Category Archives: Uncategorized

With the announcement this week of $16 million in grants from the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), CDFA offers an encore presentation of the Growing California video, “Strawberry Fields…Forever,” a look at a grower utilizing SWEEP as well … Continue reading →

By Lori Pottinger Farmers use the lion’s share of California’s groundwater, but they also do the most to rebuild depleted reserves of this critically important water source. We talked to Graham Fogg—a groundwater expert at UC Davis and a member … Continue reading →

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the availability of $4.7 million in grants for food safety education, training, and technical assistance projects that address the needs of owners and operators of small to mid-sized farms, beginning farmers, socially-disadvantaged … Continue reading →

By John Holland First you steal a truck driver’s identity. Then you show up at an almond processing plant and make off with a semi load worth perhaps $100,000. That happens more and more these days in the San Joaquin … Continue reading →

By Ian James Don Cameron expects farmers will see some of the biggest effects as the climate changes, and he says growers need to take proactive steps to prepare. For 35 years, he has been the vice president and general … Continue reading →

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross joined the trade group WUSATA last week for a trip to Vietnam to discuss export opportunities and climate smart agriculture. Here are some of the highlights of the trip.  

By Adele Peters Every February, semi trucks packed with honeybees—a fleet of around a million hives in total—heads to California’s almond orchards, where billions of rented bees fly from flower to flower to pollinate the crop. More than a half … Continue reading →

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross visited Vietnam last week as part of a delegation of the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA), a non-profit formed in 1980 by the 13 western state departments of agriculture as well as the territorial … Continue reading →

Legislation by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) to support agricultural practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon in soil, trees and plants was approved on a 6-0 bipartisan vote of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee this week. “Agriculture is … Continue reading →