Focus on Agriculture

KING CITY — Kacey Hass, a seventh-grade life science teacher at Chalone Peaks Middle School, has started a GoFundMe page to raise money to start a school garden. Hass is also the gardening teacher for both seventh and eighth grades, but the campus currently does...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Henry Gonzales has released the county’s 2019 Crop Report, which included an evaluation of cannabis production for the first time. “This report reflects a production value of $4,409,992,000, which is an increase of 3.5 percent from 2018,” Gonzales...

KING CITY — More than 1,100 backpacks filled with school supplies were delivered to students in King City and Salinas this year as part of Taylor Farms’ 13th annual Backpack Giving Program. After starting the program in Monterey County in 2010, Taylor Farms has since...

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...

KING CITY — Jordan Davis, a 16-year-old junior at King City High School, has been named the 2025 Miss Salinas Valley Fair. The competition, held March 13-14 at the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds, saw Davis compete against fellow King City teen Aaliyah Sarina in categories including...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey Mushrooms, a mushroom grower based in Morgan Hill, has announced the release of its Certified Organic Spent Mushroom Compost (COSMC) to row crop and leafy green farmers throughout the Salinas Valley. A finely balanced mixture of straw, peat moss, cottonseed meal,...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Wild pigs in the Monterey County area were exposed to pesticide bait containing the anticoagulant rodenticide diphacinone, according to findings by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) Wildlife Health Lab (WHL) and the California Animal Health and Food Safety...

In recent weeks, dangerous heat has killed hundreds of people in Oregon and Washington, endangered workers across the region and strained California’s power grid. It has also exacerbated the slow-moving natural disaster already punishing the West: the drought. Late last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom formally urged...

The City of King has implemented a comprehensive effort aimed at attracting and increasing quality housing for our local agricultural employees. There has been a significant amount of misleading information in the community regarding the City’s position involving the permitting of a local temporary seasonal...

SALINAS VALLEY — Scheid Family Wines has successfully obtained the Bee Friendly Farming Certification for its estate White Flower Vineyard, a prestigious designation that underscores the Greenfield winery’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. This certification, awarded by Pollinator Partnership, recognizes Scheid’s efforts to promote...