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By Lewis Griswold, The Fresno BeeOctober 21, 2016

A state water agency has told some farmers in Tulare County that their operations caused nitrates to get into drinking water, and that the con-tamination must be replaced with a clean source.

If the farmers don’t do it volun-tarily, the state will order them to do so, the enforcement division of the State Water Resources Control Board says in a confidential letter obtained by The Bee.

Nitrates in drinking water can harm human health, and in infants causes blue-baby syndrome. Nitrates are a byproduct of nitrogen in fertil-izers used in agriculture for decades, although some farmers point out ni-

trates also occur naturally.Dated Sept. 14, the four-page,

single-spaced letter, along with a 27-page proposed order, were sent to farmers who run operations of more than 600 acres in the citrus belt on the east side of the southern San Joaquin Valley.

(Farmers must) provide and pay for the provision of uninterrupted replacement water which may in-clude wellhead treatment to each affected public water supplier and private well owners.

State Water Resources Control Board, enforcement division

The letter calls for farmers “to provide and pay for the provision of uninterrupted replacement water, which may include wellhead treat-

State letter to farmers demands water to fix nitrate problem

Will New California Buffer Zones Protect Children From Pesticides?

Lawmakers have proposed pesticide-free zones around schools and daycare centers. Environmental and community activists say they fall short, given pesticides’ reach and persistence; pesticide manufacturers say they’re unwarranted.

By Elizabeth GrossmanOctober 19, 2016

Tens of thousands of Califor-nia children attend schools located within a quarter mile of a farm field where pesticides are used. Now the state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is proposing the

first regulations that would restrict this use.

California produces about half of all fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States, so environ-mental health advocates argue that the children in question are being exposed disproportionately to these

CaleNDarNovember8 election Day8 MCFB Board of Directors meeting 1pm, MCFB Ben Hayes Hall11 Veteran’s Day15 Madera County Board of Supervisors meeting16 Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit expo @ Fresno Fairgrounds 7am-2pm more info visit: http:/ agexpo.biz/gntfexpo/index.html18 Madera County Farm Bureau and Central Valley Farmland Trust Gathering at Toca Madera Winery 4pm-7. For more info call 559 567-585419 The Annual Holiday Art Affair 10am – 4pm Madera County Arts Council & Circle Gallery24-25 – Thanksgiving, MCFB office closed

December3 Chowchilla Sub basin SGMa meeting 2 pm location TBD6 Madera County Board of Supervisors meeting20 Madera County Board of Supervisors meeting23-31– MCFB office closed

See State Letter; Page 11

Lewis Griswold/The Fresno BeeCitrus farmer Robert LoBue said farmers are reporting how much nitrogen they use. LoBue was one of 27 farmers in Tulare County to receive a letter saying they must replace drinking water contaminated by nitrates due to farming.

See Buffer Zones; Page 13

2 | November 2016 Madera County Farm Bureau

Madera County Farm Bureau

news Well, its official, the 2016 harvest for Madera County farmers has come to an end and we look to finishing all the year-end work that needs to be done be-fore “HOPEFULLY” it rains and keeps us out of the fields. Just think, we’ll be doing

it all over again in 2017!I would like for everyone to take a

moment to reflect upon the year. Revel in the positive. Learn from the negative points how to be abreast of those issues moving forward.

I have been told that as time goes by, it gets easier. As I reflect on this saying, I disagree. Even though the operational facet of farming has become easier, the regulatory side has become more com-plex. Let’s not focus on the bad, but rather highlight the positives.

As Farm Bureau wraps up its fis-cal year, I would like to share that we have done quite a bit of work. We have worked very close with our local part-ners, Madera Irrigation District and Chowchilla Water District, to forge a stronger bond and to create better strat-

egies in understanding and complying with SGMA.

Noticeably, we have become more involved in our local communities. A key aspect, as we are all neighbors and friends regardless of our occupations. We all need to work towards a better understanding of our neighbors’ points of view.

I would like to give a special thank you to all that attended our annual meeting and harvest celebration that was held on October 23 at the Chowchilla Fair-grounds. We had a great guest speaker and the event was well attended, which shows how strongly agriculture is sup-ported in Madera county. Seven of our nine scholarship recipients were pres-ent and were given recognition by our Scholarship committee chairwoman, Michele Lasgoity.

Also, we have great gratitude for the Chowchilla FFA program. We had numerous students come out and assist with setup, serving and the clean up af-ter the event. I hope some of you got a chance to interact with them because they were awesome kids.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiv-ing and hope you enjoy the holiday sea-son with your loved ones.

President’s Message

Jay Mahil,President

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.

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.

The Central Valley Farmland Trust is seeking applications for a new Ex-ecutive Director to replace retiring Executive Director, Bill Martin. CVFT has hired Nancy Painter of Painter Executive Search to assist the organization is this search.

An organizational description and position description are below. Please share widely among your net-works so that we may find the right

candidate to lead this organization into the future.

Learn more here: http://valley-farmland.org/cvft-seeks-new-execu-tive-director-position-opportunity/

For questions or more informa-tion, please call:

Nancy PainterNancy@painterexecutivesearch.

com(415) 202- 6240

CVFT Seeks New Executive Director – Position Opportunity

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

voluntary contributions for the month of October:

new MCFB donors

To BECoME A MEMBER CALL

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new MCFB MembersMCFB welcomes the following new

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Business Support members who joined in October:

Herb Kalar, Madera, GChowchilla Water District Chowchila, BS Deerpoint Group Inc., Fresno, BS Daniel Rogers, Madera, G Sierra Valley Almonds, Madera, BSAllen Haynes Fresno, PBryan Schroeder, Madera, PMatt Strope, Fresno, GJohnny Valov, Fresno, P

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Madera County Farm Bureau November 2016 | 3

By Dale Kasler, The Sacramento BeeOctober 26, 2016

Farmland values are tumbling in California’s Central Valley, reflecting a drop in key commodity prices as well as concerns over water shortages and the state’s enduring drought.

A study released Wednesday by agri-cultural lender Rabobank N.A. says the price of farmland in parts of the valley will decline by as much as 30 percent between now and the end of 2017, fol-lowing several years of substantial gains.

The drop follows declines in the prices farmers are getting for important crops such as almonds and walnuts.

Almond prices, for instance, have fallen by around 50 percent in the past year and are dragging land values down with them. Values for almond or-

chards in Tulare County, one of the top almond-growing counties in the state, are expected to fall from an average of $34,500 in 2015 to $26,000 by the end of next year, a decline of nearly 25 per-cent.

Rabobank economists Roland Fumasi and Vernon Crowder, who co-wrote the study, said the drought is playing a role, too: Land values are dropping more se-verely in parts of the state, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, where water shortages are most acute.

“The areas that have water challenges tend to have a bigger hit,” Fumasi said in an interview.

Vineyard prices, meanwhile, are hold-ing up better. Prime vineyards in Napa County, worth an average of $310,000 per acre last year, are expected to grow slightly in value by next year.

By Greg Northcutt, Contributing WriterOctober 6, 2016

With the California almond harvest moving towards an expected conclusion by mid-October, production figures are still being tallied.

However, based on yields since the harvest began in early August, a num-ber of observers anticipate the 2016 almond crop size will exceed the 2.05 billion meat pounds predicted by the National Agricultural Statistics Ser-vice in the agency’s objective forecast released July 6.

This estimate represents a 7.9 percent increase in production over 2015.

Overall, nuts coming in are grading about average in quality which is simi-lar to last year, says Paul Ewing with RPAC, LLC, an independent almond processor based in Los Banos, Calif. In

some cases, quality has suffered from unusually high levels of insect damage. Some growers have been hit extremely hard by insects, particularly ants and the Navel orangeworm.

Damage levels in those orchards have ranged as high as 5 to 10 percent, he notes. However, the industry average is tracking similar to last season at about 1.4 percent.

Sporadic cases of very high insect damage are frequently related to some growers responding to a drop in almond prices, as occurred last year, when they cut expenses including labor and chem-icals, says David Doll, University of California Cooperative Extension Ser-vice farm advisor, Merced County. This includes reducing orchard sanitation ef-forts and insecticide use.

The grower prices for their 2016 crop at the start of harvest had fallen to only about half what they were a year earlier.

For example, at the beginning of the 2015 harvest, the market valued the Nonpareil variety, about 38 percent of California’s total almond production, at about $4.50 per meat pound. By the start of the 2016 crop marketing year on Aug. 1, the price for Nonpareil kernels had sunk to around $2.40 per pound, says Ewing.

Prices for pollinators were $2.00 and

below, compared to $4.25-plus a year prior.

Meanwhile, almond demand has be-gun to perk up. The carry-out of unsold 2015 almonds into the new marketing year totaled 412 million pounds. Al-though nearly 10 percent more than from the 377 million-pound inventory on hand at the beginning of the 2015

The value of Central Valley farmland is falling. Here’s why.

Lower almond prices spark shipment increase as new marketing year begins

Shawn Hubler/Sacramento BeeAn almond grove near Winters. Falling almond prices have depressed farmland values in parts of the Central Valley.

See Almonds; Page 14

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

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

• Orchard/Vineyard Removal• Grinding • Ripping

• All Aspects of Land Devlopment



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

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

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

31


By Dennis Pollock, Western Farm PressOctober 19, 2016

This is all about a paradox.Due to superior resistance to Phy-

tophthora crown and root rot, increased vigor, and more adaptability to margin-al walnut soils, walnut trees on Paradox rootstock are the preferences of most California walnut growers, even though the rootstock is highly susceptible for the bacteria disease crown gall.

There are ways to treat for the disease caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. And the most recent developments in this include nipping it in the bud at the nursery stage before trees go out for planting.

In a research paper published 15 years ago, University of California Coopera-tive Extension (UCCE) farm advisors offered advice on surgery and chemi-cal treatment to address the issue. Their findings still stand, says one of the re-searchers, Richard Buchner, a UCCE farm advisor in Tehama and Glenn counties.

The other researcher was Bill Olson, UCCE farm advisor emeritus.

Farm advisors in the southern San Joaquin Valley have had a heightened number of farm calls concerning crown gall incidence in young walnut orchards during the 2016 growing season, says Elizabeth Fichtner, a UCCE farm ad-

visor for Tulare County.Fichtner says the infection

symptoms are so dramatic “they are already noticeable and concerning to both new and experienced growers.”

She explains that that the disease results from a soil borne pathogen that may infect the roots and crown of trees when planted in infested soil.

Fichtner said nurseries strive to mitigate infection of seed-ling rootstock by collecting the seed onto tarps and planting in un-infested soil.

“When galls caused by A. tumefaciens are observed at the graft union,” she says, “the infections likely occurred from pathogen trans-mission on infested budding knives or on infested bud material. When scion bud wood is cut from mother trees and falls to infested soil, the cut end may serve as an infection court for the pathogen, thus resulting in galls at the graft union.”

Dan Kluepfel, with the U.S. De-partment of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service in Davis, Calif., is a researcher with expertise in crown gall who has been working with nurseries to address the issue.

He learned that the bacterium can infest the rootstock seed/plant earlier

than previously realized and that the infection can easily go undetected.

“The crown gall pathogen has the ability to grow on and in the husk in high numbers,” Kluepfel said.

Moreover, fumigating the soil with methyl bromide can pose the problem of eliminating healthy bacterial microbes that could compete with the pathogenic bacterium.

The pathogen hangs out until the seed germinates, and infections may result,” he said. “No nursery would knowingly sell a tree infected with the crown gall pathogen, but since early infection is completely asymptomatic, it can go un-detected.”

To guard against this, he says nurser-ies have adopted a protocol of shaking walnuts into catchers or tarps and not letting the seeds contact the soil prior to planting in freshly fumigated soil. Early indications suggest this has reduced

the incidence of crown gall in young rootstock seedlings.

“This is a simple and rela-tively inexpensive technique to help manage this very difficult to control disease.” Kluepfel says.

Olson and Buchner outlined steps to take once crown gall has emerged. The steps in-clude removing the entire gall as thoroughly as possible with hatchets, chisels, and the like, or removing one to two inches of bark around the gall mar-gin.

Another option is treating the entire area with a chemi-

cal. The researchers say it’s best to ster-ilize all tools between uses on each tree with a disinfectant material. They also recommend watching for gall regrowth for one year and retreating with surgery and chemicals as needed.

Buchner issued this caveat: If the galls are on second leaf or smaller trees, there is not much tissue to take into account, and if heat is used, there is a greater risk of girdling the tree.

Olson and Buchner said the long term effect of using heat is unknown. But chemicals are more expensive and treatment is slower. Heat treatment is faster and less equipment is need.

With the heat treatment, it is advised to remove large galls with a hatchet to see where to apply the heat and to ob-serve any gall regrowth, apply heat from a propane torch or other gas to a one to

Key tips to avoid, manage crown gall disease in walnut

Credit: ivandzyuba/Thinkstock“The crown gall pathogen has the ability to grow on and in the husk in high numbers.”

See Key Tips; Page 14

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California raisin deliveries up compared to last yearDomestic shipments

of raisins up 4 percent in September

By Todd Fitchette, Western Farm PressOctober 13, 2016

The California-based Raisin Admin-istrative Committee announced the following deliveries to handlers for the period Oct. 2-8:

• 16,352tonsofNatural(sun-dried)Seedless (NS) raisins were delivered to handlers;

• 17,781 tons of all varietal typeswere delivered. This compares to 15,889 tons of all varietal types delivered for the same period last year;

• 42,726 tons of NS raisins havebeen delivered for the year-to-date. This compares to 47,294 tons of NS deliver-

ies as of this date a year ago;• 59,012 tons of all varietal types

have been delivered YTD, compared to 66,993 tons in 2015-2016;

• 2,357tonsoftheNSdeliveriesfor2016-17 crop year are organic;

• 20,417 tons of NS are held onmemo storage; and

• 3,414tonsofNSareheldforrecon-

ditioning.• The RAC September shipment

report of Natural (sun-dried) Seedless (NS) Raisins shows that domestic ship-ments (including Canada) were 16,013 packed tons, compared to 15,680 tons in 2015 (+2%). Year-to-date domes-tic shipments are 30,957 packed tons compared to 29,724 tons at this time in

2015 (+4%).NS export shipments (without Can-

ada) for September were 8,980 packed tons, compared to 8,749 tons in 2015 (+3%). YTD export shipments are 19,147 packed tons, compared to 16,961 tons a year ago, an increase of 13 per-cent.

NS shipments to all destinations year-to-date are 50,104 packed tons, compared to 46,685 packed tons for last year (+7%).

The top three destinations for NS rai-sins in September were:

• UnitedStates–14,946tons;• Japan–2,076tons;• Canada–1,067tons.

Credit: ivandzyuba/ThinkstockRaisin deliveries to handlers the first week of October were up over deliveries this time last year, according to the Raisin Administrative Committee.


ARC-County, PLC 2015 payments begin arriving in farmers’ mail boxes

By Forrest Laws, Delta Farm PressOctober 5, 2016

USDA announced it has begun mak-ing safety-net payments to many of the 1.7 million farms enrolled in either the Agricultural Risk Coverage or Price Loss Coverage programs due to the market downturn that occurred in 2015.

The payments are expected to to-tal more than $7 billion, a figure that is likely to add more fuel to the debate over the next farm bill, which is sched-uled to be renewed in 2018. The $7 billion is expected to account for more than 10 percent of USDA’s projected 2016 net farm income.

“These payments will help provide reassurance to America’s farm families, who are standing strong against low commodity prices compounded by un-favorable growing conditions in many parts of the country,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in announc-ing the $7 billion in ARC-County and PLC payments.

“At USDA we are standing strong be-hind them, tapping in to every resource that we have to help. So far in 2016, this has included creating a one-time cost share program for cotton ginning, purchasing about $800 million in excess commodities to be redirected to food banks and those in need, making $11 million in payments to America’s dairy

farmers through the Dairy Margin Pro-tection Program, and reprogramming Farm Service Agency funds to expand credit options for farmers and ranchers in need of extra capital.”

Vilsack said USDA will continue to watch market conditions and will ex-plore opportunities for further assis-tance in the coming months. “For pro-ducers challenged by weather, disease and falling prices, we will continue to ensure the availability of a strong safety net to keep them farming or ranching,” he said.

Follow price decreasesIn a press release announcing the

payments, USDA contrasted the ARC-PLC payments with the old direct pay-

ment program, which issued payments during both weak and strong market conditions. The 2014 farm bill autho-rized the ARC-PLC safety net to trig-ger and provide financial assistance only when decreases in revenues or crop pric-es, respectively, occur.

USDA said the ARC and PLC pro-grams primarily allow producers to continue to produce for the market by making payments on a percentage of historical base production, limiting the impact on production decisions.

According to USDA, producers en-rolled 96 percent of soybean base acres, 91 percent of corn base acres and 66 percent of wheat base acres in the ARC-County coverage option in 2015. Producers enrolled 99 percent of long grain rice and peanut base acres and 94 percent of medium grain rice base acres in the PLC option. Overall, 76 percent of participating farm base acres are en-rolled in ARC-County, 23 percent in PLC and one percent in ARC-Individ-ual.

Payments are currently being made to producers who enrolled base acres of barley, corn, grain sorghum, lentils, oats, peanuts, dry peas, soybeans, wheat and canola in the ARC-County and PLC programs.

In the upcoming months, payments will be announced after marketing year average prices are published by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service

for the remaining covered commodities. These include long and medium grain rice (except for temperate Japonica rice), which will be announced in Novem-ber, remaining oilseeds and chickpeas, which will be announced in December, and temperate Japonica rice, which will be announced in early February 2017.

6.8-percent sequesterUSDA said the Budget Control Act

of 2011 requires the Agriculture De-partment to reduce 2015 ARC and PLC payments by 6.8 percent. For more information, producers are encouraged to visit their local Farm Service Agency office. To find a local FSA office, visith-ttp://offices.usda.gov.

“USDA works to strengthen and sup-port American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other coun-tries, and supports markets for home-grown renewable energy and materials,” the press release said.

“This has been a rough marketing year for farmers, with wheat prices drop-ping lower than we’ve seen in decades,” said National Association of Wheat Growers President Gordon Stoner in a press release that followed USDA’s an-nouncement.

“It’s years like this that a viable farm safety net is critically important, and I applaud Secretary Vilsack’s quick action to roll out these programs this new fis-cal year. The program payments being announced today will provide a needed cushion for farmers during these tough economic conditions in wheat country.”

With today’s announcement, Stoner said NAWG will dig deeper into the data that was used to calculate county payment rates and will seek feedback from states about the effectiveness of these programs. USDA’s Farm Service Agency has posted maps on its website showing the payment rate ranges for wheat, corn, and soybeans through the ARC-County program, as well as rev-enue maps for those commodities.

Photo ContributedRecord corn production, which is forcing farmers to store grain in unusual places like this field filled with grain bags near Dyersburg, Tenn., is forcing prices lower.

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Two Tulare County

teachers team up to teach agriculture

ContributedOctober 23, 2016

SACRAMENTO — What happens when two very enthusiastic teachers meet at the California Agriculture in the Classroom Conference? For Julie Cates and Jami Beck, the possibilities may seem endless. However, the two Tulare County teachers say they are most “Ag-Excited” about their recent pen pal “Ag-Venture,” letters exchanged between their sixth- and second-grade students.

Last school year was Cates’ first year teaching. She teaches sixth grade at Linwood Elementary in Visalia, and she has already made quite an impres-sion. Cates incorporates her passion for nutrition and agriculture into her class-room each week through engaging ac-tivities she shares on Twitter.

“I am in love with agriculture and nu-trition education,” Cates said. “I enjoy

sharing my passion with students and opening their minds to all agriculture has to offer. I also try to help other teachers learn how they too can make agriculture part of their classrooms.”

Last fall, Cates received a $500 Lit-eracy for Life grant from the Califor-nia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom for her #FindYourFavor-iteFridays project. She was named the organization’s 2015 Outstanding Edu-cator of the Year for her commitment to agricultural education. This past September, she was invited to present a workshop at the foundation’s annual statewide conference.

Beck is a second-grade teacher at Three Rivers Elementary in Three Riv-ers, where she has been teaching for 12 years. A fellow Tulare County resident, Beck also recognized the importance of teaching students about agriculture. However, she said she found the science aspect daunting.

“I was always intimidated when it came to agriculture because I thought you needed to have a strong background in science,” Beck said. “The conference gave me the confidence, connections and resources I needed.”

Conference attendees could almost see the wheels turning in Beck’s mind as she listened to Cates speak. The idea of introducing students to Califor-nia-grown fruits, vegetables and nuts through #TryItTuesdays and #FindY-ourFavoriteFridays was intriguing, and Cates made it sound practical. She ex-plained how she used fresh produce to not only give students a taste of agricul-ture, but also to teach math concepts, like plotting ordered pairs with beets.

She said bringing in local farmers as speakers and working with the school’s garden coordinator helped students make their own hands-on connections with agriculture.

“You can connect agriculture to ev-erything,” Cates said. “We talk about it in History, Math, English Language Arts, Visual Arts and more. It’s fun to see students’ eyes light up as they be-come proud to live in the top agricul-tural production region in the world.”

Beck was inspired. She immediately returned to her classroom, and before the second-graders entered the room on Monday morning, she had created a new bulletin board display titled, “I’m Ag-Excited, are you?” On Tuesday, the second-graders experienced their first #TryItTuesdays tasting.

“You should have seen my young stu-dents’ faces when they saw the bulletin board. They can’t wait to learn about agriculture,” Beck said.

The students were not the only ones excited to learn more. Cates and Beck met up within three weeks after the conference to attend a seed propaga-tion workshop. Before long, they had developed a new a project tying writing and agriculture together: a pen pal Ag-Venture.

“Dear 6th Grader,” one of Beck’s stu-dents wrote. “My name is Alice. I am in second grade. I love Try it Tuesday. My favorite thing so far was honeydew melon. What was your favorite thing to taste? What is your name? Do you like working in your school garden. Your friend, Alice.”

Just like that, new friendships have sprouted between the two teachers and their 40 students. Follow @cates_julie and @mrs_jbeck to keep up with their journey watching their seeds and stu-dents grow. For free teaching resources, grants and other agricultural education opportunities offered by the Califor-nia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, visit LearnAboutAg.org.

–California Foundation forAgricul-ture in the Classroom

Ag-Ventures with Julie and Jami

Courtesy PhotosJami Beck and Julie Cates

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USDA announces

$7.6M to grow economic

opportunity in rural America

Contributed, Morning Ag ClipsOctober 20, 2016

“Data show that rural America is begin-ning to make a strong comeback after the worst recession in history, with rural un-employment currently at the lowest level since 2007, and rural incomes growing by 3.4 percent last year. This growth has been achieved in large part thanks to the work of cooperative and community-based eco-nomic development organizations like the ones receiving grants today, who are able to implement federal programs where they are most needed,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. (U.S. Department of Agri-culture, Flickr/Creative Commons)

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agricul-ture (USDA) is awarding $7.6 million in grants to support projects that will grow opportunity in rural America through job training and economic de-velopment. The grants will support communities in at least 24 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, with several projects spanning com-munities in multiple states. This invest-ment marks the latest effort at USDA to support the rural economy, which the latest Census data shows is rebounding.

“Data show that rural America is be-ginning to make a strong comeback af-ter the worst recession in history, with rural unemployment currently at the lowest level since 2007, and rural in-comes growing by 3.4 percent last year. This growth has been achieved in large part thanks to the work of cooperative and community-based economic de-velopment organizations like the ones

receiving grants today, who are able to implement federal programs where they are most needed,” Vilsack said. “These awards will help bolster lo-cal and regional food systems, tap into the tourism potential that proximity to America’s beautiful natural resources provides, and help individuals learn new job skills. All of these efforts are part of USDA’s strategy for a strong ru-ral economy and will help to sustain the recovery that we have begun to see in our smallest towns.”

USDA is awarding the funding through the Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant (SDGG) and Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) programs.

RCDI grants help community-based development organizations, federally-recognized Indian tribes and other groups promote economic development in low-income, rural communities. The grants are awarded to public or nonprof-it entities that are skilled in economic development and rural job creation. Re-cipients are required to provide match-ing funds for this program.

Missouri Main Street Connection, Inc. is receiving a $210,335 RCDI grant to provide technical assistance for economic development strategies in 12 communities in rural Missouri. The assistance will focus on business reten-tion, microenterprise recruitment and community sustainability.

The Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant program provides technical as-sistance to cooperatives and other or-ganizations that help socially-disadvan-taged groups in rural areas. Examples of technical assistance include leadership

training, conducting feasibility studies and developing business and strategic plans.

One of today’s awardees, the Tri-County Agricultural Cooperative in Charleston, Miss., is receiving a $175,000 SDGG grant to help 200 Af-rican-American farmers diversify their farms, improve their business plans and adopt improved production and man-agement strategies.

The Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant program is already making substantial improvements in the lives of farmers. In 2015, the Latino Eco-nomic Development Center received a $175,000 grant to help Hmong farm-ers in Minnesota implement more ef-ficient production methods. While the

Hmong farmers had traditionally sold their products at local farmers’ markets, they were unable to access additional markets and receive a premium price for their products. The Center’s techni-cal assistance is helping the farmers to secure higher-paying customers and is creating a source of income outside of the relatively brief Minnesota farmers’ market season.

Since 2009, USDA Rural Devel-opment (@USDARD ) has invested nearly $13 billion to start or expand nearly 112,000 rural businesses; helped 1.1 million rural residents buy homes; funded nearly 9,200 community facili-ties such as schools, public safety and health care facilities; and helped bring high-speed Internet access to nearly 6 million rural residents and businesses. USDA also has invested $31.3 billion in 963 electric projects that have financed more than 185,000 miles of transmis-sion and distribution lines serving 4.6 million rural residents. For more infor-mation, visit www.usda.gov/results.

To read more about USDA’s invest-ments in rural America and its success-ful turnaround, visit USDA’s entry on Medium.com , Rural America Is Back in Business.

–U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture

Grants to create rural opportunities

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Photo Contributed


By Tami Jo Nix, The Madera Tribune

Nearly 300 people gathered Sunday in Chowchilla for the annual Ag united Harvest Celebration and officer instal-lation.

“Thanks to the generosity of its mem-bers the Madera County Farm Bureau awarded $40,000 in scholarships,” said president Jay Mahil.

He introduced Michele Lasgoity, chairwoman of the scholarship com-mittee.

“The $40,000 includes two endowed scholarship from Franklin and Elaine Secara and the Tesei family,” Lasgoity said.

She then introduced the scholarship recipients in attendance.

The Secara and the Tesei scholar-

ships are $1,500 per year. The general scholarships are four-year awards in the amount of $1,000 a year, she said.

Natalie Corpus received the Tesei family scholarship, Lauryn Flores the Secara award and Amaranta Galindo earned the Progeny of Agriculture Laborers award. Additionally, Hel-ena Johnson Lusk, Jordan Miles, Gary Nieuwkoop, Bailey Samper, Nicho-las Urrutia and Felipe C. Vallejo were awarded the Madera County Farm Bu-reau general scholarships.

The prime rib dinner was cooked by Donald Vincent, Joe Pia and Steve Miller. Vincent is a member of the Li-ons Club of Dos Palos, he said. Mem-bers of the Chowchilla Union High School FFA served the food.

The table centerpieces were comprised of toy tractors and bags of pistachios

and almonds.“Special thank you to the local trac-

tor dealerships, Kuckenbecker Tractor, Midland Tractor and Quality Machin-ery, who donated the tractors which will be distributed during Christmas at Val- ley Children’s Hospital,” said Mahil.

The keynote speaker was Sacramen-to Bee political columnist Dan Walters. He spoke of the changing policies and the continuing struggle for water in California.

The event’s sponsors included Plati-num Jubilee: Ryan and Laura Gutile, Hostetler Ranch, Crop Production Ser-vices, Western Ag & Turf.

Gold Jubilee: Agriland Farming Company, Anderson Pump Co., Con-solidated Insurance Services, Duarte Nursery, Madera Pumps, Michael Nai-to and TEP.

Silver Jubilee: AgriWorld Coopera-tive, Arysta Life Science, Bank of the West, Boman & Associates, Dow Agro Sciences, Fermin Cam- pos Farms, Fos-ter & Parker Insurance Company, G3 Enterprises, Helena Chemical, McK-inney Farming, Pitman Farms, Root Creek Farms, Solar City, U.S. Water Services and PG&E.

The event was held at the Madera County Fair- grounds in Chowchilla, where a plaque on the recently re-built building reads: “Eastman Hall; this building is named in memory of H.V. Eastman one of the founders and origi-nal director of the Chowchilla Junior Fair in appreciation of his efforts to this community and this fair, May 1960.

Celebrating the harvest with farming interests

Members of the madera County Farm bureau board of directors, from left rear, directors Tom Rogers, Ryan Cosyns, Dennis Meisner, Nick Davis, Jason Erickson, Scott Maxwell, Neil McDougald, Jeff McKinney, Chris Wylie,front Executive Director Christina Beckstead, Directors, Laura Gutile, Michele Lasgoity, Michael Naito and Mahil following their installation.

Don and Cathi Warnock of Warnock Foods donated their famous tortilla chips as appetizers

Madera County Farm Bureau officers and guests, from left, president Jay Mahil with scholarship recipients Natalie Corpus, Lauryn Flores, Jordan Miles, Helena Johnson Lusk, Amaranta Galindo, Michele Lasgoity scholarship chairwoman, and (not pictured) Gary Nieuwkoop, Bailey Samper, Nicholas Urrutia and Felipe C. Vallejo at the Ag United Harvest Celebration and annual meeting.


ment to each affected public water supplier and private well owners.”

But the letter lacks specifics about water treatment facilities, funding methods and sources of water.

Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Visalia, whose district encompasses the area where the letters were sent, derided the order as “greenmail.”

“The State Water Resources Con-trol Board has targeted 27 farmers and ranchers in an all-too-common approach by California state agen-cies of greenmailing businesses in order to pay for some poorly thought out, extremist agenda,” he said in a statement.

“These 27 farmers and ranchers should not be singled out by our state for years of poor planning by the state itself. We have no plans for groundwater recharge, and the SWRCB would be better served spending their energy moving water back into our aquifers rather than allowing more water to flow out to the ocean or try to extort money from honest farmers.”

No explanations forthcomingA unusual amount of secrecy sur-

rounds the letter.State Water Resources Control

Board staff in Sacramento declined to answer questions about the en-forcement division’s letter, citing its confidential status.

Lawyers Theresa Dunham of Sac-ramento and Aubrey Mauritson of Visalia, said to be representing the 27 landowners, did not return a phone call and an email from The Bee.

A private water engineer contact-ed for information said he could not talk publicly about it, and a water lawyer familiar with the issue de-clined to discuss it.

Farmer Robert LoBue, of LoBue Citrus in Lindsay, said he received a letter. It invites him and the other farmers to a settlement meeting in Tulare (now reportedly scheduled for Nov. 9) to discuss providing re-placement water.

LoBue said the answer to the ni-trate problem in drinking water should not involve the enforcement

division of the state board.“It needs to be a political solution”

involving agriculture, he said.But environmental activists wel-

come the board’s enforcement ac-tion, said Laurel Firestone, co-ex-ecutive director of the Community Water Center, a group in Visalia and Sacramento that lobbies for clean drinking water.

“It’s the only mechanism we have” to help the small water systems serv-ing poor communities get nitrate-free drinking water, she said. “The long-term solution is legislative ac-tion with buy-in from agriculture.”

The long-term solution is legisla-tive action with buy-in from agri-culture.

Laurel Firestone, Community Water Center

According to the letter, “2.6 mil-lion people rely on groundwater polluted by nitrates, including many of the poorest communities in the state.”

Problems with the waterThe problem of nitrates in drink-

ing water has been a ticking time bomb in farm country for years, es-pecially since 2010, when the Leg-islature ordered the State Water Resources Control Board to prepare a report about nitrates in drinking water.

Two years later, the Harter report from UC Davis came out, stating that 96 percent of human-generated nitrates entering groundwater in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Val-ley came from cropland.

But farmers maintain the Harter report has major shortcomings.

Tulare County Supervisor Allen Ishida, a citrus farmer from Lind-say, said the report failed to deter-mine exactly where nitrates came from.

“Harter was not asked to source the nitrates or age the water,” he said, pointing out that some water has been in the ground for eons and that nitrates can (come) from sourc-es besides farms. “Those are two key elements. They (the Water Resourc-es Control Board) are using a flawed report to make these demands on the growers.”

Ishida said he expects the growers will sue the state over the enforce-

ment letter.Orange grower Gary Caviglia of

Ivanhoe said his farm is too small to have gotten a letter, but word is getting around. He questions how much of the problem can be attrib-uted to farming.

“I’m sure agriculture has con-tributed somewhat, but it’s not 100 percent,” he said. “How much of it is ours and how much is naturally occurring? You show us the science and we’ll make changes. Show us it’s coming from our practices.”

The SWRCB would be better served spending their energy mov-ing water back into our aquifers.

Devon Mathis, AssemblymanA resident in farm country says

the contaminated water has been a problem for him and his family.

Cristobal Chavez, 58, tested his well at his home near Poplar four months ago and found it was too high in nitrates to be safe to drink.

“It’s terrible,” he said. “We can’t drink the water. It’s not good for cooking.”

He and his family of six, as well as the family renting a trailer on his property, are now using bottled water for cooking and drinking at a cost of around $200 a month.

Tulare County farmers are not the first to get a letter from the enforce-ment division. In December, it sent a similar letter to 19 large growers in the Salinas Valley.

In response, several growers formed the Salinas Basin Agricul-ture Stewardship Group, said grow-er Joe Pezzini, CEO of Ocean Mist based in Castroville, which grows artichokes, lettuce and other green vegetables.

“We’re trying to work collabora-tively with the state,” he said.

There have been several meetings in Sacramento about temporary and long-term solutions, he said. But major questions remain unanswered.

“We don’t know the method to supply replacement water or how to pay for it,” he said.

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chemicals, simply because they live in farm communities.

The proposed regulations would bar spraying pesticides—from air-crafts, sprinklers or otherwise—within a quarter mile of all public schools and child daycare facilities from Monday through Friday be-tween 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. They would require growers and others applying pesticides at these locations to no-tify schools and daycare centers 48 hours before the application actually occurs. Schools and daycare centers would also have to be told the names of pesticides being used; where, when and how they’ll be applied; and given a map of the location.

While this sounds thorough, en-vironmental and community activ-ists say the regulations don’t go far enough in their protections. At the same time, the California Farm Bu-reau Federation and the Western Plant Health Association, which represents agricultural chemical and pesticide producers, oppose the pro-posed regulations, saying they are neither realistic nor based in science.

“A host of studies have shown that pesticide poisonings occur at dis-tances well beyond a quarter mile. And part-time buffer zones do little to reduce long-term, chronic expo-sure,” said Californians for Pesticide Reform co-director Sarah Aird, in a statement. In fact, according to the California Environmental Health Tracking Program (CEHTP), not one of the top 10 pesticides used within a quarter of a mile of Cali-fornia schools lasts less than eight hours in the air, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) criteria.

“In communities that don’t have adequate recreational facilities, school grounds are used very heav-ily on the weekends,” California League of United Latin American Citizens state president Dave Ro-driquez told Civil Eats. Rodriguez described a high school where he lives in Ventura County that is “sur-rounded by agriculture on all sides.” One-quarter mile, especially when the wind is blowing, “is not very far away,” he explained.

“Schools need at least a one-mile buffer for the most hazardous pes-ticides,” said Aird, echoing what

many activists have been saying.Monterey County third-grade

teacher Melissa Dennis has similar concerns. “I teach in the town of Watsonville, at a school pretty much surrounded by strawberry fields,” she explained. “This regulation doesn’t really change the amount of pesticides used near schools.”

The law would still allow a 12-hour window for pesticides to be sprayed every weekday, and that timing is key, says Dennis. Based on what’s written on many pesticide labels, “It would be preposterous to think that they could be applied at 6:00 in the morning and that it would be safe at 8:00,” she adds. Many pesticides used near schools make fields unsafe to enter for at least a day—some-times five days—after they’ve been applied.

Both Dennis and Rodriguez are troubled by how many children in their local schools have asthma and learning problems.They’re also con-cerned that these pesticides pre-dominantly impact Latino children, who make up the majority of kids going to schools near ag fields.

Hundreds of Thousands of Chil-dren Impacted

The schools Dennis and Rodri-guez describe are far from unique. According to a 2014CEHTP re-port, about 1.4 million students attend over 2,500 public schools in the fifteen California counties with the highest reported pesticide use. These include Monterey, Fres-no, Tulare, Ventura, and also Kern County, where some schools sit less than two car-lengths away from veg-etable carrot fields and almonds and grape orchards. One such school is surrounded by agricultural fields on

all four sides.The report found that more than

500,000 pounds of pesticides con-sidered “of public health concern” were used within a quarter mile of these schools. While some schools in these counties were not close to any pesticide use, 36 percent of them were. And that use was often heavy. The top 5 percent of affected schools—45 schools attended by more than 35,000 students—had seen between 2,600 and 29,000 pounds of pesticides used annually within one quarter mile.

These pesticides included carcin-ogens and reproductive, develop-mental, and neuro-toxicants. They also included pesticides that persist in the environment between one to 1,000 days, with most lingering from between one and four weeks.

California DPR used this report to inform the proposed regulations. But DPR also explains that because the report did “not attempt to mea-sure the exact levels children may be exposed to, it “cannot be used to predict possible health impact.”

However, DPR also says that be-cause of children’s sensitivity to pes-ticide toxicity, there “may be dispro-portionate impacts to children when unintended drift occurs, especially given the long hours children spend at school and daycare. In particular, DPR cites scientific findings that “some pesticides may cause effects to a child’s developing nervous sys-tem.”

The proposed regulations’ intent, writes DPR, “is to provide an ex-tra margin of safety for unintended drift and other problems with pesti-cide applications.”

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“We believe that this regula-tion will help with emergency pre-paredness and ensure that grow-ers and schools communicate with each other so that schools and child daycare facilities are aware of what is being applied near them,” DPR spokesperson Charlotte Fadipe add-ed over email. “This can help them address any queries from parents, etc. if a problem occurs during ap-plications.”

Ag Industry OppositionThe California Farm Bureau

(CFB) and Western Health Plants Association (WPHA) take issue with DPR’s preventative approach. “One of our concerns is that this is a large departure from how we’ve traditionally approached pesticide regulation,” CFB environmental affairs director Cynthia Cory told

Civil Eats.“Traditionally, the use of pesti-

cides is based on risk assessment,” she explained. Because the DPR proposal is “not based on exposure, not based on risk assessment, to me, it’s not based on science,” said Cory. And she added, “If we go down this slippery slope, where does it stop?”

WPHA president and CEO Re-nee Pinel echoed these thoughts over email. Because the regulations are not “based on data demonstrat-ing that children are potentially at risk under current regulatory protec-tions,” they are “not science-based,” she said.

Despite the fact that the DPR is forgoing the traditional risk assess-ment process, the department does cite studies showing illnesses at California schools caused by pes-ticide drift. It also points out that such illnesses have occurred more than one quarter of a mile from the

pesticide application. In addition, says DPR, such illnesses may be un-derreported.

Meanwhile, Pesticide Action Net-work North America and Center for Environmental Health, among other environmental groups, say this same science shows DPR’s proposal to be inadequately protective.

WPHA says California state air monitoring data show no acute or chronic pesticide exposures for chil-dren. But, according to DPR, these data indicate some exposures of on-going concern, including exposure to a carcinogenic fumigant com-monly used on almonds, carrots, grapes, and strawberries, among other crops. Ironically, the DPR recently announced new rules that will allow greater use of this pesti-cide in some places.

WPHA’s Pinel also says the pro-posed school buffer zones could lead to more crop production being

moved offshore.“We do recognize that this pro-

posed regulation has given some growers pause,” said DPR’s Fadipe via email, “and it is not our intent to add to their burden.” The intent, she stressed, is to “provide an extra margin of safety.”

“What I would love to see,” says Dennis, “Would be organic buffer zones around schools. How beauti-ful it would be to take a field trip and pick strawberries or almonds and talk about life cycles and seeds,” she said. But for now she worries about her students dealing with chronic health problems and learn-ing disabilities.

Public hearings on the new rules are scheduled for November 15 and 16. The public comment period clos-es November 17.


marketing year, observers were relieved that it wasn’t even more.

“The fact that we didn’t have a huge carry-out, as some people had worried, means the industry lowered almond prices enough over the preceding mar-keting year to help bring demand more in line with supply,” Ewing says.

He pointed to another encouraging sign of a healthier industry - new crop almond shipments are up strongly from a year ago.

“The new marketing year got off to a wonderful start,” says Ewing. “Many in the industry were shocked to see Au-gust shipments rise 35 percent above those a year earlier. That’s a record in-crease. September shipments are likely to be well above the previous Septem-ber and may set another record.”

At the same time, he cautions that a two-month period doesn’t necessar-ily suggest a trend. Also, the dramatic increase in shipments the last two months should be viewed in relation to their previous-year benchmarks when shipments were unusually low for the first five months of the season.

“Also, keep in mind that observers say it takes anywhere from about 6 to 12 months for prices to work their way through the marketing system,” Ewing explains. “The current high shipments

show that the really low prices for al-monds which began this past February are rebuilding demand for our prod-uct.”

This strengthening reflects a strong rebound of sales in North America and promising market growth in China, India, and Turkey, he notes. Also, the higher price of alternative nuts includ-ing cashews and hazelnuts is boosting the demand for almonds as well.

Ewing is encouraged by another positive development in the almond market.

“By the start of September, we’d already sold or shipped about a third of the 2016 crop,” Ewing says. “This bodes well for market strength.

“Sellers didn’t want to risk setting opening prices too high and were sat-isfied to sell at opening levels. They were conservative to help ensure that demand got off to a great start. Also, they set the stage for prices that will move the future higher production lev-els as recently increased acreage of new almond orchards start bearing crops.”

As a result of the conservative start and strong shipments, prices increased about 20 cents a pound in September, says Ewing.

ALMONDSContinued from Page 3

KEY TIPSContinued from Page 4two-inch margin around the gall area, and to watch for gall regrowth for one year and retreat with heat as needed.

Signs that galls may be present in-clude the tree is not growing vigor-ously, stunted trees, excessive ground cracking around the trunk of the tree, ground heaving around the trunk, poor leaf color, or early appearance of fall coloration.

Treating for crown gall is expensive. It can easily take one hour and often two hours to remove the soil and treat a single tree. The preferred time to treat is during the growing season when the tissue can heal rapidly.

With second leaf trees with larger galls, it is more economic to replace the tree.

On third through sixth or seventh leaf trees, it is economic and generally a good idea to treat trees with galls of

nearly any size except those that have completely girdled the tree, the re-searchers say. Those trees should be re-placed, as should any stunted trees.

After the sixth or seventh leaf, or when trees are nearly full size, gall treatment can end.

On farms and ranches across the U.S., more and more often, it’s wom-en who are leading the way. Accord-ing to USDA 2012 census statistics, there were 969,672 female principal farm operators, that’s 30% of all farm operators in the U.S. These women worked more than 62.6 mil-lion acres and produced $12.9 billion worth of agricultural goods. Beyond those owning and managing their own farms, women are integrally in-volved in thousands of family farms often as chief financial officer and contribute to daily operating and planning decisions. Some women work off the farm to help support it. Women continue to be a critical component to the success of U.S. farms and ranches.

But women are often unseen in the agriculture industry. Marji Guyler-Alaniz was watching the Ravens defeat the 49ers in the 2013 Su-per Bowl when she saw the Ram trucks commercial that used Paul Harvey’s speech to the 1978 Na-tional FFA Convention, “So God Made A Farmer.” She noticed that in the two-minute long commercial with dozens of images of farmers, less than a handful of women were shown. And the seed was planted. “I started FarmHer to update the

image of agriculture,” says Guyler-Alaniz, a professional photographer, writer and designer. “I wanted to in-clude the women who have always worked the land and raised animals,

and to document the women who are rising to the forefront of the field.”

She started with a website, blog and social media showcasing photos she took of women working on their farms. As her FarmHer commu-nity grew, people started to notice, including RFD-TV who expressed an interest in developing a program about Guyler-Alaniz and FarmHer. A television series that documents her efforts to photograph women in agriculture began on RFD-TV on Sept. 9. The first season will run through August 2017. FarmHer’s new show airs weekly

on RFD-TV Fridays at 8:30 p.m. (CT); then is rebroadcast Saturdays at 10 a.m. (CT) and Sundays at 8:30 a.m. (CT).

One way Nationwide is showing our support for women in agricul-ture is by sponsoring the FarmHer television program series on RFD-TV. We are also a national part-ner of Guyler-Alaniz’s GROW by FarmHer events, day-long programs planned at land-grant universities in different cities to connect high school and college-aged women who are passionate about agriculture with possibilities and opportunities.

Join the FarmHer community at FarmHer.com. To learn more about Nationwide’s farm insurance and other initiatives in support of Amer-ican agriculture, go to Nationwide-Agribusiness.com.

Nationwide Sponsors FarmHer TV Series on RFD-TV


COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nationwide,the No. 1 farm and ranch insurer* in the country, will now offer workers’ com-pensation coverage in California when written as part of a farm package and subject to eligibility guidelines.

California Farm Bureau® members can also receive a discount on this cov-erage separate from any other discount they are receiving on other Nationwide policies.

“Offering this coverage is a natural extension of our agribusiness workers’ compensation expertise developed over many decades,” said Nationwide Agri-business President Brad Liggett. “We’re excited to offer this expertise to Califor-nia farmers and ranchers — and deepen our relationship with the California Farm Bureau.”

Members of the California Farm Bu-reau are eligible to receive up to a 7.5 percent discount on their workers’ com-pensation policy when it is written with a farm package from Nationwide. Farm Bureau membership must first be veri-fied for the discount to apply.

Underwriting eligibility guidelines include, but are not limited to:

• FTE/Payroll minimum: 2+ em-

ployees and $50,000 in payroll• Safety and training program in

place • Selective on sole proprietor, offi-

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quired (farmowners, commercial prop-erty/general liability) and must be a production agriculture risk

• Years in businessmust be greaterthan 5

• Forpoliciesover$5,000inpremi-um, a deductible may be required

• Full supplemental workers’ com-pensation application required

Nationwide has decades of experience writing workers’ compensation for agri-cultural risks. In addition, Nationwide has dedicated, experienced claims staff certified in California workers’ compen-sation, including bilingual resources.

Agents can begin quoting farm work-ers’ compensation policies on Nov. 1, 2016, for Jan. 1, 2017, policy effective dates. Learn more by contacting your agent.

About Nationwide Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversi-fied insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial servic-es, including auto, commercial, home-owners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, an-nuities and mutual funds; banking and mortgages; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.

“FARM BUREAU” and the Farm Bureau mark are service marks of the

American Farm Bureau Federation and used under license by Nationwide.

Nationwide reserves the right to dis-continue, limit or expand this product offering, including the right to change the agents authorized to sell the product and in which states at any time.

Product, coverage, discounts, insur-ance terms, definitions, and other de-scriptions are intended for information-al purposes only and do not in any way replace or modify the definitions and information contained in your individ-ual insurance contracts, policies, and/or declaration pages from Nationwide-af-filiated underwriting companies, which are controlling. Such products, cover-ages, terms, and discounts may vary by state and exclusions may apply.

Nationwide, Nationwide is on your side, and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mu-tual Insurance Company.

A.M. Best, 2013 DWP. Based on pre-miums written.

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Nationwide will offer workers’ compensation to California farm customers and a discount to Farm Bureau members

State Fund for County Farm BureausUse extreme care when working with or near a forklift

By Mike Burns, Farm Bureau Group ManagerNovember, 2016

While the farm tractor is the tradi-tional implement that comes to mind when one thinks about agriculture, there’s another piece of equipment that frequently plays an important role—the forklift.

Depending on the time of the year and type of commodity, the forklift is operated on farms, warehouses, and processing facilities up and down the state. Use of the forklift increases dra-matically during the fall harvest sea-son as more and more California crops reach maturity. With this increased ac-tivity comes an increased safety hazard

for both the forklift operator and others in the vicinity, primarily other workers.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), there are more than one million fork-lifts in operation in the United States on any given day. While most are involved in non-agricultural activities, there are a significant number that are used in the production of food and fiber. Sta-tistically, about 100 workers are killed each year and a staggering 95,000 are injured in accidents involving forklifts. These grim numbers serve to empha-size the importance of forklift safety for everyone who must work around these machines.

The most obvious danger is the de-crease in stability of the forklift as a

heavy load is lifted higher and higher into the air. Heavy loads held aloft exert increased leverage and improp-erly trained operators can quickly find themselves and persons around them in an extremely dangerous situation.

Injuries usually involve employees be-ing struck by forklifts or falling while standing or working from elevated pal-lets and tines. Many employees are in-jured when forklifts are inadvertently driven off loading docks or when the forklift falls between a dock and a trail-er. Most forklift accidents also involve property damage, including damage to overhead sprinklers, racking, pipes, walls, machinery, and other equipment.

Unfortunately, employee injuries and property damage can frequently be at-

tributed to lack of procedures, insuffi-cient or inadequate training, and lack of safety-rule enforcement.

Operating a forklift safely means you are not only responsible for your own safety, but also for the safety of the oth-er people around you. If you operate a forklift, remember the most important safety device is you. Remember to prac-tice safety at all times, don’t wait for an accident to implement safety practices.

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.


18 American Vineyard / Xxx 2016

Grape/Raisin Seminars

GeorgeZhuang

7:00 am Registration

Grower/PCA Breakfast

Welcome and Introduction

Dan Malcolm, Editor American Vineyard

“What's New in Tree & Vine Weed Management”

Kurt Hembree, UCCE Fresno County Weed Management Farm Advisor

“Update on PD/GWSS & Management Practices”

Allison Ferry-Abee, UCCE Viticulture Advisor, Tulare/Kings Counties

“Treatment Strategies for Asian Citrus Psyllid in San Joaquin Valley Citrus”

Beth Gra�on-Cardwell, Director, Lindcove Research & Extension Center

-------- 30 Minute Break & Exhibits --------

“Maintaining Virus-Free Vineyards”

Kari Arnold, UC Davis Plant Pathology Dept.

“Determining Site-Speci�c Programs for Vine Mealybug Management”

David Haviland, UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Kern County


“Improving Productivity & Quality of Grapes”

Ashraf El-Kereamy, UCCE Viticulture Advisor, Kern County

“Considerations for Postharvest Vineyard Management”

George Zhuang, UCCE Viticulture Advisor, Fresno County

State of the Grape Industry Tri-Tip Lunch

“State of the Table Grape Industry”

Ross Jones, California Table Grape Commission

“State of the Raisin Grape Industry”

Glen Goto, CEO, Raisin Bargaining Association

“State of the Wine & Concentrate Grape Industry”

Je� Bitter, Vice-President, Allied Grape Growers

DanMalcolm

AllisonFerry-Abee

KariArnold

Be�Gra�on-Cardwell

DavidHaviland

KurtHembree

GlenGoto

AshrafEl=Kereamy

Je�Bitter

Call 559-298-6020 for Exhibit or Sponsor Infowww.agexpo.biz

Free IndustryBreakfast andTri-Tip Lunch

Expo Sponsors...

Also...

Nut Seminars

Tree Fruit& Citrus Seminars

5 HoursCE/CCA Credits

In accordance with DPR regulations, to receive all �ve hours of CE credit, attendees must be present at 7:30am

5 Hours Continuing Educational and CCA Credits Available • Raisin, Table & Wine Grapes • Almonds • Citrus • Pistachios • Tree Fruit • Walnuts

• Grower Seminars• 5 Hours Continuing Education and CCA Credit Available• Industry Exhibits

Coming to the BIG Fresno

Fairgrounds

November 16, 20167 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“State of the Citrus Industry” Gary Schulz, California Citrus Research Board, President“State of the Tree Fruit Industry” Chris Valadez, California Fresh Fruit Association

“Laws & Regulations in Vertebrate Pest Control” William R. Gri�n, Fresno County Supervising Ag Standards Specialist

GarySchulz

WilliamGri�n

ChrisValadez

KellyCovello

Abhi Kulkarni

�emisMichailides

MohammadYaghmour

Kris Tollerup

JenniferWilliams

RichardMatoian

Patrick Cavanaugh

WilliamGri�n

State of the Nut Industry BreakfastWelcome and Introduction Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor Paci�c Nut Producer“State of the Pistachio Industry” Richard Matoian, Executive Director, American Pistachio Growers“State of the Almond Industry” Kelly Covello, President, Almond Alliance of California“State of the Walnut Industry” Jennifer Williams, Marketing Director, Domestic Advertising, California Walnut Board

Abhi Kulkarni, Assistant Technical Director, California Walnut Board-------- 30 Minute Break & Exhibits --------“Laws & Regulations in Vertebrate Pest Control” William R. Gri�n, Fresno County Supervising Ag Standards SpecialistGrower/PCA Tri-Tip Lunch“Viruses, Mycoplasmas, Union Disorders & Almond Leaf Scorch”

Mohammad Yaghmour, Area Orchard Systems Advisor, UCCE Kern County“Managing Leaf-Footed & Stink Bugs in the Orchard” Kris E. Tollerup, Cooperative Extension Advisor, IPM, UC Kearney Ag Center“Botryosphaeria & Phomopsis on Walnuts” �emis Michailides, UC Plant Pathologist & Lecturer

19americanvineyardmagazine.com / Xxx 2016

Grape/Raisin Seminars

GeorgeZhuang

7:00 am Registration

Grower/PCA Breakfast

Welcome and Introduction

Dan Malcolm, Editor American Vineyard

“What's New in Tree & Vine Weed Management”

Kurt Hembree, UCCE Fresno County Weed Management Farm Advisor

“Update on PD/GWSS & Management Practices”

Allison Ferry-Abee, UCCE Viticulture Advisor, Tulare/Kings Counties

“Treatment Strategies for Asian Citrus Psyllid in San Joaquin Valley Citrus”

Beth Gra�on-Cardwell, Director, Lindcove Research & Extension Center


“Maintaining Virus-Free Vineyards”

Kari Arnold, UC Davis Plant Pathology Dept.

“Determining Site-Speci�c Programs for Vine Mealybug Management”

David Haviland, UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Kern County


“Improving Productivity & Quality of Grapes”

Ashraf El-Kereamy, UCCE Viticulture Advisor, Kern County

“Considerations for Postharvest Vineyard Management”

George Zhuang, UCCE Viticulture Advisor, Fresno County

State of the Grape Industry Tri-Tip Lunch

“State of the Table Grape Industry”

Ross Jones, California Table Grape Commission

“State of the Raisin Grape Industry”

Glen Goto, CEO, Raisin Bargaining Association

“State of the Wine & Concentrate Grape Industry”

Je� Bitter, Vice-President, Allied Grape Growers

DanMalcolm

AllisonFerry-Abee

KariArnold

Be�Gra�on-Cardwell

DavidHaviland

KurtHembree

GlenGoto

AshrafEl=Kereamy

Je�Bitter

Call 559-298-6020 for Exhibit or Sponsor Infowww.agexpo.biz

Free IndustryBreakfast andTri-Tip Lunch

Expo Sponsors...

Also...

Nut Seminars

Tree Fruit& Citrus Seminars

5 HoursCE/CCA Credits

In accordance with DPR regulations, to receive all �ve hours of CE credit, attendees must be present at 7:30am

5 Hours Continuing Educational and CCA Credits Available • Raisin, Table & Wine Grapes • Almonds • Citrus • Pistachios • Tree Fruit • Walnuts

• Grower Seminars• 5 Hours Continuing Education and CCA Credit Available• Industry Exhibits

Coming to the BIG Fresno

Fairgrounds

November 16, 20167 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“State of the Citrus Industry” Gary Schulz, California Citrus Research Board, President“State of the Tree Fruit Industry” Chris Valadez, California Fresh Fruit Association

“Laws & Regulations in Vertebrate Pest Control” William R. Gri�n, Fresno County Supervising Ag Standards Specialist

GarySchulz

WilliamGri�n

ChrisValadez

KellyCovello

Abhi Kulkarni

�emisMichailides

MohammadYaghmour

Kris Tollerup

JenniferWilliams

RichardMatoian

Patrick Cavanaugh

WilliamGri�n

State of the Nut Industry BreakfastWelcome and Introduction Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor Paci�c Nut Producer“State of the Pistachio Industry” Richard Matoian, Executive Director, American Pistachio Growers“State of the Almond Industry” Kelly Covello, President, Almond Alliance of California“State of the Walnut Industry” Jennifer Williams, Marketing Director, Domestic Advertising, California Walnut Board

Abhi Kulkarni, Assistant Technical Director, California Walnut Board-------- 30 Minute Break & Exhibits --------“Laws & Regulations in Vertebrate Pest Control” William R. Gri�n, Fresno County Supervising Ag Standards SpecialistGrower/PCA Tri-Tip Lunch“Viruses, Mycoplasmas, Union Disorders & Almond Leaf Scorch”

Mohammad Yaghmour, Area Orchard Systems Advisor, UCCE Kern County“Managing Leaf-Footed & Stink Bugs in the Orchard” Kris E. Tollerup, Cooperative Extension Advisor, IPM, UC Kearney Ag Center“Botryosphaeria & Phomopsis on Walnuts” �emis Michailides, UC Plant Pathologist & Lecturer

interesteD in aDvertising? contact: DEBRA LEAK MID-VALLEY PUBLISHING (559) 638-2244

Documents

Madera County FarM Bureau - maderafb.com · Madera County FarM Bureau November 2016 Vol. 6, No. 11 Gun Raffle agriculture today Get your gun raffle calendar today See page 16 for