Monthly Archives: March 2019

CDFA official heads National Egg Regulatory Officials (NERO) organization

CDFA Egg Safety and Quality Manager Tony Herrera has been elected president of the National Egg Regulatory Officials organization (NERO). This is his second time serving as president of NERO. Herrera’s responsibilities at CDFA include planning, directing, managing and overseeing a statewide regulatory food safety, quality and grading program for shell eggs and egg products that are marketed in California. …

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#CDFACentennial – Centennial Reflections video series with Pat Minyard

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. Today we continue with the Centennial Reflections video series, featuring CDFA employees remembering their histories, and the agency’s.

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California Climate Investments – CDFA part of $1.4 billion program in 2018

A new report details how cap-and-trade investments are reducing climate-changing emissions while pumping money into local economies and improving public health and the environment across the state — especially in disadvantaged and low-income communities. Nearly $1.4 billion in new funding last year went to projects across all of California’s 58 counties, almost double the $720 million spent in 2017. Projects ranged from …

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Swiss scientists played music to cheese as it aged – from Smithsonian.com

The creation of good cheese involves a complex dance between milk and bacteria. In a quite literal sense, playing the right tune while this dance unfolds changes the final product’s taste, a new study shows. Denis Balibouse and Cecile Mantovani at Reuters report that hip-hop, for example, gave the cheese an especially funky flavor, while cheese that rocked out to Led …

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CDFA Internship Program – Apply Now!

Now is the time to consider an internship at CDFA, and with it an opportunity to be part of an agency that supports one of the greatest food production systems in the world. With 80,500 farms and ranches, California agriculture is a $50 billion dollar industry that generates at least $100 billion in related economic activity. CDFA’s mission is, “To …

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Virulent Newcastle Disease update – USDA Shifts Emergency Funds to Address Disease in California

USDA secretary Sonny Perdue is making available an additional $45 million to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and its partners to address the ongoing virulent Newcastle disease (VND) outbreak in Southern California.  This funding will allow APHIS and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to strengthen their joint efforts to stop the spread of this …

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Sacramento Farm Day puts kids in touch with Agriculture

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross joined in the “Sacramento Farm Day” festivities today, hosted by the California Farm Bureau Federation. The event,  presented by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, brings in about 1,000 students and teachers who rotate through several stations to learn about agricultural subjects ranging from pollinators and nutrition to raising livestock and maintaining the health …

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Video – a look back at Ag Day 2019

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Student authors of Ag stories honored in Sacramento

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Bring Your Child to Work Day adds to Ag Day festivities

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