…factories or workshops. These workers frequently came from backgrounds in agriculture or textiles. Merchants purchased wool and flax from farm families, creating a direct connection between farm production and early…
The Roots of 4-H: Jessie Shambaugh and the Birth of American Agricultural Youth
…stood Jessie Shambaugh, a dedicated farm wife whose passion for education and community development helped shape one of the most influential youth organizations in U.S. history: 4-H. Shambaugh was deeply…
Karen Ross on Water, Workforce, and the Future of California Agriculture
…the sameness in farming, if you’ve seen one farm, you’ve seen one farm,” Ross noted. “Understanding regional specifics helps us see where people are working together to really lean into…
Karen Ross Talks Water, Regulation, and Prop 50 Silence on AgNet News Hour
…mix of climate uncertainty and government regulation has made farming even more difficult. Still, she emphasized that the future can be bright if farmers and policymakers work together on education,…
How Railroads Transformed American Agriculture
…communities to urban centers and ports. Farmers could now ship crops, livestock, and other products more quickly and reliably than ever before. This access to national and international markets encouraged…
Elaine Culotti: Fighting for California’s Farmers and Future
…to many as the “Fresno Undercover Billionaire” and “The Lipstick Farmer.” From her Fallbrook farm to national television, Culotti has emerged as a bold voice for California agriculture and a…
How the Smith-Lever Act Created 4-H and Transformed Rural America
…directly. The Cooperative Extension Service helped rural families improve crop production, livestock health, and household management. It bridged the gap between university research and on-the-ground application, giving farmers the tools…
David Tangipa: Fighting for California Farmers and Rejecting Proposition 50
…the fourth-generation farmer who didn’t do what our great-grandparents did,” he said. “We got a little lazy, and now we’re losing the farm.” California’s prosperity, he argued, was built by…
Why Prop 50 Threatens Rural Representation: California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass
…those products and everybody up the chain involved in the marketing and sales of those.” Yet farms are disappearing at an alarming rate. “We lost 20% of the farms in…
How Rural Electrification Transformed U.S. Farms
…the mid-1950s, the majority of farm families finally had access to electric service. The impact was immediate and transformative. Electricity revolutionized life on the farm—powering milking machines, irrigation pumps, refrigeration,…
Shannon Douglass Doubles Down on Prop 50 Opposition
…Farmers are struggling with water shortages, labor issues, and global trade pressures. Losing rural representation, she argued, would only make those problems worse. Without strong farm voices in Sacramento and…
Mando Perez of Semios Named CAPCA Member of the Year
…monitoring, and climate data. He explained how the company provides growers with water pressure summaries, network uptime reporting, pest phenology tracking, and spray timing recommendations. These tools allow farmers to…
California’s Water Puzzle: Insights from Avid Water’s Cory Broad
…crop, and the environment,” he said. “The technology already exists; our job is to put it to work for the farmer. If the farmer isn’t successful, Avid won’t be successful….
Corey Broad of Avid Water on California’s Fixable Water Crisis
…at Avid Water, who shared candid insights into irrigation technology, policy failures, and the future of farming in the Golden State. Broad explained that while California farmers have widely adopted…