Focus on Ag July 2020

JULY 2020

CALIFORNIA’S CENTRAL COAST

NEWS DIGEST Webinar presents results of Climate Change report The California Department of Food and Agriculture will present results via webinar on its recently released report, “Climate Change Impacts for Specialty Crops,” which documents strategies proposed by agricultural representatives to improve adaptation to climate change.

To disseminate the new regional report’s results and provide further opportunities for feedback, CDFA will host two webinars on July 27 and July 30 at 10am PST, to focus on strategies to promote adaptation to climate change in Southern California agriculture. For information and to register visit cdfa.gov.

Carmel olive oil wins Best of Show

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue on July 14 announced that additional commodities will soon be eligible for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Through Aug. 28, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be accepting applications for CFAP, which aims to offset costs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Producers can apply using an online portal, an application generator at farmers.gov/cfap or by printing off the application and sending by mail. For a full list of commodities now eligible, and to keep updated on further developments, visit fsa.usda.gov/FSA.

Survey shows strain on rural California

Christopher Ranch bolsters stringent safety protocols

Markets bounce back OUTDOOR SHOPPING THRIVES DESPITE COVID-19

By JOHANNA MILLER

G

rocery shopping is a different experience than what it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. Between long lines and being in close-quarters, navigating an indoor store can be a challenging and not altogether comfortable experience.

This is why many farmers markets across the Monterey Bay campaigned early on in the pandemic to remain open.

Outdoor markets, organizers urged, were a safe alternative for people to purchase healthy food from local sources.

The push succeeded, with both state and regional leaders dubbing farmers markets “essential food sources” for communities. And despite ongoing challenges, they have seen a surge of support.

“Customers have gotten on board, which we really appreciate,” said Catherine Barr, Executive Director of Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets. “A lot of our farmers used to sell to restaurants… so they’ve lost a lot during this time.”

Monterey Bay Certified Farmers Markets oversees a handful of markets in the southern part of Monterey Bay, as well as the Aptos Farmers Market at Cabrillo College, which is open Saturdays 8am-12pm.

“Aptos… is doing pretty

FRESH SELECTION A shopper purchases some stone fruit from a vendor

at the Watsonville Farmers Market. well,” Barr said. “Growers have been inventive— they’ve gotten together and created more Community Supported Agriculture programs, put together grab-and-go containers… They are thinking outside the box.”

The Watsonville Certified Farmers Market, open Fridays 2-7pm, is also thriving. Market manager Jesus Madrigal said that his main goal has been to make sure people feel safe—and so far, the response has been mostly positive.

“Of course there are still people who are concerned, and we’re trying to hear them out and voice these things to the City,” he said. “But overall, we are doing well.”

At the start of the pandemic, the Watsonville market was shut down temporarily. Madrigal was worried for his vendors, many of whom are small family

farms. He began looking for other ways to help them sell their produce. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the City allowed him to reopen the market, albeit with new guidelines.

Both the Watsonville and Aptos markets have been enforcing masks and physical distancing, as well as providing hand washing stations and sanitizer. Madrigal said that Cabrillo has allowed the market to expand onto its Watsonville campus, allowing vendors to space further apart.

Watsonville also continues to support programs such as WIC and CalFresh. A recent grant from The County of Santa Cruz has allowed the market to double people’s CalFresh funds—something the market was maintaining out of pocket in April. “[The grant] has been a big help,” Madrigal said.

Johanna Miller

Christopher Ranch, in the middle of its busiest time of the year, experienced two employee cases of Covid-19 in late June. But stringent safety protocols have prevented an outbreak at the Gilroy garlic facility. The ranch, which early on in the pandemic required temperature checks for its employees as well as face masks and other safety protocols, is now mandating employees to wear face shields. Employees are also required to practice social distancing, both in the fields and in processing facilities.

The ranch’s garlic harvest season kicked off in early June. The harvest is expected to net 100 million pounds of garlic, which will go to stores nationwide and alleviate a shortage.

WORKING THE EARTH A trio of field workers thin a lettuce crop on a farm along Beach Road in Watsonville.

Johanna Miller

Lost markets and lost off-farm income related to the Covid-19 pandemic have proven doubly difficult for many California farmers and ranchers, according to a recent survey by the California Farm Bureau Federation. CFBF and the Farm Employers Labor Service undertook the survey of Farm Bureau members and newsletter subscribers, clients and customers to quantify the impact of the crisis. More than half of the farmers responding said they had lost customers or sales due to Covid-19, and nearly half said they or someone in their immediate family had lost offfarm income. Nearly 57% of respondents said they had lost customers or sales, with most citing stay-at-home orders that had closed customers’ businesses.

Tarmo Hannula

The Central Coast Olive Oil Competition has released results from the 2020 competition which featured premier oils produced across California. Tres Osos hailing from Carmel emerged as the producer of the best of show entry. All entries entered were also judged on their labels as part of the Central Coast Packaging and Design Competition.

The oils were awarded for the best single bottle label, best series of labels, best packaging of a single bottle and best packaging of a series of bottles. A complete list of results can be found at centralcoastwinecomp.com/ olive-oil.

BOUQUETS A selection of flowers is displayed at the farmers market in Watsonville.

“It is so important, during times like these, to make sure people have access to good food.”

Despite the positives, market organizers still recognize that many of their farmers are struggling. Barr said that some farmers do not see much of a future beyond the pandemic, whether it be

due to low sales or diminishing labor.

“A couple of [growers] said that they might not be able to come back,” Barr said. “And that breaks my heart. Of course we’re all hoping for the best, but we’re preparing for the worst. All we can do is show our support to these hard working farmers.”

A PUBLICATION OF

Gilroy Dispatch | Hollister Free Lance | Salinas Valley Tribune | King City Rustler | Watsonville Pajaronian

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

JULY 2020

MONTEREY COUNTY 2019 CROP REPORT

Jon Allred

GREEN MOVEMENT Major crop trends for Monterey County include leaf lettuce with a total value of $840 million, according to the 2019 Crop Report.

Cannabis represents 10 percent of production as fruits decline MONTEREY REPORT HIGHLIGHTS INVASIVE THREATS

By SEAN RONEY REPORTER

MONTEREY COUNTY— Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Henry Gonzales has released the county’s 2019 Crop Report, which included an evaluation of cannabis production for the first time.

“This report reflects a production value of $4,409,992,000, which is an increase of 3.5 percent from 2018,” Gonzales said in the report. “It is important to note that the values represented in this report

reflect the gross value of agricultural commodities grown in Monterey County and not the costs associated with labor, field preparation, planting, irrigating, harvesting and other production activities.

As is always the case, we saw some crops increase in value while others decreased.”

Gross production for cannabis in Monterey County totaled $450 million cultivated from 86 acres. T his was in addition to the overall crop production countywide of $4.4 billion for 80 different crop commodities.

Since the county first adopted an ordinance in 2015 to allow cannabis cultivation, the cities of Salinas, Seaside, Gonzales, Greenfield and King City also adopted similar ordinances. Each ordinance

varies on regulations and tax structures, but they all need the issuance of cultivation licenses from the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The overall gross production value of crops rose to $4.4 billion from 2018’s $4.2 billion, seeing the largest gain in vegetable crops, which increased from $2.9 billion to $3.1 billion in one year. Production labeled as field crops grew from $23 million to $24 million.

Losses for the county were in fruits and nuts, which dipped to $1.02 billion in 2019 from $1.04 billion in the prior year.

Nursery crops sank from $204 million to $143 million. Seed crops and apiaries toppled to $3.6 million from $5 million in 2018. Livestock and

poultry almost held steady at a total of $110 million, seeing a dip of $18,000 from the prior year.

Major crop trends for the county this year were leaf lettuce with a total value of $840 million, strawberries with a total value of $732 million, head lettuce with a value of $514 million and broccoli valued at $457 million.

Other top crops included cauliflower at $212 million, miscellaneous vegetables at $196 million, celery at $186 million, wine grapes at $186 million, nursery plants at $143 million, spinach at $127 million, Brussels sprouts at $95 million, mushrooms at $86 million, cabbage at $61 million, artichoke at $53 million and peas at $52 million.

The most noticeable upper shift was wine grapes

dropping from the county’s fifth top crop last year to the eighth top crop this year. Cabbage, valued at $61 million this year, also experienced a jump to 14th highest this year from 19th place last year. Kale, valued at $30 million, dropped from 16th place to 21st place.

The county grows 150 specialty crops and exports almost 400 billion pounds of produce out of the Salinas Valley on an annual basis. This year’s report theme noted that despite the prosperity, invasive insect species are a major threat to production.

“This year, in addition to presenting our crop values, we are drawing awareness to invasive species, which adversely affect agricultural production by resulting in quarantines and increasing

the use of pesticides,” Gonzales said.

Highlighted threats to Monterey County crops included the Mediterranean fruit fly, Japanese beetle, Gypsy moth, glass-winged sharpshooter, Asian citrus psyllid and European grapevine moth.

Invasive insects were monitored through the use of 4,500 traps throughout th e c o u nty, p l a c ed i n neighborhoods, farmland, nurseries and natural areas.

Invasive weeds were also highlighted, with yellow starthistle and pampas grass highlighted in photos.

Residents and visitors were asked to help combat the spread of weeds by cleaning boots after hiking and tires after biking.

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM

Central Coast ag industries buoyed by federal loans

By TONY NUNEZ Reporter

The Paycheck Protection Program helped save at least 17,000 agricultural jobs throughout the tricounty area, according to data released by the Small Business Administration on July 6.

The program, a part of the more than $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, dished out more than half a trillion dollars to millions of businesses impacted by Covid-19 res tric tions, including more than 120 agricultural businesses in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties and the southern reaches of Santa Clara County.

Tw o C e n t r a l C o a s t

giants, NorCal Harvesting, LLC in Salinas and Monterey Mushrooms Inc. in Watsonville, asked for and received loans ranging from $5-10 million.

Tw e n t y - o n e o t h e r agricultural businesses in the region, including Scheid Vineyards California, Inc., Dobler and Sons and Lakeside Organic Gardens LLC, received loans of $2-5 million.

The SBA asked business owners seeking loans to provide some background information, including how many jobs the loan would help retain and the ethnicity of the owner. But some business owners left those fields unanswered.

NorCal Harvesting, for example, said its loan—the largest amount a company

could ask for—would preserve 500 jobs, while Royal Oaks’ R Montanez Fa r m s L L C d i d n o t disclose how many jobs would be impacted with its $1-2 million loan.

Thirty-five businesses asked for loans of $1-2 m i l l i o n , t h e m a j o r i ty of which operate in the Salinas and Watsonville.

Coastal Nursery, LLC on Watsonville’s Rancho Road was one such company.

It said its loan would help preserve 113 jobs. In Salinas, a loan of that size helped Jorge Castro Farms save 500 jobs.

The majority (65) of local agricultural businesses asked for $350,0001 million. Many of them were small farms such as Happy Boy Farms in

Watsonville, Seamist Farms in Castroville, San Felipe Farms in Gilroy and El Campo Farms in Gonzales.

S a n t a C r u z C o u n ty Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo said the impact of the PPP loan program varies from business to business.

Because picking crops was deemed an essential job at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses solely in charge of growing and harvesting were not hit as hard as others who process, store, transport and sell the crops. Many of those businesses were forced to shut down or limit their operations in the early days of the shelter-in-place restrictions.

“Most practices on the farm may not have been disrupted

as much as you may have seen in other industries,” he said.

Hidalgo said it is too early to determine the o v e r a l l e ff e c t s o f t h e pandemic, but he does expect more federal funds will be needed to help farmers such as growers who sell directly to local restaurants that will continue to be in flux as Covid-19 cases rise and fall.

“That’s going to continue to have an impact on the prices for some of our commodities and our growers’ ability to be able to sell what they would normally sell in a regular year,” Hidalgo said. “I think there will be an impact. I think growers are going to need some assistance from the federal government to help to recuperate some of

what they lost this year, but it remains to be seen how big that impact is going to be.”

The program has distributed roughly $520 billion through about 4.9 million loans, according to the SBA. Roughly $130 billion still sat unclaimed, as of mid-July. Small-business owners have until Aug. 8 to apply for a PPP loan.

If at least 75% of the loan, according to the SBA, is used for payroll, it becomes “forgivable.”

To see the full list of recipients that received a loan of at least $150,000 visit the SBA website.

The SBA also released lists containing the approved loans of less than $150,000 for each state but did not disclose the names of the recipients.

JULY 2020

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

COVID-19

California ranches, farms take a hit

THANK YOU

By TONY NUÑEZ Reporter

We appreciate the support of our entire community and the following organizations and individuals in the success of the Junior Livestock Auction

Tarmo Hannula

C E N T R A L C O A S T— Pandemic-related losses to California farms, ranches and agricultural businesses will range between $5.9 billion and $8.6 billion this year, according to an economic study released June 23.

The analysis says the state’s $50 billion agricultural sector has already suffered $2 billion in losses so far, from disrupted markets and rising production costs related to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Financial impacts of the pandemic var y widely in the agricultural economy, the study says, depending in part on how much a particular crop or commodity relies on sales to food service and how much it has been affected by shifts in retail demand and changes in costs of production and processing.

The pandemic was an “abrupt disruption” to the agricultural supply chain in the state and around the world, the study says. When the food-service industry temporarily shuttered because of California’s stayat-home order, farmers were left with hundreds of pounds of unclaimed crops (mostly fruits and vegetables, according to the report) they were forced to throw out.

The closure of schools and office buildings was another blow for farmers, especially those in the dairy industry that sell bulk orders of milk and other products to school districts. That industry saw the largest dollar-loss impact: $1.4-2.3 billion.

Grapes ($1.5-1.7 billion) and flowers and nurseries ( $ 6 6 0 -74 0 m i l l i o n ) were second and third, respectively, in dollar-loss impact, according to the study.

“Milk producers are dealing with oversupply as both demand from food service businesses and exports have fallen,” the study says. “Some producers have reported throttling back production by adjusting feed rations, though agencies have yet to report any major changes in quantities of milk coming off the farm.”

With the schools throughout the Central Coast starting the 2020-21 school year online, Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo said the country’s so-called “salad bowl” will have to work quickly to adjust to the new wholesale landscape, lowering demand and hygiene rules. “ T h a t ’s d e fi n i t e l y

CROP HAUL Workers harvest organic zucchini on a farm in Watsonville for the Lakeside Organic Gardens label. going to have an impact,” Hidalgo said. “Even if kids are allowed to go back to school I think the schools are going to be in a place where they have to change how they provide meals to kids. Having an open cafeteria, an open salad bar, per say, I don’t think it’s something that schools are going to be doing because of this situation. I think from that standpoint, it will have an impact on our growers as well.”

At the same time, the wide-spread panic shopping at local markets proved to be a boon for shelf-stable items such as rice, processed tomato products and canned fruit. But in aggregate, the study says, “the losses far outweigh the isolated benefits.”

Produced by Davisbased ERA Economics, the study was commissioned by a coalition led by the California Farm Bureau Federation and including UnitedAg, Ag Association Management Services Inc., the California Fresh Fruit Association, California Strawberry Commission, C a l i f o r n i a To m a t o Growers Association and Western Plant Health Association.

CFBF President Jamie Johansson said the study illustrates the scope of the pandemic’s impact.

“California farmers, ranchers and their employees have continued the essential work needed to keep American families fed, but that work has come with sacrifice,” Johansson said. “The impact is being felt in rural communities throughout the state that rely on agriculture for their residents’ livelihoods.

We want legislators and

regulators to bear that in mind and avoid making farming even more costly and difficult in California.”

Analysts looked specifically at 15 different agricultural sectors, using data on production, exports and prices through early May, plus interviews and sur veys of people and businesses.

In addition, the report says farms, ranches and related businesses have incurred higher operating costs for measures intended to increase employee health and safety, and in the logistics required to move crops and commodities to market.

“Along with the loss of key markets due to food service disappearing overnight or flower shops and garden centers not being allowed to operate in certain areas, we now are adapting to significant increased operational costs that many California farmers will never recoup,” said Chris Zanobini, president/CEO of Ag Association Management Services.

Abrupt shifts in purchasing patterns in export and domestic markets—prompted by the constriction in restaurant and other food-service sales and a swing to retail purchases for at-home use—have affected farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses at various points in the supply chain, the study says, ultimately resulting in farm-gate crop price impacts.

The full report, titled Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on California Agriculture, may be found at www.cfbf.com/ covid-19-study.

NATION

USMCA touted as boon for trade STAFF REPORT

After more than two years of negotiations, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, billed as a “great deal for all three countries” by President Donald Trump, went into

effect on July 1.

The trade deal replaces the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump often referred to as “the worst trade deal ever made.”

While the new agreement largely updates aspects of NAF TA , it

includes a number of new guidelines intended to boost American farmers and ranchers.

Canada and Mexico are the first and second largest export markets for United States food and agricultural products, ➝ See USMCA, 6

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Salinas Valley Fair Junior Livestock Auction 2020 Cooperative Add-On Fund Donors

Collectively, proceeds from the 2020 Cooperative Add-on Fund will provide each 4-H and FFA member participating in the 2020 Junior Livestock Auction with an additional $275 donation towards the costs associated with their agricultural education livestock projects.

3 Brand Cattle Company A&G Pumping American Takii Seed Company Arroyo Seco Vineyards Bassetti Farms, LLC Bengard Ranch Borzini Farms Braga Fresh Family Farms Brian Antle Bullet Ranches California Women For Ag - Salinas Valley Chapter Cheryl & Steve Harrison Cody & Ashleigh Young Cornerstone Masonry David & Susan Gill Deer Creek Taxidermy Dorothy Wagster Gerald Cremers Glenda Rodman Green Valley Farm Supply Headley Farms Hitchcock Farms, Inc. Jennifer Williams Jim & Michelle Orradre Jim & Paula Guidotti Jim Efrid Kathleen Vierra Kathy DeVoy King City Lions Club King City Veterinary Hospital Linda Masten Attorney at Law Mantis Ag Technology Martin & Lara Orradre

Matt & Dana Hearne Mechanics Bank MGE Underground Mike & Mary Orradre Mike & Wendy Franscioni Monterey County Regional Fire Volunteers Nino Homes Nunhems USA, Inc Oak Shores Realty Pacific Ag Rentals Paulette Bumbalough Peachtree Ranch Pezzini Berry Farms Pioneer Properties Management Progressive Packaging Group RDO Equipment Company RDO Water RG Fabrication Salinas Steel Builders Scott & Debbie Anthony Seco Packing, LLC Sharlene Hughes Star Sanitation Steve & Grace Wood Tanimura & Antle Thorne & Thorne Company Tim & Alma Escamilla TJ Plew Tom’s Monterey Auto Repair Topflavor Farms Topo Ranch Western Precooling Systems Wilbur Ellis

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

CALENDAR

Thank you for supporting local farms, local produce, and local packaging

JULY 2020

JULY 25 & 26 Morning Family Farm Walk 1275 Green Valley Rd., Watsonville Enjoy the healing nature of time outdoors with family by taking a self-guided tour of Live Earth Farm’s organic fields, the Discovery Garden and animal pens.

The $30 admission gives you and your family (cost is per family unit) private access to the upper farm and will help our nonprofit organization weather the challenges of the COVID19 crisis. Additional funds gifted will support our produce donation program to vulnerable families in our community or our summer farm care program for working families. Register on eventbrite. com. Visit Farm Discovery’s Facebook page for information.

JULY 25 Native Seed Collecting 101 Facebook Live event facebook.com/ elkhornsloughreserve

www.sambrailo.com 800 Walker Street, Watsonville CA 95076 831-724-7581

Summer is the time when many native plants drop their seeds. Find out how Elkhorn Slough Reserve’s stewardship team collects and processes seeds each year, and learn how to identify and properly collect some for your own garden!

This is a Facebook LIVE event from 1-2pm. To access the livestream, on the event day and time, visit this event page, where a direct link to the livestream will be posted 5 minutes beforehand. You can also access the stream via the Reserve’s main Facebook page. Just open the menu options and click “LIVE.” For information about the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve visit elkhornslough.org.

JULY 27-29 Soil and Water Conservation Society Conference Virtual conference swcs.org/20ac This year’s conference theme, “Expanding Horizons: Where Conservation Meets Innovation,” evokes images of the expansive views of the region and the deep and varied soil horizons that make Iowa’s farmland some of the most productive in the world.

This year’s theme also speaks to the broadening of individual perceptions and experiences as attendees discover new concepts, partners, and advancements in soil and water research. The Soil and Water Conservation Society’s 75th International Annual Conference will assemble a diverse, multigenerational conservation community of researchers, practitioners, industry leaders, farmers, and students from around the world. Join us virtually as we recognize lessons from the past, expand our professional and personal horizons, and shape the future of conservation. To register visit swcs.org.

environmental benefits, and implementation techniques of sustainable crop production.

Economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainable agronomy will be considered. To register visit agronomy.org/meetings/ sustainable-agronomy.

FARMERS MARKETS Gilroy Farmers Market 6000 Miller Ave., Gilroy Held every Saturday 9am-1pm. Come and enjoy local vegetables and fruit, homemade soap, bakery items, hummus, garlic, flowers, and more. For information visit tcfm.farm/

Hollister Farmers Market San Benito Street (between Went Alley and 6th St.), Hollister The market will be held every Saturday through August 15, 9am-12pm.

Come by to purchase fresh fruits and veggies from local sources. For information visit downtownhollister.org.

Salinas Farmers Market AUGUST 18-20 Sustainable Agronomy Conference Virtual conference agronomy.org For the health and safety of attendees, sponsors, and staff, the American Society of Agronomy has chosen to shift our 2020 Sustainable Agronomy Conference to a virtual experience. The Sustainable Agronomy Conference will provide Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) and AgriSale Professionals with the opportunity to better understand and implement sustainable agronomy in the field. Learn the drivers, economics, agronomics,

12 W. Gabilan St., Salinas Market is held year-round, Saturday from 9am to 2pm.

Come for an assortment of fruits, veggetables and street food. For informations visit wcfma.org/salinas

Alisal Farmers Market 632 East Alisal, Salinas The Alisal Market is located in the parking lot of the WIC center and happily accepts EBT/WIC and conducts a Market Match program for EBT customers to increase their spending power. Ask about Market Match at the Information Booth. Held every Tuesday 11am-4pm.

For information visit everyonesharvest.org.

GILROY

Erik Chalhoub

IN LIMBO Olam International's onion and garlic facility on Pacheco Pass Highway.

Garlic facility sale terminated

By ERIK CHALHOUB REPORTER

GILROY—An investment firm’s $110 million deal to buy a Gilroy onion and garlic processing facility fell through due to financial difficulties caused by Covid-19.

Olam International, one of Gilroy’s largest private employers, announced in November that it had sold its onion and garlic processing facility on Pacheco Pass Highway to Chicago-based Mesirow Financial.

With businesses closing and the economy grinding to a halt due to Covid-19 and the related shelter-in-place orders,

the deal was terminated, Olam announced in a May press release.

“The company was notified by Mesirow that, because of significant financial market disruption/challenge arising from Covid-19, it has been unable to secure the required debt and equity financing to meet its obligations,” Olam officials stated.

Olam International’s Gilroy facility spans nearly 922,000 square feet, with about 500 employees, making it one of the top employers in the city.

In December, Olam officials reported that

the business recently signed a 25-year lease for the Gilroy property, and said the company plans to be in the city for the long term.

Olam still intends to sell the facility, noting in the press release that it is in the “process of identifying new investors,” and was expected to reassess the value of the facility by the end of June.

Singapore-based Olam International operates more than 170 processing and manufacturing facilities across the world. It specializes in products such as nuts, spices, rice and other foods.

JULY 2020

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

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HORTICULTURE

Nursery cans are only temporary

By TONY TOMEO SYNDINCATED COLUMIST

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totaling more than $39.7 billion in 2018. These exports support more than 325,000 American jobs, according to the California Farm Bureau.

“USMCA creates more market access for farmers from across our nation to sell their wholesome and nutritious products to our closest neighbors,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said. “This is a better deal for America that will grow our economy and put more money in the pockets of American families.”

The new agreement maintains the tariff-free access for nearly all U.S. agricultural commodities shipped into Mexico and Canada, according to Perdue, as well as giving U. S . p o u l t r y a n d e g g producers expanded access to Canada’s market.

The agreement adds a provision that addresses

contributed

arden enthusiasts would understand the temporary nature of nursery cans better if they knew more about how plants grow in nurseries. Few plants actually grow in the retail nurseries that market them.

They grow in production nurseries, where efficiency is a priority. Nursery cans, which retailers and consumers refer to as 'pots', are the most efficient means with which to contain the crops.

Most nursery cans are thin black vinyl. While plants are small, crowded 'can to can' arrangement shades the black vinyl so that it does not get too hot from sunlight exposure.

Those on the western and southern edges of a crop might get shade from a temporary row of empty cans or a plank leaned against them. As plants mature and need more space, their growing foliage shades the vinyl.

As plants become marketable, they go from production nurseries to retail and wholesale nurseries. From there, they go to new landscapes and home gardens. Only then do they finally escape the nursery cans that they grew up in, to disperse their roots into real soil.

The nursery cans have finished their job. Plants can not live in them forever, even if they continue to live in other types of pots.

Nursery cans are efficient, but not necessarily comfortable. By the time they are marketable, the plants that they contain are generally about as big as they can get within their cans. If they get any bigger, their roots will be crowded. If too exposed to sunshine, the black vinyl gets hot enough to cook the roots within. Plants prefer to be in the ground, or at least pots that are more comfortable.

Potted plants that will grow bigger should live in pots, planters or other containers that are bigger than the nursery cans that

VIBRANCE Shiny xylosma should

get more respect.

they grew in. Some will want even larger containers as they grow more later. Annuals and plants that will not grow much bigger are not so critical. However, all potted plants that will not shade their own pots appreciate containers that are better insulated than thin vinyl.

Clay pots, wooden planters and even concrete urns are as practical as they are appealing.

Highlight: Shiny Xylosma As a backdrop for more interesting plants, shiny xylosma, Xylosma congestum, may not get the respect that it deserves.

If it seems to be a bit too common in some big landscapes, it is probably because it is so practical.

It can function like the strictly shorn hedges that were popular decades earlier, but is a bit more adaptable to modern landscape styles. It can be formal or quite informal.

Formal hedges of shiny

agricultural biotechnology, including new technologies such as gene editing.

California Farm Bureau Fe d e r a t i o n P r e s i d e n t Jamie Johansson said the trade agreement assures improved flow of trade with Canada and Mexico.

“Once it’s implemented, the agreement will help farmers, ranchers and thousands of other Californians whose jobs are tied to agricultural exports,” Johansson said.

Congressman Jimmy Panetta, who represents California’s Central Coast, voted for the agreement.

"Our agriculture on the central coast of California relies heavily on our leading trade partners Canada and Mexico,” he said. “The USMCA will provide our farmers and ranchers with improved and continued access to those critical export markets and give them the certainty that they deserve.

"The agreement provides relief from nontariff barriers by requiring agriculture food safety

xylosma are typically no taller than eight feet, and a bit more plump than old fashioned privet hedges.

They can get a bit sparse if kept too lean. Informal hedges are mostly lower and plumper, with casually irregular surfaces and no corners. Old shiny xylosma can grow as a small tree more than eight feet tall. Younger specimens are of the shorter cultivar, 'Compacta'.

Established shiny xylosma is surprisingly resilient. Roots disperse impressive distances to reach moisture so that old specimens can survive without direct irrigation.

Although, they prefer regular watering. Overgrown specimens can eventually regenerate nicely from coppicing or pollarding.

The main disadvantage is that vigorous new growth will likely develop concealed but sharp thorns.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at tonytomeo.com.

measures to be based on sound science, and increases transparency for biotechnology standards transparency. Moreover, the USMCA increases market access for dairy, poultr y and eggs, and ends discrimination of California wine in Canadian stores.”

As the USMCA has recently gone into effect, it is unclear how much of an impact the agreement will have on local commodities.

Nationwide, the deal is expected to create 176,000 jobs after six years and increase U.S. GDP by 0.35 percent, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

According to the California Agricultural S t a t i s t i c s R e v i e w, i n 2017, California exports to Canada totaled $3.2 billion, led by wine, strawberries and lettuce.

That same year, the state’s exports to Mexico totaled a little more than $1 billion, with dairy products, grapes and processed tomatoes at the top of the list.