchers has spent more than two years focusing on what they could agree on, rather than fight over their differences.

This process will continue, with the goal being an agricultural system working harmoniously to meet the international opportunities and challenges ahead. The co-chairs of this effort are board member Luawanna Hallstrom and American Farmland Trust’s Ralph Grossi, who, along with board president Craig McNamara, would enthusiastically welcome your participation. For more information, see www.cdfa.ca.gov/agvision/.

We also urge you to join us in planning for the next farm bill. It is essential that we receive input from stakeholders about California’s priorities. This is the national food policy discussion—right now—and the farm bill will set the agenda. So let’s get together as one voice and set the tone for a future of collaboration.

(Karen Ross is secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Kerry Tucker is chief executive officer of the public relations consulting firm Nuffer, Smith and Tucker, and a member of the State Board of Food and Agriculture.)

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Cultivating the Next Generation of California’s Farmers and Ranchers

The recent meeting of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture (Sept 28) to discuss the recruitment and support of young farmers was a humbling experience. While there is great inspiration to be found in our next generation of farmers, there is also the realization that significant challenges lay before them.

The Obama Administration has set a goal of having 100,000 new farmers over the next five years. This is an initiative that California should strongly embrace. Our state has a wide variety of public and private programs that promote agricultural education, mentorships and hands-on training for those individuals interested in farming.  Yet we can do so much more.

As part of the ongoing Ag Vision process, we hope to better train and equip our next generation of young farmers as well as help ensure that farms and ranches can be passed down to new generations. These are issues that I care deeply about and are important to the long term viability of farming within our state. We need more apprenticeships, more farm incubators, and more educational and training resources to meet the challenges ahead – we have the passionate individuals with the desire to farm.

The discussion at our meeting was very enlightening. Click here or on the image below to see a video from the event.

Image of young farmer speaking at event; links to YouTube video.

Young farmer Justin Green speaks at the event as CDFA Secretary Karen Ross and State Board of Food and Agriculture President Craig McNamara listen.

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