52.8 F
King City
April 11, 2026

Scheid Vineyards shows off herbicide-free environment

GREENFIELD — Scheid Vineyards hosted an Earth Day tour of its Greenfield location in late April, sharing some of its growing practices in an attempt to make its wine production more environmentally friendly. Founded in 1972, Scheid Vineyards has 3,200 acres with 40 different varieties...

Monterey County’s crop values increase in 2021

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County agriculture’s gross production value bounced back by 4.8% in 2021 to just over $4.1 billion, despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that also resulted in supply chain shortages. This increase represents a $190 million rise from 2020, when the gross production...

Thousands of respirator masks distributed to Salinas Valley agricultural workers

SALINAS VALLEY — Numerous area leaders recently came together to distribute thousands of N95 respirators to protect agricultural workers, as ongoing air quality problems due to smoke from nearby wildfires caused essential workers in the outdoors to be in danger. Last week the Air Quality...

Virtual exhibit highlights women innovators in agtech

SALINAS VALLEY — A new exhibition at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas highlights a diverse generation of women innovators and their contribution to agriculture by way of technology. ā€œFrom Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators in California Agtech,ā€ which premiered last month, uses multimedia to...

Hartnell College awarded $9.5M grant to support students in agricultural careers

Hartnell College
SALINAS — Hartnell College has been awarded a $9.5 million grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s inaugural NEXTGEN program.  The official announcement was made during a presentation by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in Washington, D.C., on June 20. ā€œThis...

2023 wine grape harvest begins in Monterey County

SALINAS VALLEY — The 2023 Monterey County wine grape harvest has begun with Scheid Family Wines’ Isabelle’s VineyardĀ located in the Salinas Valley along River Road, west of Chualar, on the Monterey Wine Trail, announced Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association last week. Cool weather delayed the...

King City Planning Commission delays closure decision on farmworker housing

Farmworkers protest
KING CITY — King City planning commissioners have delayed a final decision on the Meyers Farmworker Housing Facility until their Oct. 7 meeting. The 4-0 vote came during the Planning Commission’s Aug. 19 meeting, where numerous community members, business owners and farmworkers spoke out on...

Agriculture is at a critical juncture,Ā farm leaders warn

CALIFORNIA — Grappling with higher costs and challenges related to water, labor, regulations and trade, some California farm leaders question whether the nation’s No. 1 agriculture state has reached a tipping point. California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass discussed the high cost of operating a...

Composting gets easier for Monterey County residents

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County residents can now put food scraps, including cooked meat and bones, among other kinds, in the green curbside cart, to be composted with their yard trimmings. With the greater convenience comes a big reduction in harm to the climate. When food...

Strawberries top $1B as Monterey County releases 2024 Crop Report

Strawberries crop report
MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County’s agriculture industry saw a major rebound in 2024, with overall crop and livestock production reaching nearly $5 billion in gross value — a 14.7% increase from the previous year. And, for the first time in county history, a single crop...