Monthly Archives: May 2016

By Anne Brice Although demand for local food in the Bay Area is on the rise, most small farms struggle to stay afloat. But a new student startup called Farmcation, which grew from a UC Berkeley innovation course called “Eat.Think.Design,” is working to connect local farmers with urbanites who want a taste of rural living and are willing to pay …

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross visited several flourishing school Ag programs in Calaveras County today, getting an opportunity to speak directly with young people who could be part of the next generation of farmers and ranchers in California. Secretary Ross visited an outdoor classroom at Valley Springs Elementary School, the student-run farm at Calaveras High School, and accompanied students on a …

UC Davis alumni Richard and Evelyne Rominger, who for decades have played prominent roles in the community and in statewide and national agriculture, have been selected to receive the UC Davis Medal, the highest honor the university presents to an individual. Acting Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter will present the medals to the Romingers during a June 9 gala dinner at …

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced that incentives resume this month for farmers and foresters who grow and harvest biomass for renewable energy and biobased products. The funds come through the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), which was reauthorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. “This program expands the types of feedstock that can be used to make renewable …

By Amy Quinton The 700 cows on Cace Van Steyn’s dairy farm in Elk Grove excrete about 98,000 pounds of manure and urine every day. All that waste produces methane. The dairy is now using a flush system to collect that manure from most of the stalls and carry it to a covered lagoon where an anaerobic digester converts the …

CDFA has released a letter to dairy processors and producers announcing a permanent adjustment in the price for milk sold for cheese production. Producers will receive an increase in payments from processors, estimated at an average of 96 cents per hundredweight (100 pounds) over a five-year period. This change is not expected to impact retail pricing for fluid milk. ——————– …

By Beth Gardiner When Gabe Brown and his wife bought their farm near Bismarck, North Dakota, from her parents in 1991, testing found the soil badly depleted, its carbon down to just a quarter of levels once considered natural in the area. Today the Brown farm and ranch is home to a diverse and thriving mix of plants and animals. …

With an estimated 40 percent of all California state employees eligible to retire in the next five years, and nearly 50 percent here at CDFA, the agency recognizes a substantial need to recruit new employees and this week held its first annual career fair at its Gateway Oaks office in Sacramento. Invitations went out to local schools and Ag industry …

By Krista Almanza An unlikely class of college graduates will walk the stage on Saturday. They’re the product of intensive three-year bachelor’s degree program in computer science called CSin3. We first told you about it when it launched three years ago. This joint venture (formerly called CSIT-in-3), between Hartnell College and Cal State Monterey Bay, aims to train students from California’s …