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8 CapitalPress.com October 14, 2016 California Subscribe to our weekly California email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Festival raises funds for college ag program By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press Growers scramble to get crop in before storms By TIM HEARDEN Capital Press ANDERSON, Calif. — Pumpkin farmer Greg Hawes was happy to see his ields lush with big pumpkins, but he was also wary of what could happen if they aren’t picked before the rains come. At Hawes Farms on Oct. 7, employees were picking pumpkins and putting them into large bins while clearing and irming up walking paths for customers in case an antic- ipated mid-October change to a wetter weather pattern ma- terializes. “That’s why I want to get this all opened up,” said Hawes, who had just opened his pumpkin patch to guests a day earlier. The precautions come after the farm lost between 5 and Tim Hearden/Capital Press Eric Eiler, a worker at Hawes Farms near Anderson, Calif., puts a white pumpkin he just picked into a bin on Oct. 7. Workers were picking pumpkins and clearing walking paths in anticipation of rains that were expected within the next week. 10 percent of its pumpkins to rot two years ago after a storm dumped nearly 3 inches of 42-2/#7 REDDING, Calif. — Nearly three years ago, Bre- anna Rice left the bustle of Southern California to im- merse herself in agriculture at Shasta College. What attracted her to the community college was its reputation, she said. “Shasta College is known as one of the best ag programs you can get into because of the hands-on experience,” said Rice, who’s in her inal semester at the college and plans to transfer to Montana State University and study agribusiness. Rice was one of many stu- dents leading tours of the col- lege farm on Oct. 10 during the ag program’s annual Harvest Fest, one of the pro- gram’s key fundraisers. Aside from the farm tours, about 300 community mem- bers were treated to a din- ner featuring pork and other foods from the farm or from local producers, live and silent auctions of donated items, and entertainment. The festival was started several years ago after the ag program survived a bud- get crisis in 2009 but need- ed to ind ways to generate income. The last festival in 2014 raised about $22,000, said Trena Kimler-Richards, an agricultural instructor and program coordinator. The college suspended the fall event last year because the program’s new dean, Mi- chael Sloane, had just start- ed. The program also holds a Christmas fair, which raises funds for a student leadership team. The 90-acre farm raises livestock, hay and other com- modities and includes a dor- mitory program that immers- es students in the operation. It’s now a money-maker for the community college dis- trict, selling premium goats, pigs and cattle. Rain threatens pumpkins rain in late September 2014. The National Weather Ser- vice in Sacramento advised that a cool, wet system could move in from the northwest by Oct. 12 and rains could continue through the end of the week, reaching as far south as Modesto. AccuWeather’s long-range forecast showed that Northern California could dry out by Oct. 18 and see intermittent clouds — but no more rain — through Halloween. So far, the moderately warm summer and early fall have enabled good pumpkin yields in California, grow- ers say. Art Perry, co-owner of George Perry and Sons farm in Manteca, Calif., said the yields in most ields are higher than last year, when some growers reported a bet- ter-than-average crop. “We’re really excited about the quality we have this year,” said Perry, whose fam- ily’s farm is one of the state’s largest shippers of pumpkins, watermelons and hardshell squash. “The weather is really helping us a lot,” he said. “We’re getting the fall feeling but it’s dry. It couldn’t be bet- ter for pumpkin harvest.” California’s harvest begins as pumpkin farms in the Mid- west are reporting a rebound after early-summer rains last year created a shortage of pumpkins for canning. Lib- by’s, which sells most of the canned pumpkin in the U.S., reported this year’s yields are much higher than last year, when the company’s yields were reduced by half and the harvest ended a month early. In a typical year, nearly 6,000 acres of pumpkins are grown in California, one of the nation’s top six pump- kin-producing states. Most are planted in May or June for the Halloween season, according to the University of Califor- nia Cooperative Extension. Most of the pumpkins grown in California are sold in the state, the California Farm Bu- reau Federation reported. Over the last decade, many pumpkin farms in California have developed into booming tourist attractions. Now in its 12th year of providing enter- tainment, Hawes Farms offers a corn maze, train and hay rides and other attractions that thousands of families enjoy each autumn. While it has shipped pumpkins in the past, the farm has gotten to the point that it sells all the pumpkins grown on its 17 acres. Hawes is happy with how his crop has developed. “I think it looks great,” he said. “We’ve had a little deer damage, but that’s normal.” Large Transmission Power Lines on Your Property? Lease Us Your Land! 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