Madera County FarM Bureau · 2019. 9. 29. · Madera County FarM Bureau October 2016 Vol. 6, No. 10 Ag United Harvest agriculture today Celebration Annual Meeting October 23, 2016

Madera CountyFarM Bureau

October 2016 Vol. 6, No. 10agriculture todayAg United Harvest

Celebration Annual Meeting

October 23, 2016

Become a member, Win a YETI!

See page 15 for details

See FAACT Class XIV; Page 7

Sacramento – Guided by a new sci-entific assessment of health risks, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) today announced an update to the way the fumigant pesti-cide 1,3-D dichloropropene (1,3-D) is managed and used in California.

This pesticide, commonly known by the brand name Telone, is used to control insects, nematodes and other organisms in the soil that threaten a variety of crops including sweet pota-toes, almonds, strawberries, grapes and

carrots. It has been used in the United States since 1954 and in California since 1970, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions.

The new restrictions, which will take effect on January 1, 2017, include:

• Anannuallimitof136,000pounds*within each six mile by six mile area known as a township. (Townships are used to track pesticide applications). Currently, township limits are between 90,250 and 180,500 pounds per year.

• Discontinuing the current practice

of carrying forward or “rolling over” unused allocations of 1,3-D from one year for use in future years

• Abanon theuseof thispesticideduring December, when weather con-ditions tend to make air concentrations higher.

“These changes reflect my commit-ment to a more effective approach to protecting the public from harm from pesticide use, particularly fumigants,” said Brian Leahy Director of DPR.

FCFB welcomed partici-pants this week for its Future Advocates for AgricultureConcerned about Tomor-row(FAACT)DevelopmentClass XIV.

The award-winning FAACTprogramisaneight-month intensive, educational program for community lead-ers to acquire knowledge on a broad spectrum of issues af-fecting the agricultural sector of our region. The seminars discuss Fresno County and California agriculture, labor and immigration, natural resources, legislative and regulatory compliance issues, the path food takes from the farmer’s field to the consumer’s plate and much more.

Due to water’s importance to the region, two of the ses-

sions will provide a compre-hensive focus on watersheds, water resource management, groundwater, and water quantity and quality issues of Fresno County’s major water sources, including the Cen-tral Valley Project, the Sac-ramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Kings River system.

Class XIV is a diverse, cross-section from local busi-ness, governmental and agri-cultural industries. Members of the class are:

• NathanAlonzo,FresnoChamberofCommerce• KatelynAshton,CommunityMedicalFoundation

New Rules Governing Use of Fumigant Pesticide 1, 3-D

CAlENdArOctober12 MCFB Board of directors Meeting,

2 p.m. @ MCFB Ben Hayes Hall23 Ag United Harvest Celebration and Annual

Meeting-Eastman Hall Chowchilla Fairgrounds 26 CA High Speed rail Authority

Open House meeting 5 p.m.-6:30p.m. at Madera Community College, Room TM-11. For more info call 559-274-8975

November2 ESJWQC Grower Meeting-Merced

Fairgrounds 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.2 Agribusiness Management Conference @

Fresno DoubleTree conference center. For more information, visit www.fresnostate.edu/jcast/cab or call 559.278.4405.

3 ESJWQC Grower Meeting-Madera Fairgrounds 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.

3 donuts & discussions with MId at MCFB Ben Hayes Hall 7:00-9:00 a.m.

8 MCFB Board of directors Meeting, 1:00 p.m. @ MCFB Ben Hayes Hall

21 ESJ meeting Stanislaus County Ag Center-Harvest Hall 10:30a-12p.m.

FCFB announces FAACT Class XIVSee New Rules; Page 7

2 | October 2016 Madera County Farm Bureau

Madera County Farm Bureau

news Well, it’s official-ly fall and after the heat and sweat of harvest you can feel the weather chang-ing for the better. This reminds me of a quote by David Bly that paints the farmer in the correct light: “Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest

where you haven’t planted”. The growers in Madera county

achieved success this year by having a good and safe harvest. Throughout the county as growers wrap up the season, I see that many new tasks have begun in anticipation of the winter months and hopefully a “WET” one at that.

AsOctoberpassesitbringsustoNo-vember. This is an important year as it isapresidentialelectionyear.Nomat-

ter your party or beliefs; I urge you to get out and do your civic duty and vote. This country needs strong leaders who believe in agriculture as its backbone to help feed and lead this nation.

Now, onto something more enjoy-able;MaderaCountyFarmBureau’sAgUnited Harvest Celebration and annual meetingofthemembersisOctober23,2016 at the Chowchilla Fairgrounds.Please join us for a wonderful evening, in which we will honor our scholar-ship recipients, have guest speaker Dan Walters from the Sacramento Bee speak about the future of agriculture and en-joy a prime rib dinner. There will be raf-fleprizesfromlocalvendorsandgrow-ers. Call 559-674-8871 or visitwww.maderafb.com to purchase your tickets.

Please come out and support your lo-cal farm bureau. Cheers to a great finish tothe2016harvest!

First water, then labor, then meth-ane, now pesticides…where does the red tape stop? DPR has now released the pro-posed regulations on the use of agricul-tural pesticides, and we need to once again take action! There isa 7-week window for the comment period, and I want to urge everyone to take the

time to review the regulations, and sub-mit a comment. I have been told that DPR does take careful consideration when reviewing all comment letters.

On the local front Madera FarmBureau staff have been plugging away to prepare for ourAgUnitedHarvestCelebrationandAnnualMeetingtobeheldonOctober23rdattheChowchillaFairgrounds. Doors open at 3:30 p.m., presentations will begin at 5:00 p.m., a Prime Rib Dinner will be served at 6:00p.m.,andthekeynotespeakerwillbegin at 6:30 p.m.Tickets are $60 inadvanceand$75atthedoor.

This year’s keynote speaker Dan Wal-

ters has been a journalist for more than a half-century, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers.Atonepointinhiscareer,at age 22, he was the nation’s youngest daily newspaper editor.

Mr. Walters joined The Sacramento Union’s Capitol bureau in 1975, just as Jerry Brown began his governorship, and later became the Union’s Capitol bureau chief. In 1981, he began writing the state’s only daily newspaper column devoted to California political, eco-nomic, and social events and in 1984, he and the column moved to The Sac-ramento Bee. He has written more than 7,500 columns about California and its politics and his column now appears in more than 50 California newspapers.

Dan Walters has written about Cali-fornia and its politics for a number of other publications, including The Wall Street Journal and the Christian Sci-enceMonitor. In 1986, his book,TheNewCalifornia:Facing the21stCen-tury, was published in its first edition. He is also the founding editor of the California Political Almanac; the co-author of a book on lobbying entitled The Third House: Lobbyists, Money

President’s Message

Executive Director’s Address

Jay Mahil,President

Christina Beckstead,Executive Director

2015 - 2016 Executive CommitteePresident: Jay Mahil

1st Vice President: Nick Davis2nd Vice President/Treasurer: Michael Naito

Secretary: Laura GutileAppointed by President: Steve MassaroAppointed by President: Dennis Meisner

Appointed by President: Tom RogersAppointed by President: Chris Wylie

directors at largeRobert Cadenazzi

Ryan CosynsClay Daulton

Stephen ElgorriagaJason Erickson

Michele Lasgoity

Jennifer MarkarianScott Maxwell

Neil Mc DougaldJeff Mc KinneyPat Ricchiuti

Robert Sahatjian

California Farm Bureau - district 9 director Tom Rogers

California Farm Bureau CommitteeEnergy, Air, and Climate- Clay Daulton

State Budget, Taxation, and Land Use- Nick DavisAgriculture Labor- Jay Mahil

Forestry, Fish & Wildlife, and Public Lands- Neil McDougald

Office StaffExecutive Director: Christina Beckstead

Executive Assistant: Kristen Sargent

Madera County Farm Bureau1102 South Pine Street

Madera, CA 93637(559) 674-8871; www.maderafb.com

Advertising/PublishingMid-Valley Publishing

1130 G Street, Reedley, CA 93654

Advertising SalesDebra Leak (559) 638-2244

EditorKristen Sargent

Periodical PostagePaid at Fresno, California 93706

POSTMASTErSend address changes to:

Madera County Farm Bureau1102 South Pine Street, Madera, CA 93637

The Madera County Farm Bureau does not assume responsibility for statements by advertisers or for

products advertised in Madera County Farm Bureau.

See ED’s Address; Page 13

Madera County Farm Bureau MembersDiscounts for Business memBers• Earnthelowestadvertisingrate• Freespotcolorinyouradvertising• Nochargeforaddesign• Firstadatdiscountedprice• Businesscardlistinginour“AtYourServiceDirectory”

whileadappearsinnewspaper• Runyournoncommercialclassified

adatnochargefor3monthsCallDebraLeakformoreinformation.LetMidValleyPublishingassistyouinprofilingyourbusinessandservicestoitsgreatestpotential.

559-638-2244

NAME CITY P/C/B

new MCFB MembersMCFB welcomes the following new

Agricultural (producer), Associate (consumer) Collegiate, and

Business Support members who joined in September:

To BECoME A MEMBER CALL

674-8871

Jane Pitman Madera GSlenders, Antone Madera GVlot Calf Ranch Chowchilla GValley Pride Farming Fresno G

Emerzian ranchPistoresi Agriculture Service

renald PitmanPitman Farms

domingos ribeiroEdward Umadarichard Gunner

Mountain Aire Heating & AirJoseph B. Van loon

Isla Vista FarmsGar Tootelian

MCFB would like to thank all of our members who help support our work through their

voluntary contributions for the month of August:

new MCFB donors

To BECoME A DoNoR CALL

674-8871

Farm Bureau Membership BenefitsInsurance

Allied Insurance, Nationwide Agribusiness, VPI Pet Insurance

News and EntertainmentAgAlert, California Country Mag & T.V.

VehiclesGMC Trucks, Vans and SUV’s, Vehicle Rentals,

Avis, Budget, Budget Trucks, Hertz

do-It-YourselfGrainger, Kelly-Moore Paints,

Dunn Edwards Paints

TravelChoice Hotels, Wyndham Hotels

Business ServicesAnderson Marketing, Farm Bureau Bank,

Farm Employers Laborers Service, Land’s End Business Outfitters

Health ServicesClear Value Hearing, Farm Bureau Prescription

discount program, LensCrafters, Preferred Alliance

Contact the MCFB Office at (559) 674-8871or www.maderafb.com for details.

Madera County Farm Bureau October 2016 | 3

By Greg Northcutt, Western Farm PressSeptember 21, 2016

Despite indications of this year’s slightly larger than average crop, over-all, the market for California’s wine grape crop appeared to be stable as the harvest continued into mid-September, reports Glenn Proctor, a partner with wine and grape brokerage firm, Ciatti Company, San Rafael, Calif.

“Signing of long-term contracts and spot sales have been active throughout the year, especially the coastal areas where demand for many varieties, par-ticularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Char-donnayandPinotNoir,hasbeenrela-tively strong,” he says.

Last year’s light Central Coast crop has stimulated good buying activity there for Cabernet Sauvignon, Char-donnay and Pinot Noir. Proctor esti-mates production in some premium areas for those varieties fell nearly 30 percentbelow2014levels.Atthesametime, case good sales of bottles priced above $10 have continued to grow,Proctor notes.

AlthoughthemarketforCentralVal-ley grapes has been better than expect-ed, it hasn’t been nearly as active as on the coast.

Among the actively-selling CentralValley varieties in the last few months have been Cabernet Sauvignon, Char-donnay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon

Blanc, he says.“Some of the early-harvested crop

in the southern area of the Valley, like Chardonnay, has been light,” Proctor says. “So buyers replaced some of that with Chardonnay from Lodi and other areas where that variety was still avail-able.”

Increasing interest in certain Central Valley grapes is also coming from coast-al buyers, he notes.

With prices of coastal grapes continu-ing to rise, some wineries are left with a decision of either raising their bottle prices or buying supply from other ar-

eas of the state. This has caused some wineries that have traditionally bought fruit in higher-priced areas to look at more affordable areas of the state to hold their bottle price and maintain margins. Other wineries, though, aremaintaining their current sourcing and considering whether to reduce margins or, perhaps, raise bottle price to main-

tain margins.“Some wineries are developing pro-

grams where their wines include a cer-tain percentage of coastal varieties and a certain percentage of Central Valley grapes and pricing their wines at, say, $14abottle,”Proctorsays.

Meanwhile, in mid-September, the industry was still assessing the likely sizeofthisyear’sCaliforniawinegrapecrop.

In most areas, production appears to be higher than it did in late July and early, Proctor notes.

Last year, California growers harvest-ed a little over 3.7 million tons of wine grapes. That compares to the USDAforecast forAug.1of this year,whichpredicted the state’s 2016 crushwouldtotal 3.9 million tons.

“That feels about right,” says Proctor, whose firm estimates this year’s wine grape will come in at 3.9 to 4 million tons.“Onthecoastthecropappearstobe a little larger than expected. Earlier, some North Coast growers were con-cerned about clusters that were a little loose.Butthoseberrieshavesincesizedup pretty well to compensate for the earlier lighter weights.

Amid prospects of a bigger than expected crop, the market for California wine grapes remains stable

8798

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8944

BlueMaxphoto/ThinkstockAlthough the market for Central Valley grapes has been better than expected, it hasn’t been nearly as active as on the coast.

See Wine Grapes; Page 15


By Robert Rodriguez, The Fresno BeeSeptember 23, 2016

Across the central San JoaquinVal-ley, the annual raisin harvest is nearly complete. Skilled workers have picked and placed thousands of tons of green grapes on sheets of paper, waiting to be dried by the sun.

When ready, the wrinkly raisins will be hauled to processing plants where they will be cleaned, sorted and pack-aged for sale to food makers and foreign buyers.

It’s a ritual that plays out every year, but one that has become increasingly complicated by squabbles over price, de-clining acreage and disagreements over how best to sell the crop.

$1,6002015pricepertonforCalifor-nia raisins

“We are in a difficult transitional phase and it is important for the in-dustry to come together,” said Gerald Chooljian, president of Del Rey Pack-ing Company. “If we don’t, this indus-try is going to die.”

Coming together is not going to be easy. Growers and packers have just begun the process for hashing out the priceforthisyear’scrop.Andsofar,thetwo sides are far apart.

Both sides remain tight-lipped about the negotiations and will soon start a

conciliation process overseen by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Last year, the growers negotiated a priceof$1,600atonfortheircrop,butseveral packers have balked at paying that much for this year’s crop, saying the demand for raisins has softened.

Glen Goto, president of the Raisin Bargaining Association, a grower-ledgroup, said the market may be sluggish, but it also has a tendency to fluctuate.

“We just need to calibrate the right price levels,” Goto said.

Goto and others expect the crop to be about 300,000 tons, a drop from last year’s 335,000 tons. In the future, that figure could drop even further, as more vineyards are removed to make way for higher-value crops like almonds.

THE WORLD MARKETDOESN’TALWAYSCARETHATWE HAVE ONE OF THE BESTPRODUCTS, THEY JUST CAREABOUTTHEPRICE.

Troy Gillespie, president of River Ranch Raisins

This year, raisins were farmed on

175,000 acres.“When I started with the RBA in

2002, we had 280,000,” Goto said. “That is what has happened to this in-dustry.”

How many more acres will be re-moved remains to be seen. But at least one grower and packer says more needs to come out to achieve a better balance between supply and demand.

Troy Gillespie, president of River

Ranch Raisins near Biola, said a strong U.S. dollar coupled with increased for-eign competition have weakened de-mand for California raisins.

Nearly a dozen countries produceraisins and have slowly begun eating away at California’s share of the foreign market. The California industry exports about 30 percent of its crop annually.

“I feel for growers because right now California raisins can’t compete,” Gil-lespie said. “The world market doesn’t always care that we have one of the best products, they just care about the price.”

Gillespie and others see more acreage being removed and a hastened pace for mechanizing the labor-intensive har-vest of grapes. Growers like Chooljian are also in line to plant a new grape va-riety that dries completely on the vine, without the need to cut the grape and dry it on paper trays.

“There is no question things are changing, and I believe that we will come out of this stronger,” Gillespie said. “But as growers and packers, our interests need to be aligned. We can’t be fighting all the time.”

Raisin growers and packers stalled on price for crop

The world market doesn’t always care that we have one of the best products, they just care about the price.

- Troy Gillespie, President of

River Ranch Raisins

John Walker/The Fresno BeeTop and bottom: Workers at Del Rey Packing Company sort and process raisins while Gerald Chooljian, president of Del Rey Packing Company, talks about the 2016 California raisin harvest.


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By Octavio Blanco, CNNMoneySeptember 29, 2016

Americanfarmerssaytheyarefacinga severe worker shortage.

More than half of U.S. farm workers are undocumented immigrants, accord-ing to the U.S. Department of Labor. Yet,thatpoolofworkersisshrinking.

ArecentPewResearchreport foundthat more Mexican immigrants are now leaving the U.S.than coming into the country, citing tougher enforcement of immigration laws and the slow eco-nomic recovery here in the U.S. (The report accounted for both documented and undocumented immigrants).

With fewer workers, farm owners say costs are rising and they often must leave unpicked fruit to rot in the fields. Many producers are even opting to leave the U.S. for countries with lower costs andfewerregulations,saidTomNassif,

CEOofWesternGrowers,a tradeor-ganizationthatrepresentsfarmownersboth in the U.S. and abroad.

“We’re pretty much begging for work-ers. It’s very bleak,” he said.

Related: 7 things to know about our

food systemThe competition for workers has sent

average farm worker wages up 5% in thepastyear,to$12anhour,accordingtotheU.S.DepartmentofAgriculturefigures.That’s $2higher thanCalifor-nia’s $10 minimum wage, with somefarmerssayingtheypayasmuchas$15anhour,accordingtoNassif.

And costs keep rising. Two weeksago, California said it will expand its overtime rules to include migrant farm workers starting in 2019. That means farm owners will have to pay one and half times the employee’s regular rate after they have worked a certain num-ber of consecutive hours.

With increased competition for labor, workers are also asking for and win-ning better working conditions, such as a 15-minute shade break for each hour of work.

“If they don’t like how they’re be-

The worker shortage facing America’s farmers

ContributedA fruit picker balances on a ladder.

See Worker Shortage; Page 13


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By Dave Kranz, Ag AlertOctober 5, 2016

Long-awaited proposed regulations on use of agricultural pesticides near schools and child-care centers have been released, triggering a seven-week comment period for statewide rules in-tended to take effect next September.

The California Department of Pesti-cide Regulation released the proposal last week, saying the regulation would “give further protections to children when agricultural pesticides are applied close to schools and child day-care fa-cilities.” DPR said the regulation would affect about 3,500 public schools and li-censed child-care facilities in the state; family day-care homes are not included.

AccordingtoDPR,theproposedreg-ulation would:

• Prohibit many pesticide appli-cations within a quarter-mile of public K-12 schools and child-care facilities from Monday through Friday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The prohibitionwould apply to all fumigant applications and to all applications by aircraft, sprin-

klers or air-blast sprayers. In addition, most dust and/or powder pesticide ap-plications, such as sulfur, would also be prohibited in those locations and during those times, unless they are field-in-jected. Most other ground applications would be allowed as before but would require a 25-foot minimum distance from the school or child-care facility.

• Require farmersandpest con-trol contractors to notify schools, child-care facilities and county agricultural commissioners when certain pesticide applications are made within a quarter-mile of the schools and facilities.

The notification would be a two-step process. Growers would be required to notify affected schools and child-care centers annually about all pesticides expected to be used during the upcom-ing year; the notice would need to be providedbyApril30eachyear.Inad-dition, an application-specific notice would be required to the school or fa-cility 48 hours before each permitted application to be conducted Monday throughFriday,6a.m.to6p.m.

The proposal also includes require-ments about the content of the notices,

which would include the names of pes-ticide products to be used, the name of the active ingredient, and other infor-mation.

DPR said the regulation would also allow schools or child-care facilities to develop alternative written agreements with farmers and agricultural commis-sioners, that provide equal or more pro-tection and to which all parties consent. The agreements would be enforced by county agricultural commissioners.

Many California counties already impose varying requirements for noti-fication of certain pesticide applications near schools, but DPR said its proposed regulation would be the first statewide standard.

The director of environmental affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federa-tion, Cynthia Cory, said Farm Bureau has been actively involved in discussions with DPR about the proposed regula-tion, and would be submitting com-ments.

“We do not believe this extra level of regulation is needed, so we will work with people at DPR to make sure they recognizethereal-worldneedsoffarm-

ers trying to produce food in these loca-tions. We will need farmers to weigh in with their concerns,” Cory said.

During a series of five public work-shops on the topic last year, anti-pes-ticide activists called for a mile-wide bufferzonenearschoolsandchild-carefacilities where all pesticide use would be prohibited.

Farmers who testified at the work-shops said they already follow specific protocols if applying pesticides near schools, and expressed concern about construction of new schools in agricul-tural areas.

Cory noted that CFBF had supported a bill in the state Legislature this year that would have required additional oversight and public comment before a newschoolcouldbebuiltonlandzonedfor agriculture.

“That’s a side of this issue that deserves further examination,” she said. “Many of the potential conflicts the new DPR regulation is intended to address could be avoided altogether if planning agen-cies refused to place new schools amid active farms.”

Proposal would affect pesticide use near schools

See Proposal; Page 9


8858 9314

NEW RULESContinued from Page 1

FAACT CLASS XIVContinued from Page 1

“The new method for limiting use guards against harm from the extended use of this fumigant, while retaining it as a tool to fight pests that could other-wise harm California agriculture.”

1,3-D is a fumigant pesticide that is injected into the soil to sterilize it before the crop is planted. In2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyclassified it as a likely carcinogen, and it is included on California’sProposition65listofchemical“knowntothe state to cause cancer.”

California is the only state to limit how much of the pesticide can be used annually in any area. 1,3-D is also a restricted material, and as such can only be ap-plied by trained, certified applicators under a permit fromaCountyAgriculturalCommissioner.

In the last decade, DPR’s regulations allowed grow-ers to use varying amounts of 1,3-D in a township annually. These limits ranged from 90,250 pounds to more than 180,500 pounds provided growers used less in other years. It also allowed unused allocations

of the pesticide to be carried over into the follow-ingyears. Asa resultof theseflexible limits, somegrowersoftenusedmorethan136,000poundsofthispesticide annually per township. That will no longer be allowed to continue.

The new annual limit of 1,3-D was developed after DPR completed a comprehensive scientific study of this chemical, known as a risk assessment, and after reviewing air monitoring data.

“DPR is continuously revising and updating how pesticides are used in California,” said Leahy. “While our studies continue to show that we have been pro-tective of human health, I believe that overhauling the way we manage the pesticide, to be based upon a fixed annual amount, will be health protective and simpler to manage.”

More background can be found at http://cdpr.ca.gov/docs/whs/1_3_d.htm

*Onetownship,inMercedCounty,willbetempo-rarily restricted to a lower limit of 115,000 pounds untilJan2018.Allpoundsof1,3-Dareadjustedus-ing application factors that include fumigation meth-od, month, and region.

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Jason Tikijian, Office Manager/Controller12501 Road 19, Madera, CA 93637Email [email protected]

Office 559-664-8863Fax 559-664-8221





John Yergat, President12501 Road 19, Madera, CA 93637Email [email protected]

Office 559-664-8863Cell 559-960-6791Fax 559-664-8221 61

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12945

By Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler, The Sacramento BeeSeptember 15, 2016

In a move that foreshadows sweeping statewide reductions in the amount of river water available for human needs, California regulators on Thursday pro-posed a stark set of cutbacks to cities and farms that receive water from the San Joaquin River and its tributaries.

To protect endangered fish at critical parts of their life cycle, regulators pro-posed leaving hundreds of thousands of additional acre-feet of water in the San JoaquinRiver system.As little as20 percent of the river now flows unim-peded to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and regulators said they want the so-called “natural” flow raised to at least 30 percent and perhaps as high as 50 percent.

The proposal by staff members at the

State Water Resources Control Board is yet another effort to improve the eco-system of one of California’s most over-used river systems, where flows some-times drop to a comparative trickle. OverhaulingtheSanJoaquinsystemissure to add new drama to the conflicts over California’s stretched water supply, a situation that has been complicated by the onset of drought five years ago.

The five-person board will gather input from farmers, environmentalists and others before voting on a plan, like-ly early next year.

With more water devoted to fish and other environmental needs, the propos-al could lead to substantial cuts in water deliveries to San Francisco, Modesto, Merced and Turlock, as well as San Joaquin Valley farmers who pull from the rivers to water their crops. The pro-cess is likely to entail legal and political fights, as many of those cities and farm

groups hold so-called “senior” water rights, whose historic claims on water have traditionally buffered them from cutbacks.

The proposal set off alarm bells in San Francisco, which has been draw-ing water from the Tuolumne River for nearly a century. “This could have seriousimplicationsforthe2.6millionwater customers we serve throughout the Bay Area,” said Charles Sheehan,spokesman for the city’s Public Utilities Commission.

State officials propose leaving any-where between 288,000 and 485,000 acre-feet of additional water in the river system. Water board staff said the plan would curb agricultural production by an estimated $64 million a year. Thatrepresents 2.5 percent of the annual farm production in the affected areas.

Farm groups, already struggling with dropoffs in water deliveries during the drought, said they believe the impact would be far greater.

Mike Wade of the California Farm Water Coalition said the region served by the San Joaquin watershed is heavily planted in vineyards, nut trees and oth-er high-value crops, and the decline in outputwouldbecloserto$150million.The California Farm Bureau Federa-tion said the plan could idle as many as 240,000 acres of Central Valley farm-land “with no guarantee the redirection of water will help the fish.”

One of the state’s leading fishinggroups, on the other hand, applauded the announcement. John McManus, executive director of the Golden Gate SalmonAssociation,describedthepro-posal as “a historic step to right a wrong”

that has imperiled numerous species, including salmon, smelt and steelhead trout.

“Nowwehaveachancetoatleastsavesome of the salmon that still survive in the San Joaquin and its tributaries by leaving a little bit of water for them,” he said in an emailed statement.

The several thousand pages of docu-ments released by the water board rep-resent the first phase in a sweeping set of regulatory updates that eventually will determine just how much water must be left in the Delta ecosystem. Fe-licia Marcus, the board’s chairwoman, said the standards haven’t been updated since 1995.

“The current standards are out of date, and fish populations have plum-meted,” she said on a conference call with reporters. The fish “need far more water left in the river to have a chance at survival.”

She also said regulators are trying to minimizeharmtofarmsandcities–atask that she admits won’t be easy.

“Youwillhearwe’vedonetoomuch,”she told reporters. “You will hear wehaven’tdoneenough.Youwillnothearanyone tell us we got it just right.”

In the coming months, the state board also will re-examine water flows into the Delta from the Sacramento River. Regulators said that they don’t expect changes in flow requirements there would be as drastic.

The state board is charged with over-seeing California’s complicated system of senior and junior water rights, while making sure enough water is allocated to environmental purposes. A 1969

An era of limits: California proposes steering more water to fish, less to farms, cities

See Era of Limits; Page 12


By Rachael Freeman Contributor, Kimiora Ward,September 2, 2016

Bloom where you’re planted.That old adage takes on more mean-

ing when you plant wildflower strips on your farm. Wildflowers add resilience to our farming systems by providing bees with habitat and food - pollen and nectar.And they’re not just for honeybees. Many native bees, such as bumble bees and blue orchard bees, are impor-tant crop pollinators. Currently about a third of our crops benefit from bee pol-lination. This includes vegetables, fruit and nuts, as well as crops grown for seed production, including sunflower, melon, and carrot.

Farmers primarily rely on honey bees for crop pollination; generally two colo-nies per acre are needed. Honey bees are efficient pollinators, but with colony collapse and increasing colony losses, we must diversify our farming systems so we don’t rely solely on honey bees.

Some important native bee crop pol-linators include bumble bees, sunflower bees, squash bees, mason bees (blue or-chard bees, which pollinate almonds, are mason bees) and leafcutter bees.

The benefits of native bees? Generally they forage on flowers earlier in the day than honey bees do, they tolerate more wind and cooler temperatures and of-ten they’re more efficient at gathering and moving pollen from one flower to another.Nativebeesalsoprompthoneybees to disperse more, resulting in more pollinator efficiency. All this is im-portant for good pollination and crop production, especially for crops like al-monds that bloom in late winter when the weather is more unpredictable.

Many native bees, including squash bees, nest in the soil, generally exca-vating chambers about 12 inches deep, where they pack cells with pollen for their young. Bumble bees often occupy

vacated rodent holes. Leafcutter bees nest in woody cavities, often taking ad-vantage of old beetle galleries. Discing and land clearing removes their nest-ing sites and potential food sources, but if you add wildflower plantings and hedgerows of flowering shrubs on your farm, that brings them back. Farms with strips of flowers along field edges have higher numbers of native bees than those that do not. Honey bees also ben-efit from better nutrition from flowers, strengthening their resiliency to pests, diseases, and pesticides.

A recent study, Pest Control andPollination Cost–Benefit Analysis ofHedgerow Restoration in a Simplified Agricultural Landscape, published byUCAgricultureandNaturalResources(UCANR)andUCBerkeley,describesthe economic value of these plantings. Generally,a$4,000investmenttoplanta 1,000-foot hedgerow of native Cali-fornia plants, takes about seven years to pay off from enhanced pest control and pollination services from natural enemies and bees (where honey bees are limiting). If cost-share funding is avail-

able from theUSDA, thiswill reducethe investment cost for the restoration and time on returns.

Although habitat plantings are defi-nitely beneficial, some farmers have expressed concern that these plantings will bring in more pests, including ro-dents, birds and weeds. However, cur-rent UC ANR studies show strips offlowers on field edges export beneficial insects into adjacent crops for enhanced pest control. The wildflower strips are too small to support large numbers of rodents or flocking birds that can dam-

age crops (with the possible exception of ground squirrels and cottontail rabbits), and weeds requiring management are present regardless of field edge habitat.

Water?Althoughit’shotanddryoutright now, many wildflowers do not need summer water. This includes Bo-lander’s sunflower (great for songbirds like goldfinches, but the seeds should not be included in row crop mixes as they will cross-pollinate with our hybrid sunflower seeds), milkweed (great for monarch butterflies), vinegarweed, tar-weed, gumplant, turkey mullein (doves love these seeds), and summer lupine. Bees, including natives and honey bees, thrive on these hardy flowers, especially now that the growing season is ending, and few crops are blooming.

Look for more information on wild-flower and hedgerow plantings on the Hedgerow Hub website, , theXerces Society website, and UC Davis fact sheet Habitat for bees and beneficials.

Networking is important too. A re-centUCANRsurveyshowedthatnet-working among growers, landowners, and conservation agencies is crucial in the adoption and implementation of new ideas, such as wildflower plantings.

Bottom line: Wildflower strips can ensure a healthy, sustainable food sup-ply for crops that rely on bee pollina-tion. “Bloom where you’re planted” equals “Reap what you sow.”

How wildflower plantings on farms benefit bees and crop polination

013507

Photo ContributedGumplant next to almonds, Yolo County, August 2016.

Unitversity of CaliforniaBumblebee.

A fact sheet about the proposedregulation may be found atwww.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/legbills/pesticide_use_near_schools.pdf.

Two public hearings have been sched-uledontheproposal,Nov.15inOxnardand Nov. 16 in Tulare. Written com-mentsonthedraftregulation,dueNov.17, may be submitted via [email protected]

PROPOSALContinued from Page 6



By Dennis Pollock, Contributing Writer Western Farm PressSeptember 14, 2016

A California delegation includingleaders of the state’s almond industry traveled back to the future recently with a visit to Israel where modern drip ir-rigation systems were introduced at a desertkibbutzinthe1960s.

It appears the Israelis have more to share with those looking to save and reuse water while meeting climate challenges, judging from comments by Helm almond grower Don Cameron with Terranova Farms and Bob Curtis, director of agricultural affairs with the AlmondBoardofCalifornia.

Curtis and Cameron were part of the 18-member delegation led by Cali-fornia Department of Food and Ag-riculture Secretary Karen Ross. She says California can plenty from Israel’s technological innovations, efficient ir-rigation, recycled water practices, and plant breeding for drought conditions and salinity.

The delegation’s travels included a vis-ittoNetafim,theirrigationtechnologycompanyintheNegevDesertfoundedin1965bydripsystemcreatorSimchaBlassandtheKibbutzHalzerim.

The company also does business in California, where more than 70 percent of almond growers now use drip and micro sprinkler irrigation, reducing the water needed to grow almonds by 33 percent in the past 20 years.

The delegates also visited Rootility, a startup plant breeding company that developed a new way to give plants heartier root systems. It accomplishes this with a condition simulation system focused on improving a plant’s resil-ience to extreme temperature, drought, and salinity.

The idea is that the better the plant’s roots then the better it can use water and nutrients which improves resistance to stressful conditions.

Cameron said Rootility is also work-ing with Lucero Farms, a Morningstar company that produces processing to-matoes in Los Banos.

Cameron said a visit to the kibbutzwas in some ways “like stepping back intime.”Atthesametime,thevisitorsfound every indication that innovators

there are more than one step into the future.

For example, Cameron said it was eye-opening to visit a jojoba planting, a Netafim plantation that is 14-yearsold and has an original subsurface drip system which has performed with few problems and no replacements.

He believes the idea of subsurface drip could work in almonds. Most al-monds are grown with above-ground drip, but Cameron said it could result in a cleaner floor for harvesting. Sub-surface drip is more commonly used in vegetable crops.

“There would be less evaporation be-cause there’s not a wetting surface,” he said.“Andweedsdon’tdevelop.”

He added that above-ground drip sometimes gets caught in equipment passing through an orchard.

“Adisadvantage is thatyoucan’t seethe water coming out,” Cameron said. “But infrared photos from the air can spot a dry area. We hire a company to fly our ranch already to measure water stress and plant mass.”

Cameron said there was some interest years ago in California related to grow-ing jojoba, a bush-like plant that resem-bles a high density olive tree. But that has abated. Jojoba berries are pressed for oil used in cosmetics as a botanical for many personal care products.

Curtis said the delegation visit clearly demonstrated that the farmers in Cali-

fornia have much in common with their counterparts in Israel and can work together to meet water and climate changes.

In a blog pasted after the visit to Is-rael, Secretary Ross said innovation and technology have helped Israel move from water scarcity to water security. She said this is due largely to a focus on using recycled water for irrigation on all crops.

Ross says about 85 percent of the country’s wastewater is recycled for ag-ricultural use, compared to just 9.5 per-cent in California.

“The country is able to produce most of the food it requires to feed its citi-zens,yetitspercapitawateruseisoneone-third of California’s,” the Secretary says.

Cameron said he was surprised the country is “water independent.” He ex-plained that, as in California, consider-able water moves north to south, in this case from the Sea of Galilee southward, adding that he was also surprised that the body of water is “a large fresh water lake.”

He also learned there are seven major desalination plants along the country’s coastline.

Cameron and other members of the delegation said they saw a lot of purple pipe, an international indicator that it is channeling water that has been treated, and then recycled.

“We need to look at every source we have, we have to use any water we have,” he said.

Terranova Ranch is a highly diversi-fied farming operation including al-monds, onions, canning tomatoes, car-rots, and wine grapes.

Could subsurface drip irrigation work in California almonds?

Chris Boswell/Thinkstock “The country is able to produce most of the food it requires to feed its citizens, yet its per capita water use is one one-third of California’s.”


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statelawand1986courtrulinggivethewater board the authority to take sup-plies from water rights holders, but legal experts say there’s plenty of gray area and a final decision could get tied up in court, possibly for years.

Steve Knell, general manager of the Oakdale Irrigation District, offered ablunt reaction to Thursday’s announce-ment.

“We are going to challenge it,” he said. “We don’t think this is the correct way to address water issues in Califor-nia.”

With scientists predicting warmer winters and longer droughts in the years ahead, Gov. Jerry Brown and state regu-lators repeatedly have warned urban and rural residents that they should prepare for a new era of limits. But, in practice, the water board has had a mixed record when it comes to reining in the state’s historically liberal water use.

Last year, the board ordered some se-

nior water rights holders to stop taking water from the Delta, and fined one dis-trict$1.5millionforignoringitsorder.But it backed off when it acknowledged it couldn’t prove the district wasn’t en-titled to the water.

Earlier this spring, the board also scrapped its year-old conservation rules that forced urban water agencies to cut consumption by an average of 25 percent over 2013. Districts now are allowed to set their own conservation standards, and urban water use is on the rise.

Marcus said she believes the water board has the legal authority to order districts to leave more water in the San Joaquin and its tributaries, but she’s hoping they’ll come to the table rather than fight.

“We’re hoping they’ll work with us, and they’ll chip in their fair share,” she said.

The Sacramento and San Joaquin riv-ers merge to form the largest estuary on the West Coast, a fragile ecosystem that serves as the hub of California’s water

delivery network. Two government-run pumping plants in the south Delta deliver water to 25 million people in SouthernCaliforniaandtheBayArea,as well as 3 million acres of farmland in the San Joaquin Valley.

During the years of drought, Central Valley farmers have turned to intensive groundwater pumping to make up for lost surface supplies, critically depleting aquifers in some basins. State officials acknowledged Thursday that the new plan would lead to even more pumping as farmers compensate for further cut-backs.

Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, said Californians must reckon with a water system that’s been taxed beyond its lim-its.

“Even if you were to capture every drop of water that fell in the San Joa-quin Basin, you’re not going to have enough water for all of the people that are expecting water,” Lund said. “It’s simple arithmetic.”

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WORkER ShORTAgEContinued from Page 5ing treated or what they’re being paid, they’ll just go to another farm,” said Nassif.

Still, the increased pay, improved working conditions and overtime ben-efitshavefailedtoattractmanyAmeri-can workers.

“Of the 300 workers I have in thefield,twoareAmericans,”saidJoeDelBosque, a farm owner in Firebaugh, California.

One big reason: The work can bevery labor intensive, saidNassif. Pick-ing strawberries, tomatoes or melons requires bending down or kneeling all day. Picking tree fruits, like oranges and peaches, means carrying 10- to 20-pound bushels while balancing on ladders in all sorts of weather condi-tions.

Related: How farmers use ‘digital ag-riculture’ to grow more crops

Jorge Negrete, a formerly undocu-

mented immigrant farm worker who isnowacitizenandafarmmanagerinCalifornia, says thatof theAmericanshe’s seen come to work on the farm he manages, few stick around for more than a day.

But it’s not just the physical labor that’s problematic. It’s the seasonal and

migratory nature of the job that’s likely adeterrent,Nassifsaid.

“If you told Amazon delivery peo-ple that every several weeks or several months they’d have to move to a differ-ent city or county, I doubt that they’d be working for the company,” he said. “Americanswantstablejobswithvaca-

tion and other benefits. That doesn’t ex-ist in agriculture.”

TheonlywayNassifbelievesAmeri-can workers could be enticed back onto the fields is through the use of technol-ogy, like crop-picking robots, he said, where they would be able to put their higher educations as engineers and technicians to use. But he noted that advances have been too slow and not enough money is being invested into re-search and development.

“Millions of dollars are being invest-ed into this technology, but it should be inthemulti-billions,”Nassifsaid.

Western Growers has created a center for innovation and technology in Sali-nas, California, to develop new tech-nologies like these. The organizationalso brings in entrepreneurs to work and meet with farmers who would buy or invest in their technology. It also brings in venture capitalists and creates funds for investors.

“That’swhereweseethefuture,”Nas-sif said.

Contributed More farms are using drones to monitor crops.

and Power in Sacramento, and contrib-uted chapters to two other books, Re-makingCaliforniaandTheNewPoliti-cal Geography of California. He is also a frequent guest on national television news shows, commenting on California politics.

MCFB also has a gun raffle under-way…For $100 you can purchase a

calendar that enters you into a weekly gun drawing. We will be giving away one gun a week for the entire 2017 year. That’s52weeksofguns!Sopleasecomeout and support your local farm bureau and buy a gun raffle calendar. For more information and/or tickets for either the Ag United Harvest CelebrationandAnnualMeetingorthegunraffle,please contact the MCFB office.

ED’S ADDRESSContinued from Page 2


Madera Irrigation District (MID or District) has partnered with the County of Madera (County) to transfer the bill-ing and collection duties for the Dis-trict’s assessments and standby charges to the County. The transfer will take effect this year with the 2017 assess-ments and 2016 standby charges. Theassessments and standby charges will be included on the County of Madera’s property tax bill, which will be mailed by the County in mid-October. TheDistrict’s assessments and standby

charges will be reflected on the County tax bill as a one-line item direct charge and will be subject to the due dates and penalties set by the County of Madera. While the District will no longer mail invoices for assessments and standby charges, the District will still continue to bill directly forwater usage. Also,prior years’ delinquent assessments will continue to be paid to MID.

The District believes this change will be a benefit to all landowners, simplify-ing the payment process as one payment

can be made for County property taxes, MID assessments, and MID standby charges.Also,asanaddedbenefit,theCounty accepts a variety of payment options including credit card, debit card, electronic check, cash, check, ca-shier’s check, and money order (credit card, debit card, and electronic check payments will incur a convenience fee). If you have any questions regarding this change or your bill, please call Madera Irrigation District

Madera Irrigation District to transfer billing and collection duties to county of madera

KEY DATES• Mid-October: County Tax Bills Mailed• December 10, 2016: 1st Installment Due• April 10, 2017: 2nd Installment DueThe one-line item direct charge on the property tax bill will include MID assessments and standby charges, if applicable.


Youdon’thavetolivenear a canyon or for-est for your property to be threatened by wild-fire.Nearly 1/3ofU.S.homes are in wildfire-prone areas, according to the Insurance Insti-tute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS).

The impact of a wild-fire can be tragic and expensive. For instance, in 2014, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior spent a staggering$1.8billioncombatingfires.

Key to lessening the damage to homes and businesses is knowledge and prepa-ration.

Wildfire-prone states Wildfires can, and do, happen in ev-

erystate.MSNRealEstatereportedinOctober 2013 that these states face a“very high risk” of wildfires:

• Texas• California• Colorado• Oregon• Arizona• NewMexico• Montana• Utah• Idaho• Nevada

Wildfire SeasonWildfire season is not

confined to one time of the year or one region of the country. For in-stance:

• Early spring:Wildfire season typi-cally begins in Texas and moves across the Southeast to Flori-da before hitting the Northeast.

• Latespring:TheSouthwest• Mid- to late-summer: Pacific

NorthwestandNorthernCalifornia.• Fall: Southern California. A sec-

ondary fire season also hits the East and Southeast as leaves begin to fall.

How families can prepareResidents should create and practice

an evacuation plan that includes an agreed-upon meeting spot, a list of who will be notified about your evacuation and where you’ll get fire updates.

TheArizonaEmergencyInformationNetwork’swildfireevacuationguideof-fers these tips:

Know the 5 P’s of immediate evacu-ation

• Peopleandpets• Papersandimportantdocuments• Prescriptions

• Pictures and irreplaceablememo-ries

• Personalcomputers

Prepare your home• Move flammable furniture to the

center of the home• Close shutters, blinds and heavy

drapes• Close fireplace dampers and

screens• Shutallinteriorandexteriordoors,

and leave them unlocked• Putanoteonthefrontdoorwith

names of all evacuees, time and date of evacuation, the intended destination and contact information

• Placealadderoutsideforaccesstothe roof

How businesses can prepareIBHS suggests local businesses pre-

pare a business continuity plan to deal with the potential effects of wildfires and offers a free toolkit to help with di-saster recovery.

Theorganizationalsorecommends:• Keeping debris and combustible

material from accumulating on roofs, gutters and around the structure

• Enclosing the bottom of elevateddecks, and not storing combustible ma-terials below the deck

• Covering attic and crawl spacevents with metal mesh screens to reduce

entry points for wind-driven embers• Creatingdefensiblespaceupto100

feet from the structures that serves as a layer of protection between the business and wildfire

Have a disaster kit readyHomes and businesses should also

have an emergency disaster kit, con-taining at the minimum:

• Firstaidsupplies• Emergencytools• Medications• Battery-poweredradio• Flashlightandextrabatteries• Carkeys• Cashandcreditcards• Water• Non-perishablefood• Blanketsorsleepingbags

Communities in wildfire-prone areas need to be prepared. Following these steps can help protect your family, home or business from a wildfire.

Article contributed by Nationwide,which is endorsed by the Califor-nia Farm Bureau Federation. Margie Piercy, Sponsor Relations Business De-velopment Director, can be reached at [email protected].

How to Prepare Your Home or Business for Wildfire Season

“Production in the Central Valley will probably be more average this year, except for the southern region which is like-ly to be average or less. There some early-harvest Chardon-nay yields were coming in 20 percent to 25 percent under previous estimates. It will be hard to make up for that differ-ence in the total Chardonnay crop.”

Prices of coastal wine grapes, which traditionally are higher than Central Valley fruit, re-main strong, Proctor notes.

Following last year’s light coastal wine grape crop, where production of most major coastal varieties fell 25 percent

to 30 percent below 2014 lev-els, contract and spot market grape prices this year remain strong and are up across the board from a year ago, Proctor reports.

Also,bulkwinesareinshortsupply on the coast.

“Before last year’s crush, wineries weren’t worried much about supply after the three previous very large crops,” Proctor says. “Now, they aremore concerned strategically about having grapes for the coastal brands they’re trying to grow. So supply, once consid-ered a little bit of a dirty word, has become more attractive to them.”

WINE gRAPESContinued from Page 3


1356

8

State Fund for County Farm Bureaus

Protect your eyes at all timesBy Mike Burns, Farm Bureau Group ManagerOctober, 2016

Eye injuries happen much to fre-quently in the United States. The rate is somethinglike2,000perday.Accord-ing to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis-tics, three out of five workers who suf-fer eye injuries wore no eye protection atthetimeoftheinjury.Andofthosewho did wear protection, two of every five wore the wrong kind.

Experts believe that proper eye pro-tection could have prevented or reduced the severity of injury in at least 90 per-cent of these accidents. It makes good sense to wear safety eyewear whenever there is a chance that machines or op-erations present the hazard of flyingobjects, chemicals, harmful radiation or otherhazards.

Here are some steps to follow to help prevent eye injuries either to you or oth-er workers:

• Conductathoroughanalysisofthe work to be done and the equipment that will be used. Inspect work areas and equipment and identify operations andareasthatpresenteyehazards.

• Select protective eyewear de-signedforaspecificoperationorhazard.ProtectiveeyewearmustmeetOccupa-tional Safety and Health Administra-tion standards.

• Forbestprotectionagainsteyeinjury, wear eye protection whenever it is warranted and require workers to do thesame.Allownoexceptions.

• Protectiveeyewearthatdoesn’tfit properly and comfortably is not likely to be used. To ensure the eyewear is satisfactory, have it fitted by an eye care professional.

• Plan for an emergency.Estab-lish first-aid procedures for eye inju-ries. Make eyewash stations accessible, particularly where chemicals are used. Train employees in basic first aid and identify those with more advanced first-

aid training.• Educate and review. Conduct

ongoing educational programs to estab-lish, maintain and reinforce the need for protective eyewear. Continuously review and when necessary revise your accident prevention strategies.

Another thing to keep in mind isthat uncorrected vision problems can contribute to accidents. Be sure to have your eyes examined periodically and encourageworkers todo the same.Aswe grow older, most of us will experi-ence a condition called “presbyopia,” which is the slow loss of the ability to see close objects or small print. This is a normal process that happens over a lifetime. Many people do not notice a change until after the age of 40. This situation can usually be corrected with reading glasses.

State Fund has a wealth of informa-tion on safety topics available for easy access on our website at www.state-fundca.com. Click on “Employers” and

then “Resources” to find the extensive list of topics.

Today, State Fund is the largest work-ers’ compensation carrier in California. State Fund has regional offices through-out the state, which provide a full range of services to policyholders and injured workers. We provide coverage to em-ployersofallsizes,from“momandpop”operationstomajororganizations.

Since 1943, the California Farm Bu-reau and State Fund partnership has provided farmers with affordable work-er compensation insurance coverage and accident prevention training for agricul-tural employers and their employees. In addition to providing farm and ranch employers with workers’ compensation insurance protection, we also have tak-en on the mission of assisting employers in providing safe places to work.

Documents

Madera County FarM Bureau · 2019. 9. 29. · Madera County FarM Bureau October 2016 Vol. 6, No. 10 Ag United Harvest agriculture today Celebration Annual Meeting October 23, 2016