Monthly Archives: June 2014

By Tamara Lush University of Florida researchers say they’ve found a possible treatment for a disease that’s devastating citrus trees around the state, but caution that it could be years before the cure could become commercially available to growers. The team from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences said that it has discovered a chemical that kills the citrus …

By Amina Khan Akif Eskalen steps through the dense, damp leaves in a wooded neighborhood, scrutinizing the branches around him. He’s looking for evidence of an attack: tiny wounds piercing the bark and sap dried around them like bloodstains. The victims are box elders, sycamores and coast live oaks, all in some state of suffering. Eskalen approaches a tree riddled with …

“California Chrome” With the Belmont Stakes on June 7 and racing’s Triple Crown at stake, Northern Californians are again turning their attention to their very own California Chrome, an 11-foot, 2,500-pound chrome horse outside Safeway at 19th and S streets in midtown Sacramento. After the real horse won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, admirers adorned this one with roses. …

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that farmers, ranchers and landowners committed to protecting and conserving environmentally sensitive land may now sign up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The Secretary also announced that retiring farmers enrolled in CRP could receive incentives to transfer a portion of their land to beginning, disadvantaged or veteran farmers through the Transition Incentives …

Skechers, a shoe brand, has inked California Chrome, a horse, in a sponsorship deal less than a week before the colt tries to become the first Triple Crown winner in 36 years. According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Skechers is attempting to appeal to an older audience. Plus, Skechers executive Robert Greenberg sees the deal as primarily a marketing opportunity, which …

For the first time in the history of the Governor’s Economic and Leadership Awards (GEELA), the category of Agricultural Ecosystem Services has been added for statewide recognition by the California Environmental Protection Agency. The new category will spotlight the multiple benefits gained from farming and ranching, including innovative and sustainable approaches to water and energy conservation, food crop production efficiency, …

The California State Board of Food and Agriculture is meeting today at CDFA headquarters in Sacramento to discuss issues related to agricultural groundwater. A meeting agenda may be found here. A live stream of the meeting may be found here.

From the California Grown blog By Susan Phillips Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome is the ultimate California Grown ambassador. Born and raised in the heart of California’s Central Valley at Harris Ranch, California Chrome’s humble beginning and storied rise to fame are what America is all about.  We live for stories like this.  It helps us keep our own dreams …

Proclamation on Governor Brown’s web site