KSTE Farm Hour

Happy New Year! And there is news for California farmers that will bring a smile to their faces: progress on trade agreements, especially for farm products. We have the details. A new study confirms what has long been suspected: hedgerows that border farms attract feathered allies in the battle against agricultural pests. And we tell you about agricultural scholarships that you might not know about. We take a guess at the upcoming weather, and a lot more, on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour!

Welcome to Part Two of our 2019 retrospective here on the KSTE Farm Hour. This week, we delve into a growing segment on the California farming scene: the rise of urban agriculture and the young farmers who are implementing changes and increasing the flexibility of land use in the Golden State. Last week, we looked at the ongoing issues that faced California’s farmers in 2019: water availability issues, complicated by the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act; trade issues, especially with countries that are large importers of California agricultural products such as Canada, Mexico and China; and how the future of agriculture is changing here based on the tighter availability of farm labor. You can hear that report by going to your favorite podcast aggregator, including IHeart, and doing a search for the KSTE Farm Hour.

Welcome to the first of two, year-end retrospective programs about the state of California agriculture as we wrap up 2019. This week, we look back on three issues of great concern to the state’s farmers: access to water under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, access to farm labor, and the ongoing tariff wars, which have put a big dent in California’s overseas agricultural sales. And there’s good news from 2019, as well: The official repeal of the Waters of the United States rules; and, progress on securing a trade deal with two of our biggest customers, Canada and Mexico.

Many California farmers are jubilant this week. The long awaited trade agreement with two of this state’s biggest agricultural customers, Canada and Mexico, is much closer to passage. We have that report and the reaction to it. There’s another big award for one of California’s top conservationist farming families - the Romingers of Yolo County. We have the details. The USDA cites a new, growing holiday trend: home delivery of Christmas trees. We have the story of a local firm that’s been doing it for decades. ALBA (Agriculture and Land Based Training Association) in Salinas helps prepare the next generation of farm owners and operators. All that, a look ahead at the weather, and the latest crop reports…coming up on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

With rain returning to Northern California recently, it’s only appropriate we talk about water use on the farms here and across the country. Surprisingly, water use is down. Even more surprisingly, California is not the leading state when it comes to irrigated acreage. Who do you think is number one? We have a report. Besides H20, let’s talk H2A, the federal program for securing farm labor. And we examine why labor costs are going up. The largest wholesale grower of fruit and nut trees in the U.S. is based locally in Stanislaus County. And they have just gotten a little bigger, purchasing another large whole grower’s property in adjacent San Joaquin County. We have the details. With the rash of warnings about contaminated foods that were issued by the Center for Disease Control during Thanksgiving Week, we tell you how California and the state’s leafy greens industry are working to make sure the food you buy is safe. All that, a look ahead at the weather, the latest California crop reports, and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

This week we give thanks for many people, places and things…including gratitude for all those California farmers who are responsible for us having year-round access to the highest quality food in the world. California rice growers will be giving thanks for the new export agreements to ship rice to South Korea. Farmers frustrated with all the paperwork associated with growing and marketing crops can give thanks for the help they will soon be getting, courtesy of new CDFA grant, that has money for various agencies to give farmers a hand tackling all those bureaucratic forms. And, we have an in-depth discussion about upcoming food trends here, helping farmers stay one step ahead. All that the weather outlook, crop reports, and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour. Let’s get started!

The second round of Market Facilitation Payments are coming, and there’s good news for California’s specialty crop growers. Farmers are taking out riskier loans to stay afloat, paying doubled interest rates as well as putting up their crops as liens on those loans. China will be purchasing U.S. poultry. We have the details. The director of the Agricultural Issues Center at UC Davis forecasts the economic future of California’s farms for us. One piece of advice from him when choosing future crops: if it grows in Saskatchewan, it may not be a good investment here. All that, crop reports, a look ahead at the weather, and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour. Let’s get started!

California’s wildfires are bringing more pain to growers here in Northern California, as well as Southern California. We have the details. Farm bankruptcies are up across the nation, and that includes California, which saw a 65% increase in the number of Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings. We talk with the Chief Economist of the American Farm Bureau Federation on why farm bankruptcies are up in California. The USDA and the National Resources Conservation Service are celebrating no-till November. What are the benefits of keeping the stubble? We explain. All that, a look at the upcoming weather, and more, including a look at whole orchard recycling, on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

Another round of out of control California wildfires is causing havoc among grape growers in Sonoma County’s wine country. Another area of concern: all that wildfire smoke. We report on new rules by Cal Osha to protect the lungs of farmers and others who labor outdoors. The USDA has rolled out its long-awaited hemp production rules…we do a deep dive into that new layer of agricultural bureaucracy. The US Mexico Canada Trade agreement may get approval soon from Democratic lawmakers. The President of the California Farm Bureau Federation talks about the importance of agricultural trade with our next door neighbors. And, congratulations to a local high school ag teacher, who just won national recognition…and some money for his school, to boot. All that, crop reports, a look at the weather ahead, and a lot more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.

Once again, the battle for water between Central Valley farmers and Delta area fish is heating up, due to a recently released biological opinion from federal water officials. But it involves much more than that. We’ll hear from all sides in that dispute. We do a deep dive into the 2018 Sacramento County Crop Report. Who are the winners and losers? We will find out. Another reason California must redouble its efforts to control the state’s wild pig population. They’ve been implicated as a possible vector of African Swine Fever due to confiscations at U.S. airports of illegally imported pork products…and the dumping of those products in landfills outside of the airports, where the wild pigs might be rummaging. All that, crop reports, extended weather, and more…on this week’s KSTE Farm Hour.