Deere & Co., the world's largest tractor maker, and other major agricultural and construction equipment companies in the United States are trying to attract tech workers from Silicon Valley who have faced layoffs and hiring freezes. These firms have an abundance of job openings and are offering remote work options...
It’s Time to Expose the Many Myths About Almonds and Water
I read many negative comments regarding growing almonds in California, about the water they use, and the fact that they are something our state exports. But the unfavorable criticism of almonds always seems to come from the same narrow perspective that mirrors what is found in publications written outside of...
Kerman Farmer Lost Entire Crew To Skaggs Bridge Park COVID-19 Outbreak
A Kerman farmer says that so many of his employees were affected by a COVID-19 outbreak at Skaggs Bridge Park he was nearly shut down. Fresno County Supervisor Brian Pacheco says more than 1,000 people crowded into Skaggs Bridge Park on the San Joaquin River during the weekend of August...
Hospital-Trained Chaplains Provide Solace in Farm Fields
After spending two winter seasons working California and Arizona fruit harvests, Rigoberto Escobedo Muñoz expects the loneliness of being away from his wife and four children in Tamaulipas, Mexico. But this winter it’s more heart-wrenching. When he headed north this time, his 9-year-old son was in the hospital undergoing cancer...
Legislature Should Support Climate-Change Goals, Not Gut a Tool Helping Ag & Our Planet
A change to a California law on food waste could have devastating impacts on the state’s climate goals. In our collaborative approach to tackling climate change and reducing global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), we have discovered a secret weapon. The ability of our dairy and beef cattle to upcycle organic...
Pandemic, Water Costs, Consumer Behavior Lead to $2 Billion in Ag Losses Thus Far
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on California agriculture was severe, unprecedented, and will continue to affect the industry in the coming months and years. Listen to this article: That's the sobering news from an economic study released last week by Davis-based ERA Economics. The pandemic's direct negative economic impact...
Billions in COVID Aid Will Go to Farms. But Farmers Say It’s Not Enough.
Ryan Indart says he may have to kill off some of the sheep at his east Clovis ranch this fall. With restaurants shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic, he has no market for his animals. When a new flock arrives in October, he won’t have enough space in his pasture if...
COVID-19 Shreds the Huron Lettuce Harvest. Are Melons Next?
COVID-19 isn't just killing people. It also killed part of the spring lettuce harvest in the Huron district on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. And unless something changes, melons, garlic, and tomatoes could be next, warns farmer Mark Borba of Borba Farms. Borba shot a video of...
Guardian of Monarch Butterfly Grounds Eulogized in Mexico
OCAMPO, Mexico — Hundreds of farmers and agricultural workers thronged the funeral of activist Homero Gómez González on Friday, and the homage to him was like a tribute to the monarch butterfly he so staunchly defended. The butterflies' annual migration, threatened by logging, avocado farming and climate and environmental change,...
High Anxiety: Proposed US Hemp Rules Worry Industry
PORTLAND, Ore. — Hemp growers and entrepreneurs who were joyous a year ago after U.S. lawmakers reclassified the plant as a legal agricultural crop now are worried their businesses could be crippled if federal policymakers move ahead with draft regulations. Licenses for hemp cultivation topped a half-million acres last year,...