Monterey County Agriculture, Food & Gardening Digest

Unofficial estimates that some 20,000 acres of local farmland flooded in recent storms threaten a costly road to recovery up ahead.

Food safety rules require that soil and irrigation systems be inspected and tested for pathogens after the floodwaters recede.

California has given the federal government its own counterproposal for apportioning reductions of Colorado River water, saying a plan offered by six other states would disproportionately burden farms and cities in Southern California.

Crop disease is ravaging lettuce fields in Salinas Valley, causing a nationwide shortage.

Stanford scientists have genetically re-programmed plants to grow roots that change how they gather nutrients or water.

Supervisors Mary Adams, Chris Lopez and cannabis program staff reached a consensus to recommend cutting the cannabis program from $7.25 million to $4.6 million and reducing full-time equivalent positions from 25.23 to 18.98.

In the fall, rice fields in the Sacramento Valley usually shine golden brown as they await harvesting. This year, however, many fields were left covered with bare dirt.

Drought, human-caused climate change, invasive species and a “legacy” of environmental issues are permanently altering California’s landscape and placing some communities and ecosystems at increasing risk.

Monterey County elected officials on Tuesday voted to deliver to cannabis growers and manufacturers another break in taxes as an industry glut continues to pressure prices.

Linda and Stewart Resnick have donated $50 million to UC Davis for an agricultural research center—the largest donation in the campus’s history—but the couple’s Wonderful Company is the state’s single biggest water user.

In a 50-page legal request, Central Coast activists are asking the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner to review all permits for pesticide applications issued this year within a mile of Ohlone Elementary, Pajaro Middle School and Hall District Elementary School in North Monterey County.

UC Davis is set to build a center focused on agricultural innovation and research after Beverly Hills billionaires Lynda and Stewart Resnick gave the university $50 million, the largest donation it has received from individual donors.

Photos from Stanford University’s Ernesto Galarza collection documenting the bracero program were on view at the Salinas Sports Complex. Now county leaders hope to find a permanent place for the display, but until then the photos can be seen at the Monterey County Historical Society.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of “Silent Spring,” the Rachel Carson book that sparked the environmental movement, activists called on the Agricultural Commissioner and the Board of Supervisors to limit the applications of 1,3 dichloropropene, a soil fumigant and “probable carcinogen.”

For a group of local parents with kids in the Salinas City Elementary School District, the school food situation left much to be desired. So they got moving on a solution.

For the first time, members at the California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting will be able to sell goods from their farms and ranches. Called the California Marketplace, this interactive event will be held Dec. 4—one of several new features of the meeting, taking place Dec. 2-7 in Monterey.

It’s not always easy to know which wineries are practicing eco-conscious farming and operations. Edible Silicon Valley gathered various tips and things to look for when deciding which corks to pop.

The Power Plant Market debuted in Moss Landing July 23 with four vendors. Market manager Jody Lombardo says five more stalls will be added this weekend, and she plans to make it a two-day market—Saturdays and Sundays—later this summer.

Winemaker/restaurateur Mark Bright and his partners at Saison in San Francisco decided to create Saison Winery to showcase Santa Cruz Mountains wines. Now, the wines can be purchased at the new Saison Cellar tasting room in Los Gatos, located in the former home of Left Bend Cellars.

The Lettuce Strike of 1936 remains a dark stain on the history of Salinas. In the second part of a series, reporter Joe Livernois writes about how powerful business interests could coordinate an effective campaign against common enemies.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors gave a green light on private ownership of desalination projects and took a step closer to allowing errant cannabis producers to catch up on owed taxes. The board also approved a spending plan that will face difficulties ahead.

California residents living in agricultural communities have long been concerned about pesticide exposure. Now, Californians for Pesticides Reform is proposing a 2.5-mile buffer zone between schools and pesticide application.

A proposal in the state Senate would spend up to $1.5 billion to buy “senior water rights” that allow farmers to take as much water as needed from the state’s rivers and streams.

Monterey County elected officials again lowered taxes on cannabis growers, seeking a balance between helping a struggling industry without hurting county revenues.

Salinas was mostly a sleepy town before the troubles of the mid-1930s. But when Filipino farmworkers revolted against their bosses in 1934, Salinas Valley civic leaders flexed their muscle.

Many immigrants with expired or expiring work permits won’t see their jobs cut any time soon. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will increase the period of employment for certain eligible groups—big news in Monterey County, where more than 30% of the population are noncitizens.

Maria Ana Reyes began working in the fields when she was eight years old. Now, at 49, she cultivates 11 acres of her own in San Juan Bautista and Watsonville. She is a core contributor to Tera Farm—a produce box program with distribution points from Carmel to Menlo Park.

Tucked inside San Lorenzo County Park in King City, off the 101 Freeway, it’s easy to miss the Monterey County Agricultural and Rural Life Museum.

A lawmaker from the central San Joaquin Valley has proposed Senate Bill 1066, which would allocate $20 million for monthly cash payments of $1,000 for three years to eligible farmworkers, with the goal of lifting them out of poverty.

As smoke clears at Taylor Farms, the future of the business and the roughly 1,000 people employed at the Abbott Street facility remains hazy. Little to nothing remains of the processing facility after it was engulfed by a large fire.

After decades of hard labor, Monterey County native David Mancera has gone from being a farmworker to a member of state leadership in agriculture. He was recently appointed to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

A new science and engineering building slated for CSU Monterey Bay’s campus will honor a local family long devoted to California agriculture recognizes the role technology could play in the future of the industry,