KSTE Farm Hour

Despite what the Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Purdue, told reporters, California’s farms are the targets of ICE agents, in their hunt for illegal immigrants. Last week’s unusual late February cold snap and hard freeze is threatening crops throughout the state. Central Valley Project water customers got some bad news this past week. Southern California’s massive Metropolitan Water District mulls taking over the building of the Delta Tunnels. Have you heard of the Nutria? No, it’s not a new artificial sweetener or protein supplement. It’s a 20-pound rodent that’s invaded California wetlands, imperiling our levees. Those reports, and more, on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

Farmers and agribusiness owners throughout California are wondering: who do I obey, the State or the Feds? The confusion is due to the crackdown and roundup of illegal immigrants by Federal ICE agents in California. But the state’s attorney general has told business owners: if you turn over any of your workers’ paperwork to ICE agents without the proper authority, you could face a $10,000 fine. And this is a big problem for California agriculture, where as much as 70% of all farm labor may be illegal immigrants. Also, lessons learned by one Sonoma County rancher after last October’s deadly wildfires. And feral pigs are back in the news. All that, and more, on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

The California Water Commission has thrown a monkey wrench into the plans and budgets for two major proposed dams in California, the Sites Reservoir near Colusa and Temperance Flat near Fresno. We have the details. Governor Jerry Brown has taken a step back on the Delta Tunnels project. He’s now proposing a one-tunnel system…for now. But even that has a lot of obstacles in the way. Lack of winter rain in the valley and less snow in the mountains has refocused farmers’ attention to the possibility of another California drought. We look at some of the latest strategies for growing crops with less water. And we pay a visit to the Colusa Farm Show. All that, crop reports and more, on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

Probe deeper into the problems at Oroville Dam, and you find that there were a lot of shortcuts taken during the construction over 50 years ago. A lack of thoroughness that led to last year’s spillway failures and the resultant loss of land and crops downstream. We have that report. California’s strawberry fields are shrinking; add to that soaring shipping costs. Is the combination too big a challenge for the state’s strawberry growers this year? What did the President say about NAFTA during his State of the Union Address? More importantly, what didn’t he say? Gophers are getting busy now in California’s fruit and nut tree orchards. We have tips on how to control their population before they gnaw away at your 2018 profits. All that, crop reports, and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour. Let’s get started!

An immediate shortage of trucks and truck drivers threatens California farmers winter harvest. Farmers are awaiting the outcome of the latest round of NAFTA trade talks, jeopardizing ag exports to Canada and Mexico. The latest soil amendment making the rounds on California's farms is one of the oldest: biochar. What’s that all about? We talk with a University of California biochar expert. All that, crop reports, and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

What do trains, tunnels and California’s farmers have to do with each other? The state’s ag community is playing a big part in throwing roadblocks in front of Governor Jerry Brown’s two pet projects. We have the details. More pest quarantine areas declared in California, for the Medfly and the Mexican Fruit Fly. We’ll tell you where. Thinking about adding solar panels to your farm? We have a report that will tell you what questions you should be asking yourself. And, tips on maintaining the health of beehives before almond blossom time. All that, crop reports and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour!

The independent forensics team reviewing the problems at Oroville Dam have released their report. And it’s a scathing document that criticizes just about everyone involved in the near failure of that structure last February, including the original designers of the project. One of the first casualties? The Department of Water Resources Director. And the farmers who lost cropland and orchards from the massive releases of water there last winter? They have yet to see any money from the state. We have those reports. The President addressed the American Farm Bureau Federation convention last week, and everything was going smoothly, until he brought up one topic that is particularly sensitive for California farmers. You’ll hear the farmers’ reactions. Getting ready to apply fungicides to almond orchards? We have some tips. All that, crop reports and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

Weather, water and natural disasters top the New Year’s list of worries for California’s farmers. The first Sierra snow measurements of 2018 were taken this past week, we have the numbers. Will the freezing temperatures throughout the east, south and midwest play havoc with future commodity prices for California’s farmers? We look at the winter weather’s impact on farms and ranches across the country. The first agricultural monetary damage totals are in from Southern California’s massive Thomas Fire. And there’s a move afoot by the feds to transfer more Central Valley Project water to farmers in the central and southern San Joaquin valley. We have that story, and a lot more, on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour!

Sacramento County may be the site of an ambitious water recycling project that would supply area farmers with treated irrigation water. We have the details. A major California wholesale fruit tree grower is getting out of the business. We’ll tell you why. Another blow to the Delta Tunnels plan: this time, from San Joaquin valley row crop farmers, who don’t want to be forced to foot their portion of the bill for that 17 billion dollar project. Egg producers in 13 states are asking the US Supreme court to block a California law that prohibits the import of out of state eggs coming from hens, who don’t have the room to stretch out in their cages. Also, more and more farms, ranches, and rural homeowners are adding large generators to their property, to thwart electrical outages. But are you operating those generators safely? We have that, crop reports, and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

We are still a month away from tallying the damage to the state’s avocado and lemon crops due to the Thomas fire in Southern California. But what the experts have seen so far isn’t good news. Will NAFTA be saved with a last minute deal? The secretary of agriculture shares his views on that possibility. We look at the state of California’s christmas tree industry, a seasonal business that is a full time job with an aging workforce. There’s been a breakthrough in research in the battle against citrus greening disease. We have that story. All that, crop reports, and more, on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour! Let’s get started…