Focus on Agriculture

COACHELLA, Calif. — The sun-baked desert valley tucked behind the San Jacinto Mountains is best known for an annual music festival that draws 100,000 fans a day and a series of lush, oasis resort towns where well-heeled snowbirds go to golf, sunbathe and party....

KING CITY — Cristina Balestreri, who grew up in the Salinas Valley, has been named the 2023 Miss King City Stampede. Balestreri, daughter of Monterey County natives Mario and Josephine Balestreri, received the title, sash and crown during the third annual King City Stampede, a...

A new irrigation enhancement project has seen positive results for farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.

SALINAS VALLEY — Hartnell College Foundation will honor longtime Salinas Valley grower John Romans with its 2022 Leadership Award at the Party Near the Library this Saturday, May 21. Romans, a member of the foundation’s board of directors, was a longtime owner of King City-based...

CALIFORNIA — Before state officials announced that 40% of California's new vaccine doses would go to low-income communities, leaders were struggling to make good on promises to prioritize vulnerable Californians in the vaccine rollout. As my colleague Miriam Jordan recently wrote, farmworkers were among those...

SALINAS VALLEY — The 2023 Monterey County wine grape harvest has begun with Scheid Family Wines’ Isabelle’s Vineyard located in the Salinas Valley along River Road, west of Chualar, on the Monterey Wine Trail, announced Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association last week. Cool weather delayed the...

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....

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...

Editor’s Note: The following profile is an excerpt from Amy Wu’s book, “From Farms to Incubators: Women Innovators Revolutionizing How Our Food is Grown,” which tells the stories of women entrepreneurs who are transforming agriculture through high technology. Ellie Symes could easily pass for the...

GREENFIELD — South Monterey County’s first marijuana dispensary has opened for business in Greenfield, selling recreational cannabis products in the area. Higher Level, a locally owned cannabis retailer with operations in Seaside and Hollister, opened its third location in Greenfield earlier this month. A grand...