The USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Initiative and the USDA Farm Service Agency are collaborating with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and regional partners to offer three regional workshops to support underserved farmers and ranchers by providing essential business-building resources.

Sacramento: Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Sacramento County Farm Bureau
2600 River Plaza Dr.
Sacramento, CA 95833
9:00am to 1:00pm

Fresno: Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Fresno County Farm Bureau
1274 W Hedges Ave,
Fresno, CA 937281
9:00am to 1:00pm

Bakersfield: Friday, August 27, 2021
University of La Verne, Bakersfield
10800 Stockdale Hwy,
Bakersfield, CA 93311
9:00am to 1:00pm

To RSVP or for further information, contact:
Yolanda Randles at yrandles@wfresnofrc.org
Brooke Raffaele at brooke.raffaele@usda.gov
Victor M. Hernandez at victor.hernandez@ca.usda.gov

The events will be held both on-site and virtually, through Microsoft Teams. Click here to join the meeting once it has begun. The schedule for each of the three sessions is as follows:

9:00am to 11:00am PST (virtual)
9:00am to 1:00pm PST (in-person)

The three workshops will build on one another and consist of an overview of the ‘Growing Together’ Black Farmer Conference with Urban Farmers set for October 22, 2021 in Fresno, followed by panel discussions: CDFA, USDA and other partners will discuss available resources and grant programs. During the second part of the day, business partners will be available for one-on-one business advising to farmers and ranchers who attend. The workshops have been developed for sharing business insight and industry trade advice while highlighting resources for new and beginning farmers and ranchers, for building business acumen and moving toward access to capital.

Black farmers and urban farmers are under-represented in government program participation, so USDA and CDFA’s Office of Equity are working with a community of support organizations to make a concerted effort to create awareness of USDA Farm Production and Conservation agency resources for farmers & ranchers in California. Supporting organizations include: California Farm Bureau, West Fresno Family Resource Center and University of La Verne present: U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE Mentors, and Mission Community Service Center with Kern County Women Business Center.

From a Western Growers news release

“Farm Fresh,” a series of three videos available on YouTube from Western Growers, showcases the extraordinary skills and ingenuity of the farmers and farmworkers who work to bring food to America’s tables.

“Farm Fresh: Harvesting” highlights the speed, precision – and yes, knife skills – that are required to harvest everything from broccoli to colored cauliflower to celery.

“Farm Fresh: Processing” showcases how produce – including avocados, baby carrots and garlic – is prepared and packaged en route to market.

“Farm Fresh: Robots, Machines and Automation” reveals the cutting-edge and unique technology used by farmworkers, such as self-driving wheelbarrows, automatic wrapping systems and plant tape.

View the videos below

California State Board of Food and Agriculture to discuss organic, regenerative and resilient agriculture on Tuesday, August 3, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

GoToWebinar Meeting Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5110661304311370508
Webinar ID: 600-396-867

Interpretación simultánea (español) transmisión de audio: Marque: 844-460-0074

Mark Your Calendar: July 28-29

On July 28-29, USDA is hosting virtual listening sessions to collect testimony and information for its Racial Equity Commission. The group’s directive is to address systemic inequities and increase participation in USDA programs, services, committees and decision-making processes. CDFA Farmer Equity Advisor Thea Rittenhouse is scheduled to speak about the department’s Farmer Equity Report (English & Español) and issues particular to California agriculture.

How to Participate:

Sign up here to speak during the Zoom sessions:

July 28: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_yGVAn5vNQ-iTEepJVU6FGA
(7am-10am, 10am-1pm, 1pm-4pm Pacific / 10am-1pm, 1pm-4pm, 4pm-7pm Eastern)

July 29: https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_yGVAn5vNQ-iTEepJVU6FGA
(4pm-7pm Pacific / 7-9pm Eastern)

Submit comments to the Federal Register here: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/USDA-2021-0006-0001

Submit comments by email here: EquityRFI@usda.gov

Deadline for comments in August 14 (it has been extended since the original Federal Register announcement).

Guiding questions:

• If you have interacted with any agency at USDA, please describe that experience.
• How can USDA remove or reduce barriers that underserved communities and individuals face?
• What can USDA do to actively increase participation and engagement with underserved communities?

“The future of food belongs to the young people of today,” said  QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), at a side event of the 2021 UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), highlighting the importance of active youth engagement for a more sustainable food future for all.

The HLPF side event on youth and agri-food systems transformation, which was held (earlier this month), provided young people with the opportunity to propose and showcase their ideas and ongoing actions for making agri-food systems more sustainable and building back from COVID-19 in a dialogue with governments, youth groups and other stakeholders.

The event was organized with the World Food Forum (WFF), a youth-led movement and network of partners launched by the Youth Committee of FAO. The WFF aims to spark a youth movement to transform global agri-food systems and achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), especially SDG 2 (zero hunger) and others under review in the HLPF 2021, such as SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) and SDG 13 (climate action).

“The complexity of our agri-food systems requires a coordinated, multi-sectoral and inter-generational approach,” the FAO Director-General noted in a video message recorded for the event. “We need to create an open and meaningful space for youth engagement, participation and leadership,” he said, adding that “today’s side event is an important milestone on this path.”

High-level participants

Other speakers at the event included Fabiana Dadone, Italy’s Minister for Youth Policies, who encouraged the building of dialogues with young people based on trust and the recognition of the value of their contributions, and Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, who highlighted the need to turn good strategy into action and put young people at the heart of it. For her part, Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, said young people and the solutions they bring matter more than ever in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, adding that it is time to invest in young people and place them in the centre of global systems.

A panel session brought together young people from across the world to discuss agri-food systems transformation. Alberta Pelino, Chair of Y20 and President of the Young Ambassadors Society (Italy), explained why the topic is important for young people like her: “We believe that young people can and must make an important contribution, as protagonists of the future we are building today. Their voices can represent a breaking point with the past for a more sustainable future.”

The discussions will inform an initial set of recommendations  and practical solutions from young people to global leaders  alongside information gathered from the ECOSOC Youth Forum in April 2021 and the results of an in-depth global youth survey.

World Food Forum

The WFF, officially launched in March 2021, currently provides an important platform for online consultations of global youth, in close cooperation with the UN Food Systems Summit.

It has been gathering ideas and actions for youth-led and youth-centered agri-food systems transformation through events like the HLPF side event. The outcome of these consultations will be presented to the UN Food Systems Pre-summit in Rome at the end of July (26-28 July).

The flagship event of the WFF will be a week-long celebration of youth-driven, sustainable solutions and innovative approaches for a better food future, taking place from 1 to 6 October of this year. Beyond 2021, the Forum will continue to provide a platform to engage and empower youth to transform our agri-food systems and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG2 “zero hunger”.

Link to Morning Ag Clips

The Buy California Marketing Agreement, also known as California Grown. is introducing a new digital media campaign, called “Grown to Be Great,” with the objective of inspiring consumers–especially those with a serious interest in cooking–to choose California specialty crops and share information about them on social media platforms.

The campaign debuted this month and will run for five months in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona.

California Grown–overseen by CDFA–was formed in 2001 and is dedicated to connecting consumers with the Californians who grow and produce their food. The Grown to Be Great campaign is funded in part by CDFA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

CDFA’S Citrus Pest and Disease Division has a new web page with information about the division’s various activities, including the Asian Citrus Psyllid/Huanglongbing program. The division works closely with the The Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee, which was created to advise the Secretary and the California citrus industry about efforts to combat serious pests and diseases that threaten the state’s citrus crops. 

The page also features information about quarantines, biocontrol and treatment, and it includes links to a number of resources that citrus producers may find useful.