Monthly Archives: October 2018

Those clever Peterson Brothers are at it again. The young farming trio from Kansas recently visited the Orange County Fair and came away inspired by the immensity and diversity of California’s food production. Here’s a new video, “California Farms.” You can learn more about the Peterson Brothers on their You Tube page.

Facts about rangeland in California: Private rangeland accounts for about 62 percent of undeveloped land in California. Sixty-seven percent of threatened or endangered spend part of their lives on open ranchland. More than 85 percent of California’s fresh water runs over ranches. Link to California Rangeland Trust

Today, October 16, is World Food Day, an annual day of reflection and action established in 1979 by the Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) of the United Nations to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger. The theme for this is year is, “Our Actions are Our Future,” and it ties into a message that a #ZeroHunger world …

About the Global Soil Health Challenge Announced by California and France at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, the Global Soil Health Challenge calls on national and sub-national governments (like Baja California) to include ambitious programs of action on soil health in their Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2020, …

The USDA has announced that it will issue $9.4 million in grants to provide enhanced training, outreach, and technical assistance to underserved and veteran farmers and ranchers. Two organizations in California will receive a combined amount of nearly $373,000 Agriculture & Land Based Training Association (ALBA), Salinas Valley – $200,000: A New LIFE will build the capacity of hard-working socially disadvantaged farmers to …

By CDFA Secretary Karen Ross Here in California, harvest is practically a rolling, year-round occurrence. It’s just one of the many blessings of this wonderful place if you’re a farmer. It’s fitting, though, that National Farmers Day comes at the traditional harvest time of year. The bustle and excitement of this season remind us that farmers are much more than …

  Video from the Fresno Bee.    The Big Fresno Fair runs through October 14, but the Tractor Tree will remain as a permanent museum exhibit at the fairgrounds. Here’s a story about the Big Fresno Fair in The Business Journal. ————— Story by Donald A. Promnitz The 2018 Big Fresno Fair has officially arrived, bringing two weeks of rides, …

CDFA joins the rest of the nation in observing the designation of October as Firewood Awareness Month. We are providing a video on the invasive species risk of moving firewood as well as tips from our Division of Measurement Standards for those buying firewood to make sure you get what you pay for.  CDFA is a partner in in the …

The passing last week of noted claymation artist Will Vinton brought back memories of his highly-celebrated work in agriculture: the California Raisins, featuring animated characters that rocketed to fame in the ’80s. Vinton himself found fame long before that – winning an Academy Award for co-directing the 1974 short film Closed Mondays. He was the founder of Will Vinton Productions in Portland, …