On the heels of a dry spring in California, farm and ranch country is feeling the pressure of this upcoming wildfire season. And despite a couple rain showers sprinkled throughout the next month, firefighters remind you that it only takes a few days of hot weather to dry out vegetation, making it susceptible to a fast moving fire.

For the past few years, we have been talking about the use of insecticides in agriculture and the effect it is having on the pollinators that are depended on in the ecosystem.

With today’s special Grape Wise report from Helena Agri-Enterprises, I’m Corryn La Rue with California Ag Today. We are joined by Paul Crout, Helena Agronomist for the Western Division.

The University of California Davis is building a special greenhouse to protect the future of America’s wine grape industry.

A small fish called the Delta Smelt has been a big topic for farmers in California, as the state cites its 2016 Delta Smelt Resiliency Strategy for limiting the amount of water from the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta, earmarked for agriculture.

California’s Proposition 12 is going to the Supreme Court this fall to hear arguments on the new rules for different products such as swine, veal calves and eggs in California.

The western United States continues to suffer from a historic level of drought. California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot spoke during the Western Food and Ag Issues Summit hosted by Agri-Pulse. He offers a key example of the drought’s severity.

The USDA National Agriculture Research Extension Education and Economics Advisory Board (known as NAREEE) is looking for volunteer members. NAREEE Board Executive Director Kate Lewis joins us, Kate tell us more about this opportunity.

Lawmakers have started the process of creating the 2023 Farm Bill and the American Farm Bureau Federation is working on gathering farmers’ priorities. Sam Kieffer, AFBF Vice President of Public Policy, says many lawmakers will be gathering information from farmers this summer.

California Democratic Representative John Garamendi is a primary sponsor of The Ocean Shipping Reform Act. He spoke during the Western Food and Ag Issues Summit hosted by Agri-Pulse. While the OSRA is a good first step, Garamendi says there’s more legislation coming to help solve the shipping challenges.