UC Blog
Sacramento farms sell direct at high rate
Fourteen percent of Sacramento-area farms market directly to consumers, compared to just nine percent of farmers nationally, according to research by Shermain Hardesty, UC Davis Cooperative Extension economist. The study was publicized in a UC Davis news release, and picked in the Sacramento Business Journal.
Hardesty found that farms in the Sacramento region averaged $19,518 in annual income in direct sales - at such outlets as farmers markets and roadside stands. California farms' direct sales income ranged from an average of $6,924 in Placer County to $66,568 in Yolo County.
“We were especially interested to find that, even after deducting the added costs of transportation, distribution and selling at the farmers market or other point of sale, the farmers are still able to net a greater share of retail prices in local food supply chains than they would had they used conventional marketing chains,” the news release quoted Hardesty.For example, mixed greens growers in Monterey County receive on average 79 cents per pound by marketing through conventional channels. One Yolo County grower netted seven times that price at a farmers market.
The full report, “Comparing the Structure, Size, and Performance of Local and Mainstream Food Supply Chains,” is available from USDA.
Yolo County farmer sells direct to consumer.
LA 4-H coordinator appointed to state board
Dawn Fuller, 4-H program coordinator for UC Cooperative Extension in LA County, has been appointed by the governor's office to the School's Agriculture and Nutrition Program (SANP) in the San Gabriel Valley, according to an article in the Whittier Daily News.
SANP is offered by the 48th District Agricultural Association, one of 78 fair districts in the state. Each district's mandate is to put on a fair, but in the 48th District, it became increasingly difficult with urbanization and the loss of the fairgrounds. The 48th District board created SANP to increase the understanding, appreciation and participation of urban teachers and students in agriculture and nutrition.
According to the SANP website, staff members work with teachers throughout the year to make it easier for them to teach agriculture in their classrooms. They provide teachers with ag-related project kits for conducting hands-on activities, such as vermiculture, hatching chicks or trout, gardening and hydroponics.
The materials are provided free of charge in exchange for exhibits that demonstrate what students have learned. The exhibits are components of the District's annual spring fair.
The article about Fuller's appointment to the board also appeared in the Pasadena Star-News.
/span>/span>Santa Barbara County mulls over UCCE budget
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is tentatively scheduled to review a UC Cooperative Extension funding request at its July 27 meeting, according to an article published yesterday in the Lompoc Record.
The county had approved $111,700 for the programs and staff expertise provided by UCCE, but at its budget hearings in June, $68,000 in additional funding was requested. On June 22, the Board of Supervisors couldn’t get the four votes needed for approval.
For the article, reporter Sam Womack spoke to Don Kingborg of UC ANR Advocacy and County Partnerships.
“The $68,000 is to get us to the minimum level necessary to continue this program," Klingborg was quoted in the article. "Over the past years, the Santa Barbara County program has been funded in the range of $200,000 to $225,000. With this move and other adjustments, we recognized the terrible fiscal shape our counties are in and were able to decrease the cost to $180,000."
With the additional funding, the Santa Barbara County offices would close, but the advisors, services, programs and research would continue out of San Luis Obispo and Ventura county offices, the story said.
Interim director of Santa Barbara County UCCE Mark Gaskell told the reporter he already spends about half his time outside of county boundaries. For example, he conducts agricultural research at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.“I don’t think its necessarily a critical issue where you sit and type at your computer,” he was quoted.
Feds don't define *extra virgin* olive oil
Selecting an olive oil that proclaims itself "100% extra virgin" on the label doesn't ensure a high-quality product because the federal government hasn't set standards that define the terminology, according to a story in yesterday's Los Angeles Times.
Many industry officials agree that "extra virgin" olive oil is cold-processed to prevent degradation of aromatic compounds and has higher levels of healthy fats and antioxidants.
Federal law bars companies from selling a blend of oils as "olive oil," but labeling lower-quality oil as "extra virgin" is technically legal in the U.S., the article said.
Vito S. Polito, professor of plant sciences at UC Davis and co-chairman of the school's Olive Center, told reporter P.J. Huffstutter that the lack of rules has made the U.S. a dumping ground for cheap olive oil.Some state lawmakers are taking on the problem. California, Oregon and Connecticut have their own state regulations, the article said. The California regulation established definitions for various grades of olive oil; it requires oils sold in the state to be labeled according to international standards. New York and New Jersey are also considering olive oil legislation.
The USDA has set chemical parameters for olive oil freshness, purity, fatty acid levels and ultraviolet light absorption. However, companies only have to comply if their products have the federal seal of approval or if retailers require it.
"It's like saying you have to stop at stop signs, but there are no cops at the corner," UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Paul Vossen told the reporter. "Standards are a good start, but enforcement is important."
The fed government has lax olive oil standards.
Gov extends chicken cage rule to imports
Egg prices will rise about 2 cents each at the farm gate when new laws go into effect in 2015 that require egg-laying hens be given more space to move around. California voters overwhelmingly passed Prop. 2 in 2008, requiring the state's producers to modify their egg production practices.
This week, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a law that requires the producers of all eggs sold in California - even if they are out of state - to follow the same guidelines.
In stories about the latest development, the media sought expert analysis from Dan Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, who co-wrote a report that said the California egg industry produces almost 5 billion eggs per year and was worth $337 million in 2007.
Sumner told the San Francisco Chronicle egg prices will rise across the board because of the new production practices.
"People will eat fewer eggs, but not a lot fewer eggs because they are still pretty cheap," Sumner said. He noted that about 40 percent of eggs consumed by Californians are in processed foods or are "liquid eggs" that are not in shells and that those that are imported are unaffected.
In a story yesterday on KGO-TV, a San Francisco news outlet, Sumner called consumer reaction to the new laws "a bit of a puzzle."
Currently consumers can choose to purchase the more-expensive cage-free eggs, but about 97 percent of consumers choose regular eggs.
"This is a product that just about everybody eats and almost everybody chooses to eat eggs raised with hens in cages; and we take that product and make it illegal," Sumner said.