Beltran named 2025 Salinas Valley Fair Heritage Foundation Scholarship winner
KING CITY — Salinas Valley Fair Heritage Foundation has announced Valeria Beltran, a junior at Gonzales High School, as the recipient of the 2025 Heritage Foundation Scholarship.
As this year’s winner, Beltran will raise the official Heritage Animal, a hog she has named “Zero,” and...
Monterey County Board of Supervisors to mark 50th anniversary of ‘El Cortito’ ban
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...
Agriculture is at a critical juncture, 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...
Artichoke Festival closes its doors after 65 years
CASTROVILLE — The beloved Artichoke Festival, a cherished tradition in Monterey County for more than six decades, will not return this year.
The festival’s board of directors announced its official closure after 65 years of celebrating the region’s rich agricultural heritage, artichoke royalty and community...
Guest Column | How Farmworkers Outlawed ‘El Cortito’ 50 Years Ago
For decades in the Salinas Valley, the short-handle hoe, known as “El Cortito,” was used for weeding and thinning rows of crops that kept farmworkers stooped over for long hours each day. Workers were only able to stand and stretch when they reached the...
ALBA celebrates National Fruits and Vegetables Month by cultivating new farmers and fresh food in Salinas Valley
SALINAS VALLEY — As the country celebrates National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month this June, the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) is spotlighting the farmers behind the produce — and the power of farming to change lives.
Located in the heart of the Salinas...
ALBA program empowers Salinas Valley farmworkers to become leaders in sustainable agriculture
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...
