Author: John

Middle California – More Tomatoes Per Acre
Farmers are coaxing more crop per acre from Valley fields. Witness the processing tomato industry that is yielding near 50 tons per acre in 2012 compared to 38 in 2002, 33 tons in 1992, 26.5 in 1982 and 17 tons per acre back in 1967. The value of processing tomatoes from about 200,000 to 250,000 acres of land has jumped about 10-fold in this time. Farmers expect to harvest 13 million tons this year, the most since 2009.The total acreage planted to this crop has fallen from around 317,000 acres to 258,000 – much of it in Kings and Fresno counties.Fresno County produces about 40% of the crop by itself.The yields in Fresno and Kern county exceed 55 tons per acre, highest in the state.

California grows 96% of the US crop, almost all machine harvested.
But this winter a drought in China who typically is a  big producer of tomato paste has hurt  global supply and is expected to be down 11% this year putting the squeeze so to speak  on ketchup prices in world markets but not likely in the US .
Americans consume three-fourths of their tomatoes in processed form. U.S. consumption of processed tomatoes began a steady climb that accelerated in the late 1980s with the rising popularity of pizza, pasta, and salsa.

California Produces Half US Vegetables

California produced about half the value of all vegetables grown in the US in 2012 says USDA. California accounted for 49% of the production.

Chocolate Milk Loses High Fructose Corn Syrup

Dean Foods has introduced a reformulation of its popular brand of chocolate milk, TruMoo. The new product, which hit shelves in January 2013, contains 35 percent less total sugar than the leading chocolate milk competitor, and has 40 percent less sugar than its previous formula and no high fructose corn syrup.
In a 2012 MilkPEP survey of more than 1,000 moms of school-aged children, 85% report feeling positively about the benefits chocolate milk provides their children.
“Together, these nutrients help strengthen bones and build and repair muscles,” said Willow Jarosh MS, RD of C&J Nutrition. “And a low-fat chocolate milk with no high fructose corn syrup and very little added sugar is a practical way to get kids the nutrients they need without all the sugar they don’t, and from a source moms can trust.”
Critics of chocolate milk helped get the beverage pulled from school cafeterias in past years saying there was too much sugar in the drink.
Busy As Bees:
Trucks carrying beehives are crisscrossing the state in preparation for the spring bloom, but their cargo may be a little lighter. Beekeepers say their colonies are smaller, in part due to a poor winter last year that didn’t produce enough food to keep the bees healthy. The U.S. Agriculture Department reports that the bees’ annual work on the state’s farms will begin in almond orchards, where 1.6 million honeybee colonies will be needed to pollinate the crop.

With only a a little relief from the CDFA on prices – California dairy leaders are worried more Central Valley milk shippers will be closing their barn doors and selling off their cows. CDFA Secretary Ross decided late last month to raise the minimum price paid to dairymen only 25 cents disappointing the farmers. Since then” I’ve seen more announcements of herd sales” shrugs Western United Dairymen president Tom Barcellos of Porterville.

These dairy operators were hoping for an 80 cent to $1 bump in the price the state’s processors including cheese makers must pay on an emergency basis for the next 6 months.Dairymen call the 25 cents a drop in the bucket.

In the meantime “we lost that much on the CME” market in recent days where dairy futures are traded says Hanford dairyman Joaquin Contente. California milk prices rise and fall with the price of of dairy commodities in Chicago.

Those prices have been falling since the New Year with 500 lb barrel of cheddar that went for $2/lb last October fetching about $1.54 today.

At the same time feed costs are staying high at $7.36 per bushel for corn on the futures market until the new Midwest crop comes in next summer. The drought has also hurt hay prices and availability with Valley alfalfa hay going for $300 a ton. Lots of hay was exported keeping prices up and China is expected to buy double what they bought last year. All eyes are on rain forecasts for this summer in the Midwest to see if there will be another drought year. It was dry this winter hurting the winter wheat crop.

Dairy Body Count

Testimony at the most recent CDFA hearing on the subject suggests more dairymen threw in the towel recently. Some of that testimony includes a body count of lost dairies.

– From DFA:  Data from Frazer LLP shows net income losses per cwt. for first six months at $0.92/cwt. in Kern County, $1.75/cwt. in San Joaquin area, and $2.24/cwt. in Southern California.
-Have seen abnormal exodus in farm counts within the co-op Dairy Farmers of America membership in 2011 (20 farms went out of business) and 2012 (34 farms have failed or exited).
Western United Dairymen testified – Just within WUD, 50 dairy sell outs occurred in the last eight months.
California Dairies co-op testified – The cost of feed makes up nearly 70 percent of the cost of producing milk. California witnessing an unprecedented drop off in milk production: September 2012 was the lowest month of milk production since 2005, about 13 percent lower than the peak month.
California Dairy Campaign testified- Estimated that more than 100 dairies will close their doors in 2012, more than in the devastating year 2009.
Land O Lakes co-op testified -In 2012, 43 LOL member farmers have discontinued milking.
Fresno bankruptcy attorney Walter Riley testified – Over last two years have worked with 60 dairymen and their families who have
experienced extreme financial pressure due, in part, to low milk prices.

This month the Overland Stockyard in Hanford has a full scheduled of dairy herd sales announced, several “complete dispersals”.

In Tulare County, milk production was down 1.4% in November says CDFA. The state’s dairies are selling nearly 4% less fluid milk to  consumers this year.( but nearly 10% more organic milk).Cheese consumption was up 0.01% through November and butters sales are  6% higher.

Losing Their Shirt

CDFA says the average price paid producers in 2012 was $16.39 per cwt compared to $18.63 in 2011. At the same time CDFA says dairy farmers cost of production in the South Valley in the 3rd quarter was $20.12 per hundred lbs weight (CWT).That compares cost of $18.54 for the same period in 2011.

The numbers don’t lie, dairymen say, they are losing their shirt.

If California dairymen are complaining about the low price they get for their milk,so are NY dairymen this month ,a newspaper reports. NY dairy operators say they can’t sell their milk because California milk prices undercut them.

“A large part of California’s dairy edge stems from its milk pricing system, which is set by the state, rather than using the federal milk pricing system that most states utilize, including New York. Dairy farmers in California are often paid up to several dollars less per hundred pounds — about 12 gallons — of milk than farmers in New York. In December, preliminary average milk prices paid to farmers were $18.80 per hundred pounds of milk in California, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Farmers in New York received $22.20 per hundred pounds of milk in the same month.”

At next weeks Tulare Farm show a panel of dairy experts from around California will weigh in on the idea of abandoning the California system and joining the federal program like New York.

California has more unauthorized immigrants than any other state, about 2.6 million of the nation’s 11 million; they make up 7 percent of the total California population and 9 percent of the state’s labor force says a July 2011 Public Policy Institute of California study. The report estimates that Tulare County as of 2008 had about 29,000 undocumented people or just under 7% of the population.

Now a bipartisan immigration reform plan gaining support in Congress could change their status this year. Farm leaders like Manual Cunha says leadership in the Senate led by Democrats Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein and the GOP’s Marco Rubio of Florida point “in the most positive direction I’ve seen in years.” Not only is President Obama made a commitment, “The time is now.” he offered in a Nevada speech,but the House GOP leadership including the Valley’s Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield may be “ready to deal” says Cunha.

Cunha points to leadership by GOP’s rising star Marco Rubio from a farm state who has come to understand the time is right.”I think the country’s taking a much bigger risk by not doing anything,” Rubio observed in the past few days.

This week Tulare County congressman Devin Nunes chimed in. “Our immigration system is broken and needs to be overhauled from top to bottom. We need reform that both secures the border and ends the unacceptable status quo, in which there are millions of people living and working in the shadows. If the Senate bill accomplishes those two goals, it will be a good starting point for discussion.”

The outlines of a plan include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a streamlined legal immigration system, better enforcement and tighter border security.
Cunha predicts a bill will be launched in the Senate and get to the House by April and on to the President’s desk by June.

The stars seem to be aligned between traditional rivals like the California grower community and the UFW as well on the major points of legislation.

“We thank this bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats for understanding that a roadmap to citizenship is essential to any immigration reform plan. We also endorse the proposal’s commitment to strong labor protections as part of any future flow program and allowing temporary workers who have worked in this country for many years to earn green cards,” said UFW’s Arturo S. Rodriguez recently.

Cunha says immigrants who have been living here for years will be able to gain legal status and not worry they or their families will be suddenly hauled away. Instead, they would be able to  enter the US legally and safely without  being exploited by ‘coyotes’ or put in danger by the drug cartel. For farmers worried again this year about worker shortages “we will finally get a legal workforce and not live in fear of government audits” adds Cunha.

“It’s not just bad for [undocumented workers], it’s bad for the entire economy, because all the businesses that are trying to do the right thing that are hiring people legally…” said Obama in his speech in Nevada this week.
Both Farm Bureau and Western Growers have expressed support for the framework which will also includes a foreign workers (guest worker) plan.

So what changed? Cunha says “it is simple – the election results”  have pushed more Republicans to look at the problem in a new way. In the past a majority of GOP have emphasized what their 2012 party platform said opposing “any form of amnesty” for people who intentionally violate immigration law, saying amnesty “rewards and encourages more law breaking.”

The LA Times reported this week that 4 GOP state legislators have announced support as well including Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo).