February 20, 2015
CapitalPress.com
California
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Group seeks to boost
donations of farm
goods to food banks
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
SACRAMENTO — Cali-
fornia’s agriculture agency is
teaming with a nonprofit or-
ganization on a campaign to
boost donations of fresh farm
goods to local food banks.
The state Department of
Food and Agriculture and
the California Association of
Food Banks have embarked
on a social media campaign
and are making presentations
to farm groups to extol the
virtues of donating.
The CAFB’s Farm to Fam-
ily program has a goal of in-
creasing contributions from
the more than 140 million
pounds of fresh food donat-
ed in 2014 to 200 million this
year, said Sue Sigler, the as-
sociation’s executive director.
“Food banks are always
looking for donations of all
kinds of food,” Sigler said,
adding that the Farm to Fam-
ily program is primarily seek-
ing “fresh produce for our
food banks to distribute to
people in need.”
The campaign was kicked
off in December, as state
Food and Agriculture Sec-
retary Karen Ross toured a
fresh produce facility and
met with media to promote
the #CAGrown social media
hashtag.
Consumers who share a
picture of a California-grown
product on Facebook, Twitter
or Instagram with the hashtag
will generate a one-pound
food donation to a food bank
from California Grown, a
state- and federally funded
promotion campaign.
Sigler said farmers who
donate fresh goods may be
eligible for state and feder-
al tax credits, and some may
receive small reimbursements
for picking and packing costs
from the Farm to Family pro-
gram.
“Beyond that, we hope we
serve for some farmers as a
way to rid themselves of ex-
cess inventory,” Sigler said.
“For any seconds or culls or
B-grade, No. 2 products, we
know often times those are
perfectly edible and nutritious
even if they don’t meet retail
expectations.”
9
Research unlocks clues about
powdery mildew in wine grapes
By TIM HEARDEN
Online
Capital Press
DAVIS, Calif. — Researchers have
unlocked key genetic clues to a patho-
gen that is one of the worst destroyers
of vineyards.
Left untreated, grape powdery mil-
dew — caused by the fungal pathogen
Erysiphe necator — destroys grape
quality and yield, according to the
University of California-Davis.
Scientists in the university’s De-
partment of Viticulture and Enology
have mapped the pathogen’s genome,
which could help growers become
more efficient in treating for the ail-
ment and eventually lead researchers
to develop new mildew-resistant vari-
eties.
“It is a huge problem,” university
spokeswoman Diane Nelson said of
the pathogen. “They say that if there’s
1 percent of this stuff on the leaves or
grapes when they’re harvested, it’s go-
ing to affect the taste and flavor of the
wine you drink.”
Symptoms of powdery mildew in-
clude red blotchy areas on dormant
canes, and later the infected areas take
on a white, powdery or dusty appear-
ance as masses may cover the entire
surface of the grape, according to the
UC’s Pest Management Guidelines.
Growers treat for the disease with
Manuscript of research to map the E.
necator genome: http://www.biomedcen-
tral.com/1471-2164/15/1081
UC guidelines for grape powdery mil-
dew: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/
r302100311.html
Courtesy of UC-Davis
Wine grapes show the effects of grape
powdery mildew, one of the most destruc-
tive vineyard maladies in California and
the world. University of California-Davis
researchers have discovered important ge-
netic clues about the pathogen that causes
the ailment.
a variety of fungicides, and sulfur and
some other treatments are acceptable
on organically certified grapes, ac-
cording to the university. More chem-
icals are used to control powdery
mildew than for any other vineyard
problem.
“I talked to one grower in Napa that
said if you grow grapes in California,
you’re going to get it,” said Nelson, a
senior writer for UC-Davis’ College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sci-
ences. “It’s spread by the wind and the
conditions.
“Basically, you can’t not treat grape
powdery mildew,” she said. “Left un-
treated, it’s going to destroy both the
quality and the yields. That’s why they
dump so much sulfur on it.”
Knowing how the pathogen evolves
and causes disease will help grape
growers select which fungicides to use
and when to use them throughout the
season, the UC explains in a news re-
lease.
Understanding the pathogen will
also help UC-Davis breeders develop
new grape varieties with effective and
durable genetic resistance to powdery
mildew, the release explains.
“They’re going to have to breed
for resistance,” Nelson said, adding it
could be a while before a new variety
becomes commercially viable.
California citrus exports hurt by West Coast labor dispute
crippling the flow of his goods.
“You shouldn’t be able to
hold an industry hostage,” Bates
said. “There’s got to be some
way that we can continue to op-
erate while they negotiate.”
The labor dispute has im-
pacted 29 seaports along the
West Coast, including Long
Beach, Los Angeles and Oak-
land. The White House said on
Saturday that President Barack
Obama is sending Labor Secre-
tary Tom Perez to California in
an attempt to reach a deal at the
bargaining table. The concern
is that the slow movement of
goods through the seaports will
have broad economic damage.
Citrus growers in California
who generate nearly $1 billion
a year are hit especially hard
because they are entering their
peak season, and unlike auto
parts and non-perishable goods
caught in the labor dispute, or-
anges and other citrus products
spoil if they sit too long.
Bates said his company is
losing $3 million a week, which
stings during the drought when
export profits are needed to
compensate for the high price of
irrigation water.
While farmers are hurt by
the loss of export sales, Bates
said the labor dispute has left
an abundance of fruit available
to Americans consumers at low-
er prices. He estimates the port
stalemate will cost the citrus
growers by up to 40 percent of
the normal profits.
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein
and Barbara Boxer, both of Cal-
ifornia, wrote a joint letter this
past week demanding an agree-
ment that puts the ports back in
business. “Clearly the ramifica-
tions of this slowdown are hurt-
ing the California economy and
our households, small business-
es and communities,” the pair
wrote. “This is unacceptable.”
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FRESNO, Calif. (AP) —
California’s citrus growers al-
ready grappling with a fourth
year of drought say their exports
are taking a hit from a labor
dispute at West Coast seaports,
costing farmers millions of dol-
lars a week.
Al Bates, president of Sun
Pacific Shippers and Farming,
told the San Francisco Chroni-
cle that growers like him are ex-
porting half of their normal fruit
produce to places such as Ko-
rea, Japan and China. A leading
grower of citrus in the Central
Valley, Bates blames the ongo-
ing disputes at the seaports for
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