UC Blog
Small farm program the source for NY Times story
New York Times reporter William Neuman attended the UC small farm program's final "Growing Agritourism" workshop in Salinas last month and connected with a number of California farmers who were featured in a story published yesterday. The article noted that the "university extension service" brought the farmers, agricultural and tourism professionals, local officials and community leaders together to talk about improving agritourism opportunities in the Central Coast region.
The workshop was one of five held this year by the UC small farm program and UC Cooperative Extension. Funding to support the workshops came from Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.
The California agritourism enterprises featured in the story were:
- Dairy farmers Jim and Christine Maguire, who operate two bed-and-breakfast units at their farm. "Money from the paying guests is now enough to pay for the animals’ feed, one of the farm’s biggest expenditures," the story says.
- Christine Cole, who charges for tours of Full House Farm in Sebastopol, Calif., where she and her husband keep horses, raise vegetables and chickens and maintain three farm stay units.
- Vince Gizdich who runs Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville, where visitors enjoy “Pik-Yor-Self” berries and apples.
- Bonnie Swank, of Hollister, Calif., who runs a corn maze and haunted house each fall on land that grows vegetables the rest of the year.
- Templeton farmer Kim A. Rogers and her husband, who pulled out their orchard to become full-time innkeepers. "Farming was exhausting work and the bed-and-breakfast was providing an increasing portion of their income," according to the Times.
The story mentioned a number of online resources for the public to find agritourism experiences including Farm Stay U.S., which maintains a listing of farm stays around the country, and World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, which acts as an online clearinghouse for people who want to trade labor for lodging on a farm, with stays ranging from days to months. But it didn't include the UC small farm program's own agritourism directory, CalAgTour.org, which steers visitors to the wide variety of agritourism destinations in California.
Gizdich Ranch operates a U-pick operation.
Teens' personal finance knowledge woefully inadequate
High schools encourage students to take algebra, geometry and calculus classes, but national polls find that students also need a deeper understanding of basic financial concepts, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee.
"Kids too often go out into the real world totally unprepared for things that will affect their everyday lives: using a credit card or not using their 401(k) because they don't know what the heck it is," the story quoted Mira Loma High School economics teacher Chad Posner. "The sooner they know this stuff the better, so they won't have to declare bankruptcy in their 20s and will be better prepared for their own retirement."
In California, students are required to take a one-semester economics class, but personal finance instruction is optional. The Bee story, written by Claudia Buck, ran at the end of last month and was picked up this week by the Bellingham (Washington) Herald. Among the resources offered in a sidebar was a plug for the UC Cooperative Extension teen financial education curriculum MoneyTalks4Teens.
MoneyTalks (Cuida tu dinero in Spanish) is a course designed by a team of UC Cooperative Extension youth advisors to present money management issues that are important to teens: money personality, simple ways to save, smart shopping and car costs. From its inception, the developers were dedicated to creating a program that meets needs expressed by teenagers. They focused on what and how the teens wanted to learn. The curriculum is presented in a lively, colorful, teen magazine-style format and the online component includes videos, games and other activities.
The MoneyTalks website is at http://moneytalks4teens.ucdavis.edu.
Immigration reform and enforcement could be costly for farmers
The story was based on research by agricultural economists at UC Davis and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report, titled “Labor Trajectories in California’s Produce Industry,” found that changes in the way immigrant labor is regulated in the U.S. would increase the cost of labor for California's $20 billion fresh fruit, nut and vegetable industry.
“California’s produce industry depends on a constant influx of new, foreign-born laborers, and more than half of those are unauthorized laborers, primarily from Mexico,” the UC Davis news release quotes Phillip Martin, a professor of agricultural and resource economics.
“The cost of hiring these laborers will likely rise as the U.S. government ramps up enforcement of immigration laws by installing more physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border and requiring more audits of workers’ I-9 employment verification forms,” Martin said.
Read more in the current issue of the ARE Update.
Parker selected as CWRRI director
After a nationwide search, we are pleased to announce that Doug Parker has been selected to serve as the inaugural director of the California Water Resources Research Institute (CWRRI), effective Oct. 1. He will also serve as leader for the Water Quality, Quantity and Security strategic initiative.
Parker is currently director of the Mid-Atlantic Water Program, an associate professor of agricultural & resource economics and Cooperative Extension specialist at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on environmental economics, economics of non-point source water pollution control, and economics of regulation and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.
Before joining the University of Maryland in 1997, Parker served as an assistant Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Berkeley from 1993 to 1997.
We are excited to have Doug back at UC. He brings a unique blend of skills and experience that we need to bring together the resources of the UC system to solve the complex issues surrounding California’s water.
CWRRI is a special program within ANR, enabled by the federal Water Resources Research Act, with the mission of supporting research and extension activities that contribute to the efficient management of California’s water resources.
As CWRRI director, Parker will coordinate water-related research, extension and education efforts across the 10 UC campuses and across the ANR system. He will bring together local, state and federal stakeholders to identify issues and sources of political and financial support for water-related research. He will also organize and lead constituency-based advisory boards. To improve the understanding of water issues, Parker will serve as a key spokesperson on California water issues, working with federal, state, regional, nonprofit and campus stakeholders on advocacy and outreach programs.
He earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara and a Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics at UC Berkeley.
Parker will be based in Oakland and report to Barbara Allen-Diaz, AVP - Academic Programs and Strategic Initiatives.
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This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.
Atypical rainstorm pounds the central San Joaquin Valley
Another chapter in California's unusual 2011 weather saga was added over the weekend when clouds dumped 1.64 inches of rain in Fresno, seven times the average for the month June, according to the Fresno Bee.
The story, written by Mark Grossi, said that the wet weather increases the potential for mold and mildew problems in vineyards. Growers may be applying additional treatments of mildew-fighting chemicals.
"Rain during this stage of the growing season is really unwelcome," the article quoted Matthew Fidelibus, UC Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist based at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
For farmers of other crops, the rain storm is a break from having to irrigate fields for a few days, agricultural officials told Grossi.
According to the Weather Channel website, the usual dry and warm weather pattern for June will soon resume. By Thursday, the valley high temperature is forecast at 90 degrees, about average for this time of year.