Monthly Archives: September 2023

A new report released by the UC Berkeley Labor Center finds that record trucking costs in 2021 were not due to a long-term shortage of truck drivers in California. The report, Ensuring the Supply of Agricultural Truck Drivers: What the State of California Can Do, found that, while there is not a shortage of people interested in truck driving, the industry faces challenges with …

From the Washington Post Invasive pests are wreaking havoc across the planet, destroying crops, disseminating pathogens, depleting fish people rely on for food and driving native plants and animals toward extinction, according to a major report backed by the United Nations. The landmark assessment found more than 3,500 harmful invasive species cost society more than $423 billion a year, a …

CDFA Undersecretary Christine Birdsong, along with staff from the department’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, highlighted California’s climate smart agricultural leadership as well as trade this week in Mexico City. In collaboration with Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER), CDFA hosted a Climate Smart Agriculture Workshop at Casa de la Universidad de California — the location of …

From the Sacramento Bee Opinion Piece by CDFA Secretary Karen Ross “Farmers Have the Earth in Their Hands.” That’s the title of a book written by Paul Luu, a European agronomist and leader in the international push to recognize the essential nature of soil in climate resilience and nutrition security. The book resonated with me immediately for several reasons: a …

Today, September 7, is California Biodiversity Day. Here at CDFA, we are focused on the biodiversity below ground — in our soils. In this video, CDFA Secretary Karen Ross highlights a new report on soil biodiversity detailing the active, integral ecosystem beneath our feet that serves as the foundation of our food supply.

From a news release by the California Association of Winegrape Growers CDFA Secretary Karen Ross has been honored as the 2024 Leader of the Year by the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG). Secretary Ross served as the first woman president of CAWG for 13 years before being named chief of staff for US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. In 2011, …