CDFA Secretary Karen Ross joined California Natural Resources Agency secretary Wade Crowfoot this week at an almond orchard in Stanislaus County to observe a practice known as Flood-MAR — intentional flooding of agricultural lands to help with groundwater recharge.
There is strong and growing interest in Flood-MAR projects, and the state is committed to working with other state, federal, tribal, and local entities; academia; and landowners to address this interest and build on the knowledge and lessons from past and ongoing studies and programs while pursuing expanded implementation of Flood-MAR and making it an integral part of California’s water portfolio as the state adapts to a hotter, drier future.
See below to watch a short conversation about the practice between Secretaries Ross and Crowfoot.
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross and U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf met to take a tour of Gotham Greens in Davis (top photo) before attending a roundtable discussion at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) to identify opportunities to coordinate and advance a comprehensive prevention strategy to enhance food safety in California.
Partners in the discussion included CDFA, the FDA, UC Davis, UCANR, California State University, the office of Congressman Mike Thompson, Western Growers Association, D’Arrigo California, the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, the Monterey County Farm Bureau, the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, and the Center for Produce Safety.
Secretary Ross: “We deeply appreciate the collaborative working relationship with FDA on all aspects of food safety and the implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act. This was a very constructive discussion with leaders across the produce sector, and I want to thank CDFA Inspection Services director Natalie Krout-Greenberg for organizing the day and Commissioner Califf for spending time with us and participating in some excellent discussions.”
With more rain in the forecast this weekend and ongoing concerns about the risk of flooding in California, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is providing a list of shelters in the following counties: Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and Stanislaus. Some of the shelters are at local fairgrounds.
The following tips can help keep your pets and outdoor animals safe during a storm or extreme weather.
From a blog post by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
As a series of strong, winter storms continue to bring rain, wind, and continued flooding to many parts of the state, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is reminding all Californians about the -importance of preparing your entire family – and that includes your pets.
Preparing yourself and your pets to leave in an emergency will help reduce the stress and anxiety of leaving your home in a hurry.
PLAN AHEAD
Cal OES is working closely with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to ensure that large animal owners are aware of the steps to take ahead of an evacuation.
Have a plan: Know a safe place you can take your pets before disasters or emergencies happen.
Develop a buddy system: Plan with neighbors, friends, or family to make sure someone is available to care for or help evacuate your animals if you need help.
Contact your local animal shelter: Make sure your local shelter takes large animals or determine another place you can take them in an emergency.
Build an emergency kit: Prepare a kit with the essentials to keep your animals safe during an evacuation.
Food
Water
Medicine
Some form of identification
Medical records and vaccinations
A little preparation with large animals will make an evacuation easier for all involved. Train them to be caught and loaded in trailers easily. Attach an ID tag to their halter or lead rope.
The CDFA Cares Program is actively engaged with local and regional emergency managers and animal shelters to coordinate resources in support of animal care needs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced an investment of $9.6 million across the country to help farmers, ranchers, processors and rural businesses diversify the nation’s meat supply.
“USDA is putting the needs of farmers, ranchers and consumers at the forefront of the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to strengthen the resiliency of America’s food supply chain while promoting competition,” said agency secretary Tom Vilsack. “USDA has undertaken a Department-wide approach to coordinate ways to deliver more opportunities and fairer prices for producers, to give people access to healthier foods, eliminate bottlenecks in the food supply chain and ultimately lower prices for consumers.”
Secretary Vilsack announced 25 new projects increase independent meat processing capacity, including an investment in Five Marys Farms, an independent producer of beef, pork and lamb in Siskiyou County. An anticipated expansion of customer base in the amount of 60,784 is expected as a result of the project.
The USDA is awarding 23 Value Added Producer Grant program grants totaling $3.9 million to help producer-owned companies process and market new products. USDA is also providing guarantees for a total of $5.7 million in loans to two companies through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program using American Rescue Plan funding. This program supports new investments in infrastructure for food aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storage, transportation, wholesaling and distribution.
Steve Patton with CDFA Secretary Karen Ross (right) and CDFA Inspection Services Division Director Natalie Krout-Greenberg
Friends and colleagues at CDFA and throughout the state’s agricultural community are joining in congratulating Inspection and Compliance Branch Chief Steve Patton on his retirement last month. He put in 45 years of dedicated and loyal service at CDFA.
Steve began his career in 1977 as a seasonal cling peach inspector with the department’s Processed Products Branch, which covered peaches, pears, garlic and onions, tomatoes, olives and wine grapes. From there, he steadily gained experience, respect and promotions on the way to his culminating post as branch chief.
Steve’s career path at CDFA involved a great deal of field work and thousands of hours spent on farms, in fields, and at processing plants, as well as his time in the office. He also logged a lot of miles getting to and from all of the state’s far-flung agricultural regions.
“Working for CDFA has given me the opportunity to see hundreds of farmers’ markets, thousands of farms and dozens of processing facilities,” Patton said. “And almost all of that was driving; at six-foot-five, flying was never really my favorite way to travel.”
Congratulations, Steve, and thank you on behalf of a grateful department, industry and state.
As California enters another stretch of wet weather that is forecast to last more than a week, and the latest Sierra snow survey shows the snowpack at an encouraging 177 percent of normal, it is important to remember that drought conditions remain firmly in place.
The US Drought Monitor indicates that almost all of California remains in in a state of dryness ranging from moderate to severe, and this chart from the California Water Bot, using data from the state Department of Water Resources, shows that reservoirs levels, while gradually rising, remain well below historical averages.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has presented a certificate of appreciation to retiring CDFA Analytical Chemistry (CAC) Food Safety Program Environmental Program Manager Tiffany Tu. The award reads, in part, “This certificate of appreciation is presented to you with gratitude and admiration for your many years of public service and your dedication to the Pesticide Data Program. We thank you for your leadership and expertise you have shared with the program.”
Tu is retiring after 33 years of public service, all with Center for Analytical Chemistry. Through her work, Tu partnered with the USDA Pesticide Data Program (USDA-PDP), a national pesticide residue monitoring program comprised of seven state laboratories that sample, test and report pesticide residues on agricultural commodities in the U.S. food supply.
USDA-PDP data is primarily used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the essential dietary exposure component of risk assessment that is part of the pesticide registration review and tolerance reassessment process mandated by the Food Quality Protection Act. The data also is used for worldwide marketing of U.S-grown produce.
“Being a part of the USDA-PDP team gave me the opportunity to connect to policymakers, enforcement agencies, and national and international lab partners,” Tu said. “The knowledge and experience helped shape the CAC Food Safety Program’s quality system framework – one that generates the highest quality data for food surveillance and monitoring – and created a culture of innovation and creativity.”
“A total of 126 commodities, fresh and processed, have been tested by PDP lab participants since USDA-PDP began,” Tu said. “PDP data are well regarded as the gold standard and used by many food safety organizations worldwide.”
“The USDA certificate of appreciation is an affirmation of the entire CAC Food Safety team’s important contribution toward the USDA-PDP over the years,” she added. “It’s always been the workforce behind the program that truly made it a transformative success. This significant award recognizes our valuable input to the USDA-PDP and it encourages the team to maintain a culture with an innovative mindset that enables our team to grow. I am so proud of the team and our achievement. It has been such a privilege to work alongside a smart and talented group of people.”
A year-end status check of levels at 17 of California’s major water supply reservoirs reveals that our recent storms, while certainly helpful, would need to be repeated several times over early in the new year to get the Golden State on track to end the ongoing drought, now beginning its fourth year. The three-year period from 2020 to 2022 is now the driest on record dating back to 1896, and the long-range forecast suggests drier-than-average conditions will persist.
Only one of these 17 major reservoirs – Millerton Lake along the eastern edge of the Central Valley – is currently above the historical average level, at 135% of normal. In contrast, the largest reservoirs in the state system, Shasta, Oroville and Trinity, are currently at 55%, 59% and 36% of their historical averages, respectively. (A longer list including smaller reservoirs is available here: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=RES.)
On a positive note, California’s snowpack is shaping up more to our liking, although it’s still early in the season. We need snowpack to fill our reservoirs and rivers. Statewide, our snowpack is currently at 162% of normal levels for this date. The Northern Sierra/Trinity region is currently at 133% of normal, the Central Sierra is at 160%, and the Southern Sierra is at 193%. However, the statewide average is still only 51% of the normal level for April 1, traditionally the end of the state’s major precipitation period, so again, we would need storms throughout the early part of the year to keep up the pace. (See a broader set of snowpack data from DWR here: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action)
Californians are reminded to save water by not watering lawns or ornamental landscapes within 48 hours of rain events. More tips on saving water here: https://saveourwater.com
Secretary Ross visiting the Division of Measurement Standards
By Karen Ross, Secretary California Department of Food and Agriculture
Everywhere you look during this holiday season, you see the work of our California agricultural community. From the Christmas trees and poinsettias, to the resplendent holiday tables full of California-grown specialties, to the office breakroom table brimming with goodies handmade by friends and colleagues – all of it is made tastier, more beautiful and more enjoyable because it’s grown right here in California.
Our California Agricultural Community
The food and the festivity of this season give us all a great opportunity to reflect on what it takes – what it really takes – to assemble a holiday dinner table, a catered event at a company’s holiday party, or even a grocery bag or box full of donated goods passed out by our fantastic food banks. It takes farmers and ranchers, of course – but they’d be the first to tell you that’s just the beginning. Our farmworkers, food processors, truckers, farmers’ market managers, all the way from the field to the agri-business CEO, there are people who embrace what it is to be Californian, and who instill that pride and productivity into every workday.
Our CDFA Family
The same goes for the wonderful people I’m blessed to work alongside here at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been able to make the rounds to several of our local offices and laboratories to reconnect with my CDFA family. I’ve done this almost every year I’ve worked here (COVID notwithstanding), and there really is nothing quite like taking an unhurried moment to trade recipes and catch up with some of the finest public servants I’ve ever known.
We chatted about family and pets and holiday projects. We laughed together a lot, and we snacked, and we looked back over the year that was 2022. But, as Californians are wont to do, we usually ended up looking forward, to 2023 and the projects and promise it holds, for CDFA and for the larger agricultural community.
My thanks go to my CDFA family for another year of accomplishments and advancement of so many important projects. And my sincere appreciation and fondest holiday wishes go to our farmers, our ranchers, our farmworkers and everyone throughout the food chain who plays a part in making California such a special place to live, work, play and eat.
Visiting with Administrative Services Division employees in “the bistro” at CDFA Headquarters.Visiting with Administrative Services employees at CDFA Headquarters.Secretary Ross with Joelle Panugaling (proudly sporting Harry Potter attire) in the Human Resources office.CDFA Undersecretary Christine Birdsong (R) with Administrative Services staff.Secretary Ross with Tiffany Tu at CDFA’s Center for Analytical Chemistry. Tu is retiring at the end of this year after 33 years of public service. We asked Santa if we can have her back.Undersecretary Birdsong with Chief Elf Barzin Moradi at CDFA’s Center for Analytical Chemistry.Selfie! Secretary Ross with Dinesh Chand at CDFA’s Center for Analytical Chemistry. At CDFA’s Center for Analytical Chemistry. (You have to zoom in on the tree – it’s chemistry-set chic.)Secretary Ross (R) with Len Banzhof, Ag Biotech Technician with the Plant Lab’s Asian Citrus Psyllid team.Filling up the lobby with holiday spirit at CDFA’s Plant Lab.CDFA’s Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention crew.CDFA’s Marketing DivisionCDFA’s Marketing DivisionVisiting CDFA’s Animal Health office. From left: Milk and Dairy Food Safety Branch Chief Stephen Beam, Undersecretary Birdsong, Deputy Secretary Jameson, Secretary Ross, and Animal Health Branch Chief Anita EdmondsonCDFA’s Animal Health officeSecretary Ross (L) and Deputy Secretary Virginia Jameson (R) with Lauren Schwertfeger in CDFA’s Animal Health office, holding copies of the Avian Health Calendar created by the staff.Yes, we still have real cowboys on staff! That’s Livestock ID Branch Chief John Suther in the hat.Secretary Ross with Elizabeth Cox (R) in the Animal Health office, and State Veterinarian Annette Jones in the background.Secretary Ross In the IT office with Jarrett Heather and Sharon Buenafe.Secretary Ross with Tony Paiz in the IT office.Secretary Ross greets Jerry Sami in the IT office, with Karthikeyan Ganesan in the background.Squeeze in! CDFA’s Pierce’s Disease Control ProgramA visit from recently retired Pierce’s Disease Control Program Statewide Coordinator Craig Hanes (red shirt), welcoming Secretary Ross and incoming Statewide Coordinator Joe Damiano (dark shirt), along with Environmental Program Managers Matt Kaiser (L) and Michelle Pham.Undersecretary Birdsong with the Pierce’s Disease Control Program’s Myrna Villegas (L) and Stacie Oswalt (R).Plant Health Director Mark McLoughlin welcomes Secretary Ross. With Deputy Secretary and Chief Counsel Haig Baghdassarian (R) and Environmental Scientist Edward Southwick.Secretary Ross with Judy Leon and her super-sweet “candy sled” in the Plant Health office (and Jason Leathers with the snack-grabbing photobomb).Undersecretary Birdsong with Plant Health Assistant Director Andy Kline (Santa hat, but maybe not quite enough beard this year) and Branch Chief Joshua Kress. Yep. That’s a yellow sticky trap for a tree-topper. Secretary Ross with Victoria Hornbaker, director of the citrus program.
