Focus on Ag March 2020

MARCH 2020

Ag History Project reveals new exhibit USDA responds to COVID-19 Braga Fresh named Ag Leader of the year A PUBLICATION OF

Gilroy Dispatch | Gonzales Tribune | Greenfield News | Hollister Free Lance King City Rustler | Soledad Bee | Watsonville Pajaronian

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

MARCH 2020

WATSONVILLE

History in a bottle TRI-COUNTY DAIRY FARMS SHOWCASED

By TARMO HANNULA

photo by Tarmo Hannula

A new exhibit at the Agricultural History Project (AHP) has been set up to give visitors a glimpse into the dairy industry in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties.

Dozens of early-day milk bottles make up the bulk of the display, but numerous butter churns, capping machines, wires carrying trays, cream separators and more flesh out the exhibit inside the Codiga Center and Museum at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.

“The exhibit spans roughly from the late 1800s up to around 1960,” said John Kegebein, CEO of AHP. “At one point there were 152 dairy farms in Santa Cruz County, 198 in Monterey County and many more in San Benito County: There was a major dairy industry in this area for quite some time.”

Now, those dairies have largely vanished and glass bottles and all the tools of the trade have gone with them. The cardboard milk carton is one reason, Kegebein said.

“I remember milk bottles arriving on our porch in the ‘50s and into the ‘60s,” he said.

Kegebein said Elkhorn Dairy and Meadow Gold were big names in the Watsonville Area.

ARTIFACTS A bottle capping machine and other milk industry tools are part of the exhibit.

“Meadow Gold would take milk in from farmers and process it,” he said. “They had a business right there on Main Street near East Lake Avenue. The Mello family also ran a dairy, I believe out of Soquel.”

To the north of Santa Cruz was Wilder Ranch, who would make butter and cream and ship it to San Francisco.

“Part of our mission

to preserve the history of agriculture in our region,” Kegebein said. “Now, all our milk comes from Petaluma or out in the San Joaquin Valley; we’ve seen so many changes and it’s important to try to preserve our past.”

The exhibit is largely in place, however Kegebein added that signage, in English and Spanish, is still in the works.

photo by Tarmo Hannula

Dozens of early-day milk bottles are now part an exhibit at the Agricultural History Project at the fairgrounds.

NATION

USDA announces feeding program partnership in response to COVID-19 WILL PROVIDE NEARLY A MILLION MEALS A WEEK TO RURAL CHILDREN

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced March 17 a collaboration with the Baylor

Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo and others to deliver nearly a

million meals per week to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19.

“USDA is working with private sector partners to deliver boxes of food to children in rural America who are affected by school closures,” Perdue said. “Right now, USDA and local providers are utilizing a range of innovative feeding programs to ensure children are practicing social distancing but are still receiving healthy and nutritious food.

This whole of America approach to tackling the coronavirus leverages private sector ingenuity with

the exact same federal financing as the Summer Food Service Program.

USDA has already taken swift action to ensure children are fed in the event of school closures, and we continue to waive restrictions and expand flexibilities across our programs.”

USDA will utilize elements from its summer pilot program in 2019 to deliver food boxes to children affected by school closures due to COVID19 in rural America. Baylor will coordinate with state officials to prioritize students who do not currently have access to a Summer Food Service

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Program (SFSP) site and have an active outbreak of COVID-19. Initial capacity is limited, and additional vendors are requested and encouraged to ensure the program can provide food to more rural children as additional schools close.

USDA has created a single contact for those who have suggestions, ideas, or want to help feed kids across the country. Email feedingkids@usda.gov for information.

“We are grateful to come alongside USDA, PepsiCo, and McLane Global to ensure that children impacted by school closures get access to nutritious food regardless of where they live.

We know from first-hand experience that families with children who live in rural communities across the U.S. are often unable to access the existing food sites. Meal delivery is critical for children in rural America to have consistent access to food when ➝ See USDA, 4

MARCH 2020

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

Local farmers markets looking for solutions, support

A file photo by Johanna Miller

Guests to the 2019 National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon serve themselves plates of food Wednesday at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.

National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon postponed ANNUAL EVENT RESCHEDULED FOR MAY 27 STAFF REPORT

I

n light of recent advisories issued by various officials regarding COVID19, the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau announced that its annual National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon will be postponed until May 27.

The Santa Cruz

County Farm Bureau in conjunction with the Agri-Culture organization plan to host the National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Heritage Hall at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 East Lake Ave., Watsonville.

Matthew Wetstein, President of Cabrillo

College, will be this year’s featured speaker, with a presentation entitled “Importance of Educating Ag’s Future.”

A highlight of the National Agriculture Day Spring Luncheon is the presentation of the Al Smith Friend of Agriculture Award. Al Smith was the founder of Orchard Supply Hardware and donated

3,000 acres (Swanton Pacific Ranch) in the north coast to Cal Poly. The ranch has row crops, timber and even a one-third-scale railroad, which was Al’s hobby. The award is presented annually to an individual, business or organization not involved in production ➝ See LUNCHEON, 6

FOCUS ON AG midst This is why the many farmers markets businesses, organizers are movie theaters, currently looking restaurants, for solutions to concert venues help these small and more that are business survive closing across the JOHANNA MILLER through the country because outbreak. of the risk of coronavirus, Madrigal said that one community staple Watsonville Certified has taken a big hit: local Farmers Market is farmers markets. investigating ways for its While some markets produce vendors to be across the state are able to sell their products attempting to remain at other markets and open (including a few in grocery stores—places Santa Cruz) a good deal that are staying open have closed—whether by through necessity. individual choice or by I urge everyone to orders from county/city investigate your options officials. for fresh produce before Watsonville Certified immediately rushing to Farmers Market closed the nearest big chain its “doors” last week. grocery store. Look to Market Manager and the smaller suppliers— reach out to them. Ask President Jesus Madrigal told Pajaronian Managing them if you can help in a way, or if they are offering Editor Tony Nuñez that their products at other the market will most locations or for delivery. likely remain shut down I also urge community until April 10. leaders to look closer at Farmers markets are how farmers markets essential for supporting can actually aid us small farms. It’s how during this time. Find they make ends meet— ways to supply people— how they can get their especially low-income crops directly from their families—with the fresh, farms to consumers. often organic foods that They are also essential are so abundant here in in building community within agriculture, as they California.

We’re all in this are a place for farmers together, so let’s work to network and build together, too. relationships.

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

MARCH 2020

GILROY

For the love of apricots GRAPEVINE ACREAGE IS INCREASING, BUT APRICOTS ARE DWINDLING

By LAURA NESS

USDA

➝ From page 2

school is out. This is one way we, as citizens of this great nation, can respond to our neighbors in need,” said Jeremy Everett, Executive Director, Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty.

Chairman of McLane Global Denton McLane said they were proud to take part in the success of the summer Meals-2-You home delivery pilot program in 2019.

“It was a great opportunity to bring private

Andy’s Orchard in Morgan Hill, had measured 680 cold hours by midFebruary, but recent warm temps spike concern. Apricot trees typically bloom for two weeks, and while it looks bone dry for at least the next 15 days, Newman said they could be subject to the vagaries of wind.

On April 4 and 5 Newman will be at B&R Farms in Hollister, plans to sign copies of her new book, “For the Love of Apricots.”

For information and any scheduling changes visit fortheloveofapricots. com.

industry best practices together with the USDA to combat rural hunger,” he said. “Given the rapid disruptions driven by COVID-19, we can work together to swiftly take this model nationwide.”

The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global and PepsiCo will begin distributing next week and will quickly increase capacity of nearly 1,000,000 nutritious meals per week. In addition to distribution, PepsiCo will provide $1 million in funding to the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty to facilitate nationwide

distribution in the coming weeks. These boxes will contain five days worth of shelf-stable, nutritious, individually packaged foods that meet USDA’s summer food requirements. The use of this delivery system will ensure rural children receive nutritious food while limiting exposure to COVID-19. USDA will reimburse private sector partners for the same rate as an SFSP site.

“As schools around the country close, millions of schoolchildren now don’t know where their next meal is coming from. In the face of this

photo courtesy of Lisa Newman

For local apricot lover and author, Lisa Newman, who grew up among the once bountiful blossoms of the Valley of the Heart’s Delight, apricots are the center of the fruit universe.

As grapevine acreage is going up, orchard acreage is plummeting: As of 2017, Santa Clara and San Benito counties had just 696 acres of apricot orchards remaining, down from their peak of 8,800 in the 1940s. California once boasted 18,600 apricot orchard acres, but

agriculture and housing priorities shifted dramatically, with apricots getting the short end of the stick.

Newman said production in the Santa Clara Valley has been quite good for the last two years, keeping supplies and prices steady. Hopefully, this year’s crop will be decent; it all depends on sufficient “cold hours,” she said. Apricots require about 750 hours between 32 to 45 degrees over the winter months in order to rest sufficiently.

Newman reported that Andy Mariani, owner of

APRICOT FAN Author Lisa Newman will be at B&R Farms in Hollister to sign copies of her new book.

unprecedented crisis, it’s critical that the private sector help ensure these students have access to nutritious meals,” said Jon Banner, executive vice president, PepsiCo Global Communications and President, PepsiCo Foundation. “PepsiCo is committing $1 million to help Baylor create a solution with USDA to identify children most in need and then we will help reach them with at least 200,000 meals per week—one way we are deploying our food and beverage resources to help those most vulnerable.”

Last week, Secretary

Perdue announced proactive flexibilities to allow meal service during school closures to minimize potential exposure to the coronavirus. During an unexpected school closure, schools can leverage their participation in one of USDA’s summer meal programs to provide meals at no cost to students. Under normal circumstances, those meals must be served in a group setting. However, in a public health emergency, the law allows USDA the authority to waive the group setting meal requirement, which is vital during a social

distancing situation.

USDA intends to use all available program flexibilities and contingencies to serve program participants across its 15 nutrition programs. It has also already begun to issue waivers to ease program operations and protect the health of participants. USDA is receiving requests for waivers on an ongoing basis. As of March 17, USDA has been asked to waive congregate feeding requirements in in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico and USDA has granted those requests.

MARCH 2020

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

SALINAS

Braga named ag leader of the year SALINAS VALLEY CHAMBER HONORS SOUTH MONTEREY COUNTY FARMER

BY SEAN RONEY

Sean Roney

Braga Fresh Family Farms President and CEO Rod Braga was presented with the Ag Leadership Award by the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce during its 99th Annual Awards Luncheon on Feb. 27 in Salinas.

“Braga Fresh, a vertically integrated company, continues to mix innovation with tradition to grow and ship premium quality vegetables worldwide,” said Colby Pereira, last year’s winner of the award.

“The Braga Fresh headquarters sits on the family’s home ranch, which has been with the family since the 1920s.”

Braga Fresh is a thirdgeneration farming family out of Soledad offering organic fresh produce since 1928.

“It’s quite an honor for us,” said Braga upon accepting the award.

“We’re 91 years old this year. We are spanning from the Salinas Valley, to Imperial Valley, to Yuma, Ariz.”

Braga noted he was in Arkansas the day earlier at the Walmart 2020 Supplier Growth Forum, where Braga Fresh received the award for Supplier of the Year in the produce category.

“That was truly humbling in honoring us in what we are, but this

BIG MOMENT Rod Braga accepts the Ag Leadership Award from the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 27 and speaks about his company’s employees and community involvement. award today honors who we are,” Braga said. “And, who we are is the 1,200 team members and partners that work for our company on a daily basis, spanning two states.”

Braga went on to recognize the team of employees, who he said most of them were “out there working right now in the fields in the Salinas Valley,

from Salinas to King City, down in Imperial and Yuma, Ariz.” He added, “They really are the heart of what makes our company go.”

Braga explained the company logo seen around the area as a sponsor of events and said the 1,200 people allow the company to be profitable and able to give back to their

community.

Of the many team members, Braga said what isn’t seen, yet the company is proud of, is the tens of thousands of volunteer and community hours those employees contribute to their towns.

“Most of these 1,200, 1,100 of them are working six days a week and on that seventh day, when they

get to spend time with their families, they’re volunteering at their church, at their children’s schools, at their Rotary or Lions Clubs events,” he said. “I know what makes every company in here also go, makes our community go.”

Braga said he doesn’t know what the next 91 years would bring for his company, but that it will

include growth, whether growth of food, growth of the company or growth of families. He added that he didn’t know how many employees there will be in 91 years.

“I’m really willing to bet, that how many there are, they’ll be involved in their communities like everyone else here,” Braga said.

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MARCH 2020

SAN BENITO

Every tree has a story NEW BALER PLAZA OFFERS INFO ON NEW TREES STAFF REPORT

LUNCHEON ➝ From page 3

agriculture but one who has done much for the industry.

This year’s award will be presented by last year’s honoree, Tony Scurich.

signs aren’t the only treerelated project underway at SBHS. Looking to create a more environmentally-responsible campus, San Benito High School has implemented an Adopt-A-Tree program that aims to plant an additional 100 trees this school year.

For $50 per tree, donors will help reduce the 116-acre school’s carbon footprint, while creating more shade for students, faculty and staff.

Sponsored trees will include either a name plate or a rock signifying the donor’s name or the name of a business or person in whose honor the tree is being planted. The treeplanting is expected to get underway this spring.

Farm Bureau and Agri-Culture co-sponsor a poster contest (grades K-6) and poetry contest (grades 7-12) in Santa Cruz County and Pajaro Valley schools. The winning entries will be displayed during the luncheon and a placemat featuring the 2019 poster

contest winner, Luna Caddes, sixth-grader from Santa Cruz Montessori School in Santa Cruz will be used on the tables.

Also on the placemat will be the 2019 poetry contest winning entry

by Bridget Smith, seventh-grader from Monte Vista Christian School

contributed photo

The new Baler Plaza student walkway that connects San Benito High School’s main campus to the south side of campus near Nash Road now features informational signs in front of many of the trees recently planted there.

Kristy Bettencourt, SBHS’ maintenance, operations and transportation manager, said she and construction project manager Rob Zimmerman came up with the idea for the informational signs while brainstorming ways to increase student education about the new additions to campus, since thousands of students pass through the plaza on their

way across campus each day.

“We want the Baler Plaza to be a calming and inviting experience when students spend time in the plaza, kind of like a park,” Bettencourt said.

The next area that will receive signs offering information about trees is the area in front of the tennis courts.

“We have transplanted redwood trees in this area and they are doing great,” Bettencourt said. “We will be adding a sign that also shares the scientific names of these trees. I would also like to include informational signage about some of our drought-resistant grasses and plants that the district has planted.”

The informational

OAK FACTS Signs like this will begin to appear around the San Benito High School campus, reminding students of the stories of the new trees on campus.

in Watsonville. Approximately 18,000 placemats will be distributed to restaurants throughout Santa Cruz County.

This year’s contest winners will be introduced at the luncheon.

The Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship award winner will also

be presented. American AgCredit has again teamed up with the Jimmie Cox Memorial Scholarship to create a $4,000 scholarship for a student entering or currently enrolled in college and majoring in agriculture.

Tickets are $50 per person. Reservations and sponsorships for the luncheon are still available at sccfb.com or by calling 724-1356.

MARCH 2020

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FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE

CASTROVILLE

Roadside attraction

photo by Tarmo Hannula

The Giant Artichoke, deemed the world's largest, at 11261 Merritt St. in Catsroville is a popular draw for tourists. Built in 1972, at 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide, the artichoke is made out of concrete and re-bar steel. It is stationed in a small stir of businesses including a restaurant named "The Giant Artichoke," according to the w e b s i t e We i r d California.

Artichokes have been farmed since the 1920s in Castroville.

*cover photography by Tarmo Hannula

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MARCH 2020

HORTICULTURE

Crop rotation for home gardens

By TONY TOMEO

V

also popular vegetables.

Most common bulbing onions produce familiar distended bulbs that are ready for harvest after defoliating and initiating dormancy in autumn.

Green onions are leaves and attached juvenile bulbs.

Onions are probably easiest to grow locally from small juvenile onions known as ‘sets’, that grew from seed during the previous summer.

Alternatively, seed sown during summer grows into small plants that go dormant to overwinter, and then resume growth the following spring.

Mature onions should go completely dormant in autumn before storage, but are usable directly from the garden.

Yellow or brown onions are the most popular for cooking. Red or purple onions are milder and more colorful for fresh use, and are also popular for stir fry.

White onions, whether fresh or cooked, are even milder, and are the traditional onions for salsa. All onions produce distinctively bluish foliage that stands about a foot high.

The hollow leaves flop over and shrivel for dormancy in autumn.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at tonytomeo.com.

contributed

egetable gardening is not permanent landscaping.

With few exceptions, vegetable plants are annuals, like bedding plants. They do their respective jobs within only a few months.

When finished, they relinquish their space to different vegetable plants of a different season. More of the same will be in season again in a few months.

Crop rotation is something to consider when that happens.

Crop rotation is standard procedure for field crops involving several acres of the same variety of vegetable. Some crops grow on the same land for a few years. Some change annually. With few exceptions of big perennial vegetable plants, none stay in the same location for too long. Some fields go fallow for a season without production. Most simply produce a different type of vegetable.

Vegetables that grow for too long in the same soil eventually deplete some of the nutrients that they use most. Different types of vegetables deplete different types of nutrients. Crop rotation allows soil that was depleted by one type of vegetable to be used by another type that does not mind the depletion.

While slowly depleted of

a new set of nutrients, soil recovers from previous depletion.

For example, a sunny side of a fence is an ideal spot to grow pole beans. It is tempting to grow them there annually. However, they do not perform as well for a second season, and are likely to be scant for a third year. However, tomatoes appreciate what beans do to the soil, and do not miss what they took from it. After tomatoes take what they want for a season, beans are ready to return.

Crop rotation also helps to disrupt the proliferation of host-specific pathogens that overwinter in the soil and decomposing plant parts.

Generally, new vegetable plants should not be of the same family as vegetable plants that they replace in a particular location. Beans, squash, okra or corn should be happy where tomatoes grew last year. Peppers and eggplants are of the same plant family as tomatoes, so are likely to crave what the tomatoes already depleted. They are also susceptible to some of the same pathogens.

Highlight: onion Although it is the most cultivated species of its genus, no one knows the origins of domestic onion, Allium cepa. Leek, shallot, garlic, chive, and a few other species are

Onions are weirdly bulbous foliar vegetables..

GILROY

Citizens group eyes urban boundary INITIATIVE SUBMITTED TO HOLLISTER CITY CLERK

By Erik Chalhoub

A citizens group that opposes commercial development of agricultural land submitted an initiative March 2 that would establish an urban growth boundary around the City of Hollister if approved by voters in November.

Preserve Our Rural Communities, led by Aromas residents Andy and Mary Hsia-Coron and other supporters, submitted the proposal to the Hollister City Clerk’s office on the eve of the final day for voting for Measure K, a countywide initiative to allow commercial zones around four Highway 101 interchanges.

County voters soundly rejected Measure K, which had been vigorously opposed by Preserve Our Rural Communities.

The latest initiative could add a second ballot measure in San Benito County in November to place strict limits on commercial and residential growth in the county, including the City of Hollister.

The proposal would establish a boundary

that follows Hollister’s “Sphere of Influence,” which extends slightly farther than its city limits. The initiative would amend the General Plan to prohibit any kind of urban development outside the boundary for 29 years, except for uses such as public parks, schools, water recycling facilities and agriculture.

The initiative also encourages infill development for future residential, commercial and industrial projects.

“This initiative is not intended to halt growth, but simply to put important decisions about land use and development in the hands of the city’s voters,” the proponents wrote in their filing. “Many Hollister residents feel frustrated and powerless in the face of urban sprawl and traffic congestion. This initiative would help residents regain some control over their lives by encouraging democratic participation in the city’s land use decisions.”

Any change to the boundary through Dec. 31, 2049 would have to be approved by voters.

Projects that have a vested right would be exempt from the initiative.

Mary Hsia-Coron said the urban growth

boundary is similar to what was adopted in Gilroy in 2016, as well as other cities in Sonoma and Ventura counties.

“Hollister is at a critical point when residents can take similar action to protect their city’s small-town character and quality of life before it is too late,” the proponents wrote.

If the initiative passes review by the city attorney, proponents would then need to gather signatures from at least 2,060 registered voters to place the question on the November ballot for city voters.

Preserve Our Rural Communities, which is opposing San Benito County’s Measure K in the March 3 election, also is collecting signatures for another initiative that it hopes to place on the November ballot for all county voters.

In early February, the group submitted an initiative to the San Benito County Clerk’s Office that would put rezoning of agricultural lands in the hands of voters. It would also remove the commercial zoning designations in the county’s General Plan for properties along Highway 101, known as nodes.

That initiative passed a review by county counsel.

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