Focus on Agriculture

CALIFORNIA—U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently announced the approval of a California and Arizona request to provide online purchasing of food to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households.  This approval will allow these states to expedite the implementation of online purchasing with currently authorized...

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—The annual Open Farm Tours will return this weekend—albeit in a different capacity. Pre-registration is now required for small, socially-distanced outdoor tours at the following farms: Thomas Farm and Luz Del Valle Farm in Aptos, and GroundSwell Farm in Santa Cruz. Additional participating...

It has not been an easy harvest season for California apples. When temperatures shot up into the 100s in August and September, sparking wildfires across the state and harming numerous agricultural commodities, apples were one of the hardest-hit crops. The fruit is susceptible to...

CENTRAL COAST—Many Monterey County farmworkers are going to work despite testing positive for the novel coronavirus, and some of those laborers are doing so because they are concerned about losing their job, their pay or because their employer told them to. That’s according to the...

SACRAMENTO—Earlier this month, Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley), Representatives Billy Long (R-MO), Mike Levin (D-CA), and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced bipartisan legislation aiming to help preserve agricultural fairs across the country and offset the devastating financial losses they have experienced due to Covid-19. The Agricultural...

Total organic fresh produce sales for the first quarter of 2021 saw a continuation of last year’s growth, increasing by 9.3% from the same period in 2020 and topping $2.2 billion for the quarter, according to the Q1 2021 Organic Produce Performance Report released...

  In 1983, a group of local farmers looking for ways to manage the Pajaro Valley’s groundwater basin formed the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency (PVWMA). A year later, the agency was officially recognized by the state legislature, who tasked them to stop groundwater overdraft...

Recently, the Paso Robles High School Future Farmers of America welding team concluded an undefeated season with its first-ever first place win at the California State FFA Agriculture Welding Championship. In addition to winning the overall championship,

A new irrigation enhancement project has seen positive results for farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.