Our thoughts go out to the friends and family of longtime Edna Valley agriculturalist Ernie Righetti, a pioneering San Luis Obispo County avocado grower who died this week at age 97.
Oxnard strawberry growers lost an average $10,000 to $15,000 per acre worth of crop last year because the berries died off prematurely in dry weather, and farmers could be in for a repeat of that scenario this year.
The drought plaguing the Tri-Counties and the rest of the state has the agriculture industry on red alert. With 2014 forecast to be the driest year in California history, Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a drought emergency in the state, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 27 counties in California as primary natural disaster areas, including the tri-county region.
In response to economic losses caused by the statewide drought, certain small businesses across California, including in the Tri-Counties, are now eligible to apply for low-interest federal loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the agency announced on Jan. 21. Small, non-farm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private, nonprofit Read More →
With so much attention focused lately on water issues in Paso Robles, I was curious about the vintners who direct a kind of tough love to their vines known as dry farming.
Strawberries remain the largest piece of the pie in the Tri-Counties’ multibillion-dollar agriculture industry, but there will be slightly less acreage in the New Year.
An agreement reached by two of the groups jockeying to shape the future of a water district in Paso Robles wine country won’t stop two lawsuits that could lead to years in court and millions of dollars in legal fees to sort out the water basin’s woes.
