Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

Category Archives: Uncategorized


CDFA helps ensure that California cherries meet industry standards and consumer expectations

Did you know that CDFA’s Shipping Point Inspection Program conducts cherry inspections at packing houses to help ensure that California cherries meet state and national standards? Packing houses are hard at work this month to get freshly-picked California cherries to … Continue reading

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Cal/OSHA reminds employers to protect outdoor workers from heat illness

From a Cal/OSHA news release Cal/OSHA reminds all employers with outdoor workers to be prepared and take the necessary precautions to prevent heat illness, as high temperatures are expected throughout the state this week. Employers in California must take steps … Continue reading

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Secretary Ross tours San Francisco wholesale produce market

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, CDFA Inspection Services Director Natalie Krout-Greenberg, and California State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) visited San Francisco’s SF Market early this morning (May 20) to learn how the Market–a wholesale produce market–provides food and relationships that … Continue reading

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Secretary Ross applauds appointment of Maria Gallegos Herrera as USDA Rural Development State Director for California

President Biden has appointed Maria Gallegos Herrera as the USDA’s Rural Development State Director for California. Herrera grew up in the Central Valley, the daughter of farmworker parents, and served Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration as Central California Regional Director of … Continue reading

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CDFA releases annual Ag stats report

The annual California Agricultural Statistics Review has been released and is available on the following webpage: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/.  This publication provides comprehensive data and information on California’s diverse agricultural economy for the 2020 crop year, including agricultural exports and organic production. … Continue reading

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USDA accepting applications for assistance with organic costs

Agricultural producers and handlers who are certified organic, along with producers and handlers who are transitioning to organic production, can now apply for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Organic and Transitional Education Certification Program (OTECP) and Organic Certification Cost … Continue reading

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USDA to provide billions to commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by 2020 and 2021 natural disasters

USDA News Release The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that commodity and specialty crop producers impacted by natural disaster events in 2020 and 2021 will soon begin receiving emergency relief payments totaling approximately $6 billion through the Farm … Continue reading

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Governor Newsom Presents $300.7 Billion Blueprint Paving the California Way Forward

Governor’s Office News Release As global inflation and war in Europe drive up costs across the country, California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing a $300.7 billion budget to provide relief from rising inflation, ensure public safety, address homelessness, transform public … Continue reading

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Secretary Ross outlines measures to address historic California drought at Sonoma County Water Summit

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross appeared this week at the first-ever Sonoma County Farm Bureau Water Summit.  She joined California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot for a discussion centering on this historic drought and the new normal with climate change.   … Continue reading

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Farm to School Roadmap for Success presented at working group breakfast, next steps discussed

The Farm to School Advisory Council and Interagency Working Group, whose guidance helped develop the recently released Planting the Seed: Farm to School Roadmap for Success, held a breakfast meeting this week for the final report to be presented to … Continue reading

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