Focus on Agriculture

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Board of Supervisors narrowly voted Jan. 9 to make changes to its outdoor cannabis cultivation pilot program, allowing growers to double their canopy size and eliminate a requirement that made permit applicants prove cannabis was cultivated on the property...

SALINAS VALLEY — A dangerous herbicide banned immediately by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been sprayed on crops in many California counties and has contaminated groundwater in low concentrations in the Salinas Valley and Santa Barbara County. The weed-killing chemical, known as DCPA or...

KING CITY — Salinas Valley Fair has announced that this year’s Fair theme is “Barnyard May-Ham,” suggested by James Hinkle of King City. Hinkle is a sophomore at Palma High School and president of King City Rural 4-H Club. The 16-year-old said he submitted the idea...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County Board of Supervisors will host a special ceremony on Tuesday, June 10, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a landmark legal case that arose out of the Salinas Valley and outlawed the use of “El Cortito,” or the short-handled...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Lavender Creek Co., Monterey County’s local family-run lavender wellness brand, has announced a new partnership with the Monterey Peninsula Quilters Guild, providing locally grown lavender for the handcrafted eye pillows donated to CHOMP, Salinas Valley Health, Natividad and the VNA. The eye...

KING CITY — King City FFA is enhancing their journey; it’s a brand-new school year and they have new goals, new officers and new ideas. Some of the objectives they hope to reach include being more involved in the community as well as having more...

Nearly 250 guests recently took a journey back in time to tour the properties owned by Salinas Land Co. and California Orchard Co. — located between King City and Greenfield — in celebration of the two companies’ 100th anniversary and their profound impact on agriculture in the Salinas Valley.

KING CITY — Hundreds of third-graders recently roamed the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds in King City to learn about agriculture during the annual South County Farm Day. Students from Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield and King City schools attended the free educational enrichment program on Jan. 26,...

LOCKWOOD — Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Lockwood 4-H Club has managed to stay active with several events. On Feb. 13, the club hosted the first of three County Record Book Workshops. Of the 14 4-H clubs in Monterey County, eight of those clubs had members...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo has announced the release of the 2023 Annual Crop and Livestock Report, which recorded a production gross value of just over $4.35 billion, reflecting a 6.1% decrease from 2022. “The values represented here reflect gross values...