Labor, Land, and Innovation: How 19th-Century Farming Became More Efficient American agriculture in the 19th century underwent a profound transformation as new tools and techniques reshaped how crops were planted,…
California Walnuts Gain Momentum as Robert Verloop Sees a Turning Point for Growers
…plant-based nutrition. On the production side, Verloop said California has about 380,000 producing acres of walnuts, with acreage beginning to stabilize after recent declines. Rising input costs, labor challenges, and…
Early Innovations That Transformed American Agriculture
…and varied widely in quality and effectiveness. Farming during this period was labor-intensive, limited in scale, and largely focused on meeting immediate needs rather than producing surplus for broader markets….
Zone-Based Nutrition Helps Tree Crop Growers Fine-Tune Fertility Programs
As California growers look for ways to improve efficiency and manage input costs, zone-based nutrition is becoming an increasingly valuable tool in permanent crops. In today’s Agronomic Minute, Dylan Rogers,…
When American Farming Shifted From Hand Power to Horsepower
From Hand Labor to Heavy Work: Early American Farming Agricultural production in the United States continued to expand in the early 1800s, but farming remained an intensely labor-driven endeavor. Despite…
Rick Roberti Calls on Californians to Get Involved as Cattle Industry Faces a Crossroads
…requiring constant care, daily labor, and long-term financial risk. “You don’t just flip a switch,” Roberti said. “Every animal represents years of work before it ever reaches a plate.” Despite…
How Mechanization Transformed Corn Farming in America
…in 1850: Heavy Labor, Limited Efficiency In 1850, corn farming was highly labor-intensive. Producing 100 bushels of corn required an estimated 75 to 90 labor hours and took 2½ to…
Rick Roberti Warns California’s Wolf Crisis Is Devastating the Cattle Industry
…their lowest level since 1951, and rebuilding a herd takes years — not months. While producers have improved meat quality and efficiency, challenges like labor costs, regulation, border issues, and…
Why California Growers and Agribusinesses Should Look East to the 2026 Citrus & Specialty Crop Expo
California growers and agribusiness leaders face no shortage of challenges — water management, labor availability, pest and disease pressure, rising input costs, and the constant need to stay competitive in…
Dayna Ghirardelli Says Sonoma County Agriculture Is Under Constant Attack — and Still Standing
…with Dayna Ghirardelli, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau. From animal-rights extremism to water insecurity, vineyard market shifts, and the rising cost of simply staying in business, Ghirardelli…
Heather Hadwick Sounds the Alarm on California’s Growing Wolf Crisis
…she worries California is becoming unaffordable and inhospitable for the next generation. One of her sons now attends college in Nebraska, where he sees more opportunity and a lower cost…
Kalem Barserian Sounds the Alarm on the Future of California Raisins
…dry-on-the-vine systems. He predicts traditional Thompson Seedless vineyards could disappear entirely within the next decade, replaced by mechanized, high-efficiency systems that allow growers to survive rising labor and regulatory costs….
Potter Valley Water Fight Intensifies: Todd Lands Warns “This Could Happen Anywhere in California”
…laundry, residents losing gardens that help feed their households, and water shortages weakening local fire protection during peak wildfire season. He warned that the situation would also trigger enormous cost…
Anna Baldwin and the First Milking Machine
…time when dairy farming depended almost entirely on manual labor, Baldwin’s invention introduced the idea that technology could ease one of agriculture’s most labor-intensive tasks. Her milking machine was a…