CDFA environmental scientist Sarah Standiford–of the agency’s Produce Safety Program–recently appeared on a podcast for MyAgLife about Produce Safety Rule inspections and what farmers can expect. Topics included why CDFA conducts food safety inspections, the steps of an inspection, how a grower can prepare, and how CDFA inspectors take an educate-then-regulate approach.

California farms with more than $25,000 in average annual sales of produce (averaged over the previous three years) are now subject to Produce Safety Program inspections to verify compliance with the Produce Safety Rule.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Click here for information and resources about CDFA’s Produce Safety Program.

CDFA Undersecretary Christine Birdsong was in Japan this week on a trade mission along with USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis M. Taylor, representatives from 10 other state departments of agriculture, numerous farm organizations, and 40 agribusinesses looking to connect with future business partners in Japan.

The week included meetings with Japanese buyers seeking to import American food and farm products, meetings with Japanese government officials and industry groups to discuss trade issues, a tour of retail promotions featuring U.S. products, and visits to Japanese farms and packaging facilities.

Photo — Undersecretary Birdsong (standing, sixth from left) and the delegation visit an organic vegetable farm in Japan.

A reminder that this is Invasive Species Action Week in California. CDFA works to prevent invasive species from threatening our environment and food supply in a number of important ways, including 16 Border Protection Stations positioned strategically around the perimeter of the state.

Most years, more than 20 million private vehicles and 7 million commercial vehicles are inspected by Border Inspection Station employees to ensure they are pest-free and meet all regulatory requirements. 

Watercraft, self-moving vehicles, recreational vehicles and utility vehicles comprise about five percent of the traffic that passes through the stations annually. Commercial vehicles cover more than 25 percent of the traffic. The remaining 70 percent are classified as private passenger vehicles that are screened for routes of travel and determinations of pest risk.

As part of Pride Month activities, the USDA is hosting a webinar tomorrow (June 6), LGBTQI+ Mental Health in Agricultural Communities. This session will focus on the experiences of LGBTQ+ identifying people in agricultural and farming communities across the country.

The webinar–occurring from 11 am to 12:30 pm PDT–will feature a special message from USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack as well as from agency partners at the National Young Farmers Coalition’s Cultivemos Program, the North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center, and Not Our Farm.

Register here

The United Nations has declared today World Environment Day, and it’s an opportunity to revisit challenges brought by our changing climate and explore practices to maintain sustainability in the decades ahead.

In this video, Central Valley farmer and State Board of Food and Agriculture president Don Cameron shows us the work done on his Terranova Ranch to facilitate groundwater recharge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bur6DhzmAm4

The state of California is committed to increasing the potential capacity of groundwater recharge by 500,000 acre-feet, as outlined in Governor Newsom’s “Water Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future,” and is expediting groundwater recharge projects so that local agencies may take advantage of this year’s snowpack runoff.

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross joined representatives from the dairy industry, food banks and Raley’s yesterday to kickoff National Dairy Month by announcing a partnership to increase donations of dairy foods to needy families in California.

During the month of June, the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) will match donations from Raley’s Food for Families Program for fluid milk for food banks.

Milk is the single food item most frequently sought by needy families.

“I am thrilled to be able to participate in something I’m so passionate about,” said Secretary Ross. “And that is seeing the food we produce being utilized to feed needy families. The state that grows the bounty is sharing the bounty, and that’s what our farm families do. I applaud our dairy farmers, our food banks, and Raley’s for committing to this very worthy program.”

In the photo, Secretary Ross participates in a milk toast with, from left, dairy farmer and CMAB member Maureen Lemos, Yolo Food Bank executive director Karen Baker, and Raley’s corporate director of public affairs Chelsea Minor.

From a USDA news release

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced public listening sessions and is soliciting public comments on possible changes to prevented planting crop insurance coverage.  USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) will hold in-person and virtual listening sessions from June through August, and written comments will be accepted until September 1.

Prevented planting coverage provides producers valuable protection in the event they are unable to plant an insured crop due to an insured cause of loss. When adverse weather prevents planting, a prevented planting payment is made to compensate for the producer’s pre-planting costs generally incurred in preparation for planting the crop.

In California, the in-person sessions are in Tulelake and Davis:

Tuesday, June 27, 2023
10 am to Noon
Modoc County Extension Office, Agriculture Conference Room
2816 Havlina Road, Tulelake, CA 96134

Wednesday, June 28, 2023
1 pm to 3 pm
USDA California State Office
430 G Street, Davis, CA 95616

The national virtual session (MS Teams) will be held June 8, from 11 am to 1 pm (PDT)
Meeting link: Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 217 891 067 621
Passcode: 43YLNt
For audio only (call in): 314-530-5560
Passcode: 746 772 69#

The request for information on prevented planting requests input on topics to include:

• Harvest Price Option – Feedback on whether to allow the prevented planting payment calculations to be based on the higher of projected price or harvest price under the revenue protection plan of insurance.
• “1 in 4” Rule – Input on the challenges or experiences since the rule (to be eligible for a prevented planting coverage acreage must have been planted to a crop, insured, and harvested in at least 1 out of the previous 4 crop years) was implemented nationwide.
• 10 percent additional coverage option – Input on if RMA should reinstate the option to buy-up prevented planting coverage by 10 percent.
• Contract price – Whether prevented planting costs are higher for contracted crops and how prevented planting payments should be calculated for contract crops.
• General – Willingness to pay additional premium for expanded prevented planting benefits, recommendations on other prevented planting limitations, etc.  

The request for information, which includes details for submitting feedback, is available in this Federal Register notice.

National Learn About Compost Day is May 29, 2023 (which is also Memorial Day, so we’re sharing this in advance of the holiday weekend) and CDFA is celebrating with this video about the department’s work with Glenn County grower Mike Schager to add compost to his walnut orchard.

https://youtu.be/odGcAHIrn8c

Thanks to Mike for his cooperation, and to Dana Yount, an environmental scientist specializing in compost and organic waste with CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, for her work on this project.