USDA Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden and Dr. Susan Kelly, Director of the Department of Defense’s Transition to Veterans Program Office, have announced the integration of agriculture into the career training and counseling programs service members receive as they transition out of the military. Information about USDA resources and programs will now reach 200,000 transitioning service members every year.

“Rural America disproportionately sends its sons and daughters to serve in the military. When service members return home, we want them to know that rural America has a place for them — no matter where they’re from,” said Deputy Secretary Harden. “This expanded collaboration between USDA and DOD will help to ensure that returning Service members know that there are a wide variety of loans, grants, training and technical assistance for veterans who are passionate about a career in agriculture, no matter their experience level.”

“Our transitioning service members leave the military with a variety of essential skills – including leadership and discipline – that could be directly applied to a career in agriculture,” said Dr. Susan S. Kelly, Director of the Department of Defense’s Transition to Veterans Program Office. “For those members who are considering farming or ranching as a post-service career, I encourage them to learn more about the opportunities, preferences, and incentives offered by the USDA.”

Every year, approximately 200,000 Service members complete the Transition Assistance Program as they prepare for civilian life. This partnership will help to ensure that returning service members know about the incentives for military veterans in USDA programs, and the many ways USDA can support military veterans and their families, from farm loans to conservation programs to nutrition assistance to rural rental housing and homeownership opportunities. Veterans can also visitwww.usda.gov/veterans, a website designed specifically to educate them about USDA programs.

Since 2009, USDA has provided $438 million in farm loans to help more than 6,482 veterans purchase farmland, buy equipment and make repairs and upgrades. Our microloans, which offer smaller amounts of support to meet the needs of small- or niche-type farm operations, have also grown in popularity among veterans. Since it was launched in January 2013, USDA’s microloan program has provided more than $22.6 million in support to help 1,083 veterans grow their farming businesses.

Today’s announcement reflects USDA’s continued commitment to assisting veterans as they start or expand farming and ranching operations, in order to strengthen the American economy and provide livelihoods to our returning veterans. Today, more than 5 million veterans live in rural areas, a higher concentration than in any other part of the country.

Our veterans have incredible stories to share, including:

Veteran Farmers, In Their Own Voice

Planting Seeds for New Careers for our Veterans

Virginia Farmer Balances Family, Farming and Flying with the Air National Guard

Read more stories about veterans in agriculture athttp://blogs.usda.gov/tag/veterans/.

Link to news release

A flooded alfalfa field in Siskiyou County.

By Diane Nelson, UC Davis

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, are encouraged by early results from tests to see if deliberately flooding farmland in winter can replenish aquifers without harming crops or affecting drinking water.

“On-farm flooding looks very promising,” said professor Helen Dahlke, a hydrology expert with the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. “We’re pleasantly surprised by how quickly water tables have responded to on-farm flooding without damage to crops.”

In spring 2015, Dahlke’s team flooded alfalfa at Bryan-Morris Ranch in Siskiyou County, applying more than twice the irrigation the field normally gets in a year. The field produced more weeds than usual, but otherwise, the alfalfa suffered no ill effects.

“It was amazing to see how well the land absorbed the water and how quickly the water table rose,” said Jim Morris, Bryan-Morris Ranch manager. “That’s good news for farming and the environment.”

Dahlke and her team will test flooding on almonds in the Central Valley this winter, looking at plant physiology, infiltration rates, water quality and costs. They are building on previous research involving UC Davis and environmental engineers in the Kings River Basin, where up to 75 percent of diverted floodwater percolated down to aquifers. In that research, scientists flooded pistachios, alfalfa hay and wine grapes.

“Our wine grapes were under water for five months, which raised a few eyebrows, but they did fine,” said Don Cameron, manager of Terranova Ranch along the Kings River in Fresno County. “Diverting floodwater to farms can recharge groundwater and reduce the risk of downstream flooding. It’s a good situation all around.”

California is in chronic groundwater overdraft: There’s more water being pumped from the ground than filtering in. In wet years, gravity helps refill aquifers as land absorbs water from rain, rivers, and snowmelt. In dry years, several water districts help that along by diverting excess water during storms and flood releases into infiltration basins ─ confined areas of sandy soil.

But land dedicated to infiltration is scarce. Can California’s farmland be called into service?

There’s a lot to consider, Dahlke said. Not all soils are particularly permeable, and not all crops can tolerate extra irrigation in the winter. Some soils are especially salty, and some crops need more nitrogen than others.

Researchers wonder whether flooding fertilized farmland or saline soil will leach those chemicals into the groundwater. Or, could on-farm flooding actually improve groundwater quality by diluting salts and nitrates?

Soil expert Anthony O’Geen, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist with the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, recently concluded in the journal California Agriculture that some 3.6 million acres of farmland have good recharge potential because they could likely accommodate deep percolation with little risk of crop damage or groundwater contamination. Pears, wine grapes, many annual crops, and some varieties of almonds, peaches, and plums appear best suited for on-farm flooding, the team found.

“Alfalfa might also be an ideal crop for groundwater banking because it requires little or no nitrogen fertilizer,” O’Geen said.

Link to University of California blog post

BY KAREN ROSS AND TAMMY ANDERSON-WISE

It’s morning at Fairbanks Elementary School in Twin Rivers Unified School District, and children are being served a healthy breakfast of fresh fruit, waffles, yogurt and milk. For some kids, eating breakfast at school is the only option they have for getting the needed nutrition to keep them focused and ready to learn.

In a recent survey, three out of four teachers and principals say they see kids who regularly come to school hungry. Hunger is known to negatively impact health, academic achievement and future economic prosperity. On the other hand, kids who eat breakfast get higher test scores, attend school more often, are more likely to graduate and typically earn more per year after graduation.

Access to healthy meals at school is part of the solution, but it isn’t enough. Importantly, we also need to arm our young people with nutrition education and food literacy to improve their health over the long run and break the cycle of food insecurity.

At the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s new Office of Farm to Fork, a collaborative effort with the state departments of Public Health and Education, there is a commitment to nutrition education opportunities and increasing access to healthy foods. An effort is underway to connect farmers to local school food service operations and, as a result, increase access to nutritious food in underserved schools and communities. The office recently launched the California Farmer Marketplace, an online tool to connect farmers to schools and other consumers.

Along with improving access to healthy agricultural products, nutrition education programs are equally important. When students are better educated and better fed, they make better students and citizens.

The Dairy Council of Californiaprovides nutrition education through print and digital curriculum that reaches 2.5 million students in California schools from kindergarten through high school. All programs focus on a balanced approach that includes foods from all five food groups.

The Mobile Dairy Classroom– an assembly in Sacramento-area schools and throughout the state – builds on nutrition education programs taught in the classroom by teaching students how milk and dairy foods get from the farm to the table, helping them understand where food comes from.

National initiatives also are essential. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s School Breakfast Program provides access to free or low-cost breakfast before the normal school day. Unfortunately, the program is underutilized. Many times, kids simply can’t get to school on time due to carpool or public transportation schedules. Providing access during the school day – such as through Breakfast in the Classroom programs – can significantly and positively impact participation.

The No Kid Hungry initiative, an effort to end childhood hunger in America, encourages more Breakfast in the Classroom programs, along with options such as: Grab n’ Go, a model that allows students to pick up breakfast through mobile carts; Second Chance Breakfast, where students eat breakfast during a break; and Breakfast Vending, which allows students to access foods through vending machines. Additionally, the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement is an effort to nudge students toward making better choices by changing the way food choices are presented. These are all valuable programs – but only pieces of the puzzle.

By educating kids and parents on healthy eating behaviors, food production and how to choose nutrient-rich healthy foods, we are providing a solution to hunger pangs and a solution to the negative, long-term individual and public health effects of poor nutrition. Few would argue that our children deserve to be free of hunger while at school. Few would dispute that skills in science, math and language arts are foundational to success. But, we often overlook something equally as valuable: teaching our young people and parents about how to eat and live healthfully, something that benefits not only individuals, but also society as a whole with a happier, healthier, more successful citizenship.

Karen Ross is secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Tammy Anderson-Wise is the CEO of the Dairy Council of California.

Link to article

The State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Water Resources will hold a series of informational meetings at the dates below to discuss implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and to answer questions from the public:

• October 21st – Valley Glen, CA: Los Angeles Valley College Campuss Center Building Monarch Hall, 5800 Fulton Ave, Valley Glen, CA 91401
• October 22nd – Visalia, CA: 210Life, 210 W. Center Ave, Visalia, CA 93291
• October 27th – Sacramento, CA: CalEPA Building, Coastal Hearing Room, 1001 I St, Sacramento, CA 95814 (meeting will also be available via Webcast)

All meetings will have sessions from:

• 1 to 4 pm: Technical sessions for local public agencies and organizations
• 6 to 8 pm: Public forums for groundwater users and the general public

The technical sessions will focus on:

• Local agency requirements regarding Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) formation, groundwater sustainability, and public involvement
• Discussing the status of SGMA implementation within the region
• Identifying technical and financial assistance available from the state, including Prop 1 and other funding sources
• Understanding the implications of state intervention in the absence of local action

The public forums for groundwater users and the general public are designed for residential well owners, groundwater users, and other interested members of the public.

The public forums will address:

• The public stakeholder role in SGMA implementation
• Local public agency requirements regarding GSA formation and public involvement
• Drought management and groundwater sustainability
• SGMA and water rights
• State involvement under SGMA, including technical and financial assistance and state intervention

Proposition 1, passed by voters in November 2014, provides DWR with $100 million for sustainable groundwater management planning and related projects. The proposition also provides substantial funding for groundwater cleanup, storage projects, and other actions that will help local agencies sustainably manage groundwater. For more information, please visit DWR’s website.

Information on the State Water Board’s Proposition 1 funds is available at the State Water Board’s Division of Financial Assistance (DFA) Proposition 1 website.

Link to meeting notice

Detector dog “Cairo” on the job inspecting packages at a parcel facility.

The California Dog Teams, CDFA’s squad of pest-detection dogs and their handlers, have enjoyed a great deal of success over the years sniffing-out invasive species at parcel delivery facilities and airfreight terminals throughout the state.

The latest find of note was made by Cairo, a Labrador mix that, like all the dogs in the program, was a rescue dog. Working with handler Mariah DeNijs last week at the U.S. Postal Service facility in West Sacramento, Cairo targeted an out-of-state shipment of crabapple that contained Pseudocneorhinus bifasciatus, also known as the two-banded Japanese weevil.

This is the first time this pest has ever been detected or intercepted in California, even though it has been established on the east coast for more than 100 years. It feeds on more than 100 plants, including azaleas, camellias, roses and strawberry plants. The weevil is a species of concern largely because of its ability to reproduce without mates, so even a single larva or adult may be enough to start an infestation.

So Cairo’s find is a big deal – but it’s also “just another day at the office.” CDFA’s detector dogs perform this essential work regularly as part of California’s pest exclusion defense system. The dogs find hundreds of actionable pests each year, preventing infestations and quarantines and providing substantial benefits for the environment, for agriculture, and for all Californians.

On October 5th and 6th, 2015, UC Davis’ World Food Center will address the growing demands on water systems for agriculture. A panel of international experts and thought leaders will bring new solutions to the table. Their goal is to strike a balance between the global need for more food and the steep urban, industrial and environmental pressures on water supplies—all under the added threats of climate change and soaring energy prices.

The conference will address key issues on the global level down to the individual basin scale. It will analyze the extreme case of California, now in its fourth year of drought, as well as the challenges globally of sustainable management of ground and surface water resources and declining water quality.

The conference will feature talks from policy makers, researchers, development investors and industry leaders from around the world. The ultimate goal will be a series of policy briefs that set the priorities for action in securing water for food security.

A limited number of grants will be provided for participants from developing countries with poster submissions will be solicited.

Link to UC Davis World Food Center

The Sand County Foundation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation are proud to announce the 2015 finalists for the prestigious California Leopold Conservation Award^®, which honors private landowner achievement in voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources.

The finalists are:

• Prather Ranch, Shasta County
• Hafenfeld Ranch, Kern County
• Altman Specialty Plants, Riverside and San Diego counties

Jim and Mary Rickert own and manage Prather Ranch (Shasta County), a diversified cattle and certified organic rangeland business. The business includes a feed yard, slaughter facility, retail meat and beef by-product outlets, hay and strawberries. Prather Ranch established conservation easements on several properties to protect biodiversity. They use many conservation practices, including solar powered watering systems, intensive grazing, targeted vegetation management, riparian buffer strips, tail water recovery systems and conversion of open irrigation ditches to pipelines to conserve water. Prather Ranch also provides many educational activities for the public to learn about ranching, and the Rickerts serve on agriculture and conservation boards.

Hafenfeld Ranch (Kern County) is owned by Bruce and Sylvia Hafenfeld, and managed with their son, Eric and his wife, Jamie. The Hafenfelds manage certified organic cattle pastures on their ranch, and on their leases with the U.S. Forest Service and Audubon’s Kern River Preserve. The ranch has a Southwestern willow flycatcher mitigation easement that demonstrates how cattle, wildlife and water management are connected. Conservation practices include riparian plantings, wildlife-friendly water systems and improved irrigation to more efficiently use water and manage water quality. To benefit conservation and agriculture, Bruce serves on several public and private boards.

Ken and Matt Altman own and manage Altman Specialty Plants, (Riverside and San Diego counties) and specialize in drought tolerant and water efficient plants. The nurseries are retrofitted with water and energy efficient irrigation systems, reducing water use per acre by 50%. The Riverside County facility’s recycling system reuses 1 million gallons of water per day. Soil moisture sensors are being installed in their container plants to minimize water use. Altman Plants raises 5,000 plant species with integrated pest management. Ken and Deena Altman founded the Center for Applied Horticultural Research, a non-profit research and teaching center dedicated to advancing a sustainable horticulture industry. Several Altman team members actively serve on agricultural boards.

The 2015 California Leopold Conservation Award will be presented in December at the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting in Reno. Each finalist will be recognized at the event. The award recipient will be presented with a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold and $10,000.

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage, which he called “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.” The Leopold Conservation Award program inspires other landowners through these examples and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders.

The California Leopold Conservation Award is made possible thanks to generous contributions from many organizations, including American Ag Credit, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, Farm Credit, The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, DuPont Pioneer and The Mosaic Company.

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ABOUT THE LEOPOLD CONSERVATION AWARD^®

The Leopold Conservation Award is a competitive award that recognizes landowner achievement in voluntary conservation. The award consists of $10,000 and a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold. Sand County Foundation presents Leopold Conservation Awards in California, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
ABOUT SAND COUNTY FOUNDATION

Sand County Foundation is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to working with private landowners across North America to advance ethical and scientifically sound land management practices that benefit the environment. www.sandcounty.net

ABOUT SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION

Sustainable Conservation helps California thrive by uniting people to solve the toughest challenges facing our land, air and water. Since 1993, it has brought together business, landowners and government to steward the resources that we all depend on in ways that make economic sense. Sustainable Conservation believes common ground is California’s most important resource. www.suscon.org

ABOUT CALIFORNIA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 74,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of more than 6.2 million Farm Bureau members. www.cfbf.com

“Mermaid Melissa” at the Los Angeles County Fair in 2013.

Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fair

9/3/2015 to 9/6/2015
Bishop, CA

Gold Country Fair

9/10/2015 to 9/13/2015
Auburn, CA

Inter-Mountain Fair of Shasta

9/3/2015 to 9/7/2015
McArthur, CA

Kern County Fair

9/23/2015 to 10/4/2015
Bakersfield, CA

Lake County Fair

9/3/2015 to 9/6/2015
Lakeport, CA

Lodi Grape Festival & Harvest

9/17/2015 to 9/20/2015
Lodi, CA

Los Angeles County Fair

9/4/2015 to 9/27/2015
Pomona, CA

Madera District Fair

9/10/2015 to 9/13/2015
Madera, CA

Mariposa County Fair & Homecoming

9/4/2015 to 9/7/2015
Mariposa, CA

Mendocino County Fair & Apple Show

9/18/2015 to 9/20/2015
Boonville, CA

Monterey County Fair

9/2/2015 to 9/7/2015
Monterey, CA

Santa Cruz County Fair

9/16/2015 to 9/20/2015
Watsonville, CA

Tehama District Fair

9/24/2015 to 9/27/2015
Red Bluff, CA

Tulare County Fair

9/16/2015 to 9/20/2015
Tulare, CA

Tulelake-Butte Valley Fair

9/10/2015 to 9/13/2015
Tulelake, CA

For the past three years, kids have eaten healthier breakfasts, lunches and snacks at school thanks to the bipartisan Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which made the first meaningful improvements to the nutrition of foods and beverages served in cafeterias and sold in vending machines in 30 years. Thanks to the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act and other strategies, the national obesity trend is slowly reversing, and our children have more energy to learn and grow, greater opportunity to thrive, and better overall health.

As Congress turns its attention to reauthorizing the Act this year, it is important to remember that our children are battling a national obesity epidemic that costs $190.2 billion per year to treat and, according to retired U.S. generals, threatens our national security by making almost one in three young adults unfit to serve in our nation’s military. If we don’t continue to invest in our children’s health, this generation will be the first to live shorter lives than their parents.

The Act has undoubtedly improved the quality of school meals as well as the health and wellbeing of our children and for those reasons is supported by parents, teachers, doctors and kids themselves. USDA continues to work with schools, listen carefully, and provide time, flexibility, guidance, and resources to help them serve the healthier meals. Now is not the time to backpedal on a healthier future for our kids—that is why Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is encouraging Congress to act quickly to reauthorize a strong Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and support the ongoing success of the healthier meals.

• Kids are eating more healthy food and throwing less food away. Plate waste is not increasing. A study released in March 2015 by the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity shows that students are eating more nutritious foods and discarding less of their lunches under the healthier standards. Kids ate 13 percent more of their entrees and nearly 20 percent more of their vegetables in 2014 than in 2012, which means that less food is ending up in the trash today than before the national standards were updated.

• Americans agree that healthier meals are the right thing for our kids. A poll released in mid-August by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation shows that 9 out of 10 Americans support national nutrition standards for school meals. Nearly 70% believe school meals are excellent or good, compared to just 26% in 2010, before the healthier school meals were implemented in schools.

• Students like the taste of the healthier school meals. A 2015 study from the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health found that nearly 90 percent of surveyed students liked at least some school meal options. And according to an August 2014 survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 70 percent of elementary school leaders nationwide reported that students liked the new lunches.

• Kids are eating more fruits and vegetables as a result of updated standards. A May 2014 Harvard School of Public Health study shows that, under the updated standards, kids are now eating 16 percent more vegetables and 23 percent more fruit at lunch.

• Parents support the healthier school meals. A September 2014 poll released by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Heart Association shows that 72 percent of parents favor strong nutrition standards for school meals and 91 percent support serving fruits or vegetables with every meal.

• Support for healthier school meals is bipartisan. A September 2014 poll released by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Heart Association found that 87 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of independents and more than half of registered voters with kids in public schools surveyed were supportive of the new meals.

• Over 95 percent of schools report that they are successfully meeting the updated nutrition standards. Students across the country are experiencing a healthier school environment with more nutritious options. The new meals are providing children more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean protein and low-fat dairy, as well as less sugar, fat, and sodium.

• USDA continues to work with schools as they implement the new standards. USDA recently launched an initiative called Team Up for School Nutrition Success that allows the schools who still face challenges to pair up and learn best practices from schools that are already successfully serving healthier meals. The program has provided training for more than 3,500 individuals and has been enthusiastically received by schools and school officials.

• School lunch revenue is up. Despite concerns raised about the impact of new standards on participation and costs, a USDA analysis suggests that last year, schools saw a net nationwide increase in revenue from school lunches of approximately $450 million. This includes the annual reimbursement rate adjustments, as well as increased revenue from paid meals and the additional 6 cents per meal for schools meeting the new meal standards.

• Participation is increasing substantially in many areas of the country. Total breakfast participation increased by 380,000 students from FY2013 to FY2014 and has increased by more than 3 million students since 2008. USDA has also received reports from many schools indicating a positive response to healthier offerings and increased participation.

• Virtually all schools continue to participate. Data from states indicated very few schools (only 0.51 percent of schools nationwide) reported dropping out of the programs due to struggles over providing kids healthy food. State agencies reported that the schools no longer participating in the NSLP were mainly residential child care institutions and smaller schools with very low percentages of children eligible for free and reduced price meals.

• USDA has and will continue to listen to stakeholders and provide guidance and flexibilities, as appropriate, to help schools and students adapt to the updated requirements. Early in the implementation process for school meals, when schools asked for flexibility to serve larger servings of grains and proteins within the overall calorie caps, USDA responded. In January of 2014, that flexibility was made permanent. USDA is also phasing other requirements in over the next several years. And hearing schools concerns on the lack of availability of whole grain products, USDA is allowing schools that have demonstrated difficulty in obtaining adequate whole grain items to submit a request to the States to use some traditional products for an additional two years while industry works to create better whole grain products.

Link to fact sheet