Monthly Archives: February 2019

By Jonathan H. Harsch and Sara Wyant “Adapt or die.” That saying, made famous in the early 1970s by then-Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz as he encouraged farmers to look for ways to be more efficient and responsive to market signals, still rings true for many in agriculture today. Butz, who grew up on a small Indiana farm and graduated from …

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a state agency in 2019. Throughout the year this blog will feature a number of items to commemorate this milestone.   At the 1939 San Francisco World’s Fair, held at Treasure Island, CDFA (then the Department of Agriculture) presented an educational exhibit called, “The History of California …

By Emma Johnson Bruce and Rick Rominger of Rominger Farms (near Winters, Yolo County) had no idea they were even nominated for the national Hugh Hammond Bennett Award for Conservation Excellence. It came as a surprise when, a few weeks before the annual conference of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), they received a call asking if they would …

By Pamela Kan Rice Farmers know they lose crops to pests and plant diseases, but scientists have found that on a global scale, pathogens and pests are reducing crop yields for five major food crops by 10 percent to 40 percent, according to a report by a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientist and other members of the International Society …

CDFA, the California Association of Food Banks, and Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services teamed-up again in 2018 to sponsor the State Employee Food Drive. The generosity of state employees throughout California, including donations at office bins as well as cash donations, resulted in 609,527 pounds of food–more than 300 tons–available for distribution through food banks. This total includes 4,273 …

By Gerry Everding Since the beginning of archaeology, researchers have combed the globe searching for evidence of the first domesticated crops. Painstakingly extracting charred bits of barley, wheat, millet and rice from the remains of ancient hearths and campfires, they’ve published studies contending that a particular region or country was among the first to bring some ancient grain into cultivation. …

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a state agency in 2019. Throughout the year this blog will feature a number of items to commemorate this milestone.   CDFA operates 16 Border Protection Stations today as a first line of defense against invasive species posing a risk to California’s food supply and environment, as …