Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Ryan Lillis It’s harvest time in Sacramento Valley rice country, and like a lot of farmers in the state, rice grower Fritz Durst loves the idea that California agriculture helps feed the world. It’s more than an idle boast. … Continue reading →

By Eric Holst Craig McNamara embodies agricultural leadership in California. He has farmed a 450-acre organic walnut orchard in Winters, California for the past 35 years. He’s been an innovator in implementing conservation practices on his land that both enhance … Continue reading →

By Joe Mathews I feel guilty for having failed, as of this writing, to fulfill a central responsibility of California citizenship. I haven’t been to my county fair this year. The Los Angeles County Fair can be an ordeal. The … Continue reading →

                                    By Jay Lund California’s ongoing drought will continue to break records and grab headlines, but it is unlikely to be especially rare … Continue reading →

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Stan Meiburg have announced the United States’ first-ever national food waste reduction goal, calling for a 50-percent reduction by 2030. As part of the effort, the federal government will lead … Continue reading →

The drought has brought increased attention to water supplies and use in California. The California Rice Commission asked the nationally known science and engineering company Exponent to find out how much water is consumed in a typical day by an … Continue reading →

By David Mas Masumoto We have always had a farm dog. The first dog I can remember was appropriately named Dusty. Pat her short fur and a cloud of sandy loam dust always puffed into the air. I didn’t know … Continue reading →

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the results of the 2014 Organic Survey, which show that 14,093 certified and exempt organic farms in the United States sold a total of $5.5 billion in organic … Continue reading →

By Andrew Amenlinckx Earlier this year, a study led by Purdue University determined that in the next five years there would be close to 60,000 job openings annually in fields related to agriculture, food, the environment, and renewable natural resources. We spoke … Continue reading →

Two current wildfires in Northern California, the Valley Fire in Lake County and the Butte Fire in Calaveras County, have left hundreds of people homeless, hundreds of head of livestock and other animals stranded, and thousands of fire fighters in … Continue reading →