Focus on Agriculture

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County Water Resources Agency (MCWRA) and the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) have launched a new well registration program to better understand and protect groundwater resources in the Salinas Valley. All well owners are asked to register their wells for free...

SALINAS VALLEY — Things were challenging enough for lettuce growers in Monterey County’s Salinas Valley before Mother Nature dealt a one-two punch in this year’s storms. Farmers in 2022 had suffered an estimated $150 million in crop losses as impatiens necrotic spot virus — a...

SALINAS VALLEY — Jesse Holguin retired from Gonzales Irrigation Systems on Dec. 31, wrapping up a career of 40 years with the company and more than 50 years in total with agricultural work. Holguin began working for Mel Fowler of King City 51 years ago,...

SALINAS VALLEY — Ever since a young child, Rose Escobar dreamed of becoming a Rodeo Queen — a best-in-class combination of horsemanship and athletic abilities paired with personal skills of public speaking and knowledge of the heritage of agriculture. That dream came true this year...

SALINAS VALLEY — California Rangeland Trust has announced the conservation of the 9,400-acre Silacci Ranch in San Benito and Monterey counties. The project was completed by the Rangeland Trust with funding from the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB), the California Strategic Growth Council’s Sustainable Agricultural...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County companies, organizations and agencies have partnered to host mass vaccination sites weekly, with the latest having taken place at the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds in King City last Saturday. Two mass clinics had already taken place earlier this month in Salinas,...

SALINAS — Multiple agencies from across Monterey County responded to a four-alarm fire that severely damaged Taylor Farms’ food production facility in Salinas last Wednesday. The 225,000-square-foot building, located in the 1200 block of Abbott Street, had been closed for the winter but was in...

SALINAS VALLEY — Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) kicked off his statewide agricultural tour last month alongside local leaders and the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. This first leg of the tour, beginning in Rivas’ Assembly District 30 on the Central Coast, included a celebration of...

MONTEREY COUNTY — This year’s onslaught of winter storms have cumulatively impacted a total of 20,073 acres and created $600 million of damage to the Monterey County agricultural industry.  On Friday, the County of Monterey Agricultural Commissioner’s Office released the results of a second survey...

KING CITY — It was a packed house inside the Orradre Building at the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds in King City on April 15, as 600 supporters of the Salinas Valley Fair attended the annual Fair Kick-Off dinner, dance and auction fundraiser. Guests were served a...