U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Greg Ibach announced that USDA is allocating almost $70 million from Section 10007 of the 2014 Farm Bill …
Bringing Space Technology to Water Needs in California Vineyards
ARS scientists are saving water in California’s vineyards by using satellite data and computer models to better manage water resources. Bill Kustas and Martha Anderson are fine-tuning computer models at the ARS Hydrology and …
Agri View: Grape Farming Growing
Everett Griner talks about grape farming growing across the country in today’s Agri View. Everett gives us a bit of history of grapes and looks at how grape farming is …
Farmers in Wildfire Zones Assess Impact
By Kevin Hecteman As firefighters worked to gain ground on wildfires ravaging several Northern California counties, farmers and ranchers began, as one put it, “to take inventory and figure out …
Wildfire Impact to Linger for California Wine Country
Wildfires that spread through California’s wine country will leave a lasting mark on the industry and its tourism. The Sacramento Bee newspaper reports that the state’s wine industry in Napa …
Secretary Ross Reflects on Visit to Wine Country Fire Zones
by Karen Ross, Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture Over the weekend I traveled with Governor Brown and Senators Feinstein and Harris to Santa Rosa for meetings with local elected …
California Wildfires Impacting Wine Industry
Wildfires have ravaged California wine country, with more threats yet to come. Crews are fighting 17 wildfires that destroyed at least 1,500 homes, according to the Washington Post. The fires, …
Every Winery Needs a Dog
Cathy Isom gives us several of the reasons why a winery needs a dog. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. Every Winery Needs a Dog No matter what …
Farmers Assess Impact of Recent Heat Wave
It will be weeks, if not months, before California farmers can fully assess the impacts of the late spring/early summer heat wave that affected many of the state’s agricultural regions. …
Grape Crush Shows Bounce-Back Year
As expected, the official final grape crush report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed a bounce back year for California grape growers. 2016 grape crush numbers are up almost …
California Preliminary Grape Crush Report
The 2016 crush totaled 4,196,723 tons, up 8.5 percent from the 2015 crush of 3,868,459 tons. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 2,255,300 …
Easy-to-Harvest Raisin Grape Reduces Production Cost
By Dennis O’Brien, USDA Agriculture Research Service A new raisin grape developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in California is proving to be very popular among producers because it …
Critical European Grapevine Moth Safeguarding Milestone Recognized
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and the California County Agricultural Commissioners marked the …
European Grapevine Moth Eradicated From California
Agricultural officials confirm eradication of grape pest, lift quarantine restrictions Agricultural officials from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), in …