West

Small farmers need help after storms, reports California Farm Bureau

The California Farm Bureau is calling on the state to improve mechanisms for disbursing disaster relief payments for damages suffered in devastating 2023 storms. Testifying before a joint informational hearing of the California Assembly Agriculture... more »

Leon Panetta to speak at Salinas Biological Summit

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will deliver the keynote address on food security and innovation at the Salinas Biological Summit. Panetta, chairman of the Panetta Institute of Public Policy, is scheduled to speak on the... more »

California farmers seek rebound after floods, virus hits lettuce crop

Things were challenging enough for lettuce growers in Monterey County’s Salinas Valley before Mother Nature dealt a one-two punch in this year’s storms. Farmers in 2022 suffered an estimated $150 million in crop losses as... more »

Pest, disease damage expected, harvest impacts uncertain

The seemingly unending flow of water saturating their fields is burdening California growers with pests and diseases. In March and continuing into April and later, torrential rains and multiple “atmospheric rivers” swept across the state,... more »

California bill addresses fire costs to farms

Wildfires that raged across California over the past several years have devastated farms, spoiling crops and burning farm buildings. After the flames were extinguished, the threat of wildfires has continued to cost farmers in other... more »

Commentary: California farmers seek solutions for flood-control failures

The destruction to agricultural properties and crops from January and March flooding in Monterey County is considerable. There is frustration about a failure to address known dangers that caused or worsened the flood toll in... more »

Ocean Mist expects strong spring artichoke season

Despite California’s rain storms and saturation of fields, Ocean Mist Farms is expecting a favorable 2023 spring crop of artichokes from their northern California growing region in Castroville, California. “The storms that devastated parts of... more »

California cantaloupe growers report delayed planting

California cantaloupe farmers are overjoyed with the amount of rainfall received this winter and for the welcome relief to severe drought conditions that have impacted growing areas for the past several years. Although rainfall was... more »