Monthly Archives: July 2022

By Isobel Whitcomb In the first 11 days of 2017, California’s six-year-long drought ended in deluge. During that time, the state saw a quarter of its average annual rainfall. Record snowfall shut down ski resorts. In San Jose, people evacuated their houses in boats. The state’s reservoirs couldn’t contain it; the water gushed through spillways and toward the Pacific Ocean.  But the …

The Spotted Lanternfly, an invasive species originating in China, has been detected in 11 eastern states in recent years, and California is working diligently to keep it away. As part of that effort, personnel at CDFA’s Border Inspection Station at Truckee recently detected lanternfly egg masses on a trailer carrying firewood from New Jersey — one of the infested states. …

By Ian James and Sean Greene California regulators have begun curtailing the water rights of many farms and irrigation districts along the Sacramento River, forcing growers to stop diverting water from the river and its tributaries. The order, which took effect Thursday (July 7), puts a hold on about 5,800 water rights across the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers’ watersheds, …

The California Department of Food and Agriculture is pleased to provide an update on Proposition 12, written by Dr. Elizabeth Cox, Animal Care Program Manager and the lead for Proposition 12 enforcement in California.  Dr. Cox recently visited ten sow farms across the U.S. at the invitation of several pork farmers and processors, including Clemens Food Group, Hormel, JBS, and …

Loss of farmland and conservation were the topics of discussion when members of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture toured ranchland and a nature preserve in the Elk Grove-area on Tuesday. Board members met at KLM Ranches and spoke with company president Ken Oneto and Charlotte Mitchell, Executive Director of California Farmland Trust. The Board also visited Stone …