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June 12, 2015 CapitalPress.com Subscribe to our weekly California email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters 11 California Warm weather, smaller Strawberry production lags IUXLWVWLÀHSUXQHWRQQDJH By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press 5('%/8))&DOLI²7KH warm early-spring weather in California this year may cause prune tonnage to be slightly below last year, a survey of growers has determined. In all, 100,000 tons of prunes, or dried plums, are ex- pected to come out of dryers this summer and fall, down 4 percent from the 104,000 tons produced in 2014, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service in Sacra- mento. While the plum set ap- pears to be good, the warm and early spring may increase the amount of smaller fruit, NASS reasoned. Northern areas may fare better. Grower Tyler Chris- tensen notices a heavy fruit set in his plum orchards near Red Bluff, as down crops in 2013 and 2014 may have given the trees enough rest to produce in abundance this year, he said. “We had a pretty warm winter and a warm spring, so they came out of dorman- cy pretty early,” Christensen said. “But all the farm ad- visers are assuring us that we had much better chilling Tim Hearden/Capital Press &DOLIRUQLDSUXQHVIURP<XED&LW\EDVHG6XQVZHHW*URZHUV¿OOD snack plate. This year’s plum crop for prunes is expected to be slightly smaller than last year’s, according to the National Agricul- tural Statistics Service. hours than in the last couple of years. That and the fact that the trees got some rest from two years of down crops in our area, those two factors helped us out.” The total bearing acreage for prunes statewide is ex- pected to be 48,000, which is equal to last year. Industry representatives are hoping the acreage levels off now that prices paid to farmers have improved in recent years, reaching as much as $2,500 a ton last year. California’s prune pro- duction has dropped consid- erably since nearly 200,000 dry tons came out of dryers in 2006, according to NASS. Just three years ago, produc- ers put out 138,000 tons. Prune production dropped after a couple of failed crops in the mid-2000s enabled competitors such as Chile and France to seize part of the market share, pushing down prices, and growers switched WR PRUH SUR¿WDEOH FRPPRG- ities such as walnuts and al- monds. The NASS crop estimate was based on questionnaires and phone interviews last month involving more than 200 growers. Foothill abortion vaccine trials enter home stretch By TIM HEARDEN REDDING, Calif. — Un- settled spring weather has eased the brisk pace of straw- berry production in Califor- nia, causing it to lag slightly behind last year’s pace. As of June 2, growers in the Golden State had pro- duced a little more than 99.7 PLOOLRQ ÀDWV GRZQ VOLJKWO\ from the nearly 101.2 million ÀDWVSLFNHGE\WKHVDPHWLPH last year, according to the Na- tional Berry Report. “This year it’s going all right,” said Ata Saechao, who was selling berries at a local farmers’ market for Amy’s Produce just south of Redding. “We’ve had better years,” he said. “The weather has been kind of different and it’s affect- ing our berries. We’re still get- ting good produce out.” California has entered its peak season for strawberries, as picking is proceeding in all three of the state’s major growing regions — around Oxnard, Santa Maria and Watsonville. Storms can com- plicate strawberry harvest, as the rain can cause ripe berries to become moldy and water- logged. Occasional showers spritzed the Central Coast re- gion in April and early May, causing production levels to dip, according to the Califor- nia Strawberry Commission. However, production had been off to a faster-than-nor- mal pace in 2015 because of the dry winter. “The year-to-date volume is not that far behind last year, and it is ahead of two years ago,” commission spokes- woman Carolyn O’Donnell Tim Hearden/Capital Press Ata Saechao, left, a berry grower south of Redding, Calif., prepares a box of strawberries for a customer at a local farmers’ market on May 30. As its peak season is underway, strawberry production in California has dipped slightly below last year’s pace. said in an email. Rainfall amounts this spring haven’t approached levels seen in November and December, when a series of warm storms caused the state’s VWUDZEHUU\SURGXFWLRQWR¿QLVK last year below 2013 levels. Through much of 2014, grow- ers were on a pace to enjoy their eighth record-setting year in the last nine years. Even so, 2015 production levels are down for California blueberries and raspberries, too, according to the National Berry Report, which is com- piled with USDA data. Califor- nia producers turned out 6.46 PLOOLRQ ÀDWV RI EOXHEHUULHV DV of June 2 compared to more than 6.5 million in the same period last year, and growers KDYHSLFNHGPLOOLRQÀDWVRI raspberries so far compared to 10 million last year, the report states. Blackberry production is up, with growers turning out PLOOLRQ ÀDWV DV RI -XQH 2 compared to 23.3 million ÀDWVGXULQJWKHVDPHSHULRGLQ 2014. Through the winter and early spring, strawberry pro- duction maintained a brisk pace despite a downward trend in planted acres. Growers were expected to plant 37,438 acres this year, down from the 2013 total acreage of 40,816, ac- cording to the strawberry com- mission. About 85 percent of the na- tion’s strawberries come from California. Capital Press DAVIS, Calif. — A universi- ty scientist says he’s in the home stretch of developing a vaccine for a tick-borne malady that kills calf fetuses. A team led by University of California-Davis researcher Jef- IUH\6WRWWLVH[SDQGLQJ¿HOGWULDOV of a vaccine for foothill abortion, which causes the loss of 45,000 to 90,000 calves a year. Stott and other researchers have been testing the vaccine since 2011, and the USDA ap- proved the expansion after it was shown to be effective in prevent- ing foothill abortion in more than 2,000 head of cattle. The two-year expanded study is likely the last step neces- sary before making the vaccine available for widespread use, said Stott, an immunologist at the UC-Davis School of Veteri- nary Medicine. “All we need is a producer,” he told the Capital Press. “The HI¿FDF\GDWDLVWUXO\RXWVWDQGLQJ and the safety looks good. You can’t get in too close to breeding, but we get these animals vacci- nated 60-plus days before they breed and it looks really good. “I don’t think there will be a lot of questions of veterinary Tim Hearden/Capital Press At a 2011 workshop in Red Bluff, Calif., University of California-Da- vis graduate student Roxann Brooks, center, discusses work on a foothill abortion vaccine as veterinarian Tom Talbot, left, and UC-Davis researcher Jeffrey Stott listen. biologists in licensing this,” he said. Finding a vaccine has been HOXVLYHLQWKHGHFDGHVORQJ¿JKW against foothill abortion, which is caused by bacteria brought in by a tick that bites cows and heif- ers in dry pastures. The malady is endemic in California’s coastal and foothill regions, in Southern Oregon and Northern Nevada. The bacteria doesn’t make the cow sick, but if the animal is pregnant and the fetus has not developed immunity, the bacte- ria can kill the fetus in 90 to 105 days. There’s been no evidence of the bacteria affecting other animals, such as horses or sheep, researchers have said. Organizations such as the California Cattlemen’s Associa- tion have held numerous fund- raisers for research on foothill abortion, which has decreased reproductive ability and prevent- ed ranchers from bringing cattle into California at certain times of the year. Among ranchers partic- ipating in the trials has been ¿IWKJHQHUDWLRQ /DVVHQ &RXQW\ cattle producer Buck Parks, who was losing an average of 25 to 30 calves each year from a herd of about 300 cows. About 20 percent of his losses were from ³¿UVWFDOI KHLIHUV´ RU ¿UVWWLPH mother cows, a UC news release explained. 24-5/#7 24-2/#5