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...

At the heart of California’s $59 billion agricultural industry are the hardworking migrant farmworkers who harvest the food that feeds our nation. Their labor sustains our economy, but their children, who face extraordinary educational barriers due to the migratory nature of their parents’ work,...

KING CITY — Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez announced last week that the county has entered escrow on a property in King City that will host the return of the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office in South Monterey County. The location at 1011 Broadway St....

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...

MONTEREY COUNTY — A Monterey County program to ensure equity in the local commercial cannabis market is sputtering but will continue on a smaller scale. The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously March 19 to continue the Growing Equity Together program, known as GET, despite...

SALINAS VALLEY — Nearly 400 people with a professional stake in the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables consumed worldwide gathered at Hartnell College on May 4-5 for the 17th Annual Western Food Safety Conference. The conference, held on Hartnell’s Main Campus in Salinas as...

SALINAS VALLEY — Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) is spotlighting its transformative Programa Educativo para Agricultores (PEPA), a comprehensive training program empowering farmworkers to transition into successful organic farmers. This program is reshaping agriculture in the Salinas Valley, offering Latino farmworkers the tools and...

KING CITY — King City High School Agriculture Department has been honored with the prestigious California Agricultural Teachers’ Association (CATA) Outstanding 4-6 Person Department Award, a recognition aimed at promoting exemplary middle and secondary programs in agricultural education. The award celebrates the department’s commitment to...

CALIFORNIA — A new article appearing in the current issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry explores the concept of “superfoods” and makes a case that fresh grapes have earned what should be a prominent position in the superfood family. The author,...

The San Luis Obispo County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures has announced the release of the 2016 production statistics for the local agricultural industry. The total gross crop value for 2016 was $914,724,000.