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August 29, 2011
· More growers rely on the Internet – report
· Project to include hundreds of greenhouses
· Tracking the plight of the bumble bee
· Funding drying up on US college farms
· Mexico’s wine industry fermenting well
More growers rely on the Internet – report
(AP)
The number of farmers with Internet access on a variety of digital gadgets has dramatically increased, changing the way farms do business. Farmers say they're increasingly using the Net to speed up their work flow, improve their farming techniques, market their crops, connect with customers and retailers, and fulfill a variety of regulatory requirements.
Within the past decade, the number of farms with an Internet
connection has increased by nearly 20 percentage points, according to a report
issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month. More than half
of
"The Internet is such an integral part of doing
business in agriculture," said Dan Errotabere, who farms 3,500 acres in
Riverdale, 25 miles south of
Farmers still lag behind the general population — nearly 80 percent of Americans surf the Web at home — but the fact that Internet-enabled devices have become less expensive and more portable has fueled the increase.
Big farms like Errotabere's have the most access, the USDA report shows. More than 70 percent of farms with sales of $250,000 or more use the Internet for farm business.
For Errotabere, the Internet is key in communicating with and delivering documents to government officials, manufacturers, packers and retailers. His staff files reports online, catches up with pest control advisers via email and receives text messages about the weather.
Errotabere emails brokers and trades agricultural commodity futures on the Web, and he downloads delivery information on an hourly basis for his crops.
"The Internet is quicker, portable and more reliable than mail," said Errotabere, who uses a laptop and smart phone and just got an iPad. "You get a pulse for whatever is happening in real-time. It has revolutionized the ag business."
Alec Smith, whose family's Turlock Fruit Company grows melons and other crops on several thousand acres near Firebaugh, 45 miles northwest of Fresno, says one of the most important advances of the Internet is in pest control. When plants exhibit signs of disease, staff at Turlock Fruit snap photos and emails them to plant disease specialists at universities. The specialists then email back with advice for combatting a disease.
Turlock Fruit Company workers also use websites that act as buying networks between growers and shippers, carriers, retail grocers and wholesalers. Using such websites, grocery stores can place orders directly with Smith's company.
"You can make quicker decisions with the info you get on the Internet," said Smith, who occasionally tweets and blogs to share updates of life on the farm.
About 41 percent of smaller farms also are online, according to the USDA.
Rob Rundle of Rundle Family Farms, who grows vegetables on 13 acres on the outskirts of Fresno, uses the Internet on a desktop and smart phone to beef up his farming practices — learning about pests, seed varieties, crop production, fertilizer use and soil types.
Before the Internet, Rundle said, he had to speak with crop advisers in person or pay for books or pamphlets. The Internet makes that quicker and cheaper.
At the 40-acre Smith Family Farm in
Smith said he turned to the Web when he switched from doing wholesale to running a CSA and selling directly to customers at farmers' markets.
"The Internet means survival to a lot of the small farmers," he said. "When you have a CSA and don't have a web site, nobody's going to know about you."
Despite the enormous benefits to using the new technology,
barriers remain for many farmers, said Richard Molinar, a small farm adviser at
the
Older farmers and immigrant farmers tend not to use the Internet or digital devices. And while the cost of computers, phones and Internet connections has fallen, for small farmers the expense can be prohibitive.
Some farmers still struggle with dial-up connections and inadequate cell service. Web pages take too long to load, and phone calls get dropped.
Rural
Internet access also varies by region. Farmers in the West have the highest Internet access, over 70 percent, according to the USDA, followed by farmers in the Northeast. Farmers in the South have the lowest access.
But the main barrier to farmers' Internet use? Well, farming.
"Sometimes you work late, you work hard, so do you really want to go on the computer when you get home? No, not really," Mike Smith said.
And no matter the benefits, farmers said, the Internet is never going to replace the physical labor of planting and harvesting.
"Farming," said Alec Smith of Turlock Fruit Company, "is still about farming."
Project to include hundreds of greenhouses
(Ocala.com) – A roughly 250-acre tract in southern Marion County, Fla., once slated for single-family homes will soon host a slew of houses of a different kind — greenhouses.
A partnership of a family of local developers and an organic farmer recently launched construction of the first of what could be hundreds of greenhouses dotting the landscape along southbound Interstate 75 just outside the SummerGlen subdivision.
Those behind the project say they want to create jobs for the community — perhaps as many as 700 or more — and capitalize on trends in the agriculture industry that emphasize the benefits of consuming unique, locally grown products.
Beyond their company's goals, however, the promoters of the plan offer another indicator that agriculture unrelated to the horse industry is seen as a way to attack the community's unemployment plight.
The company — Organic Specialty Farms LLC — is led by Katica Pavicic and her son Philip, owners of Marco Polo Builders, and Steven Shrump, a long-time organic grower from Wimauma.
Organic Specialty Farms, its principals say, hopes to tap into a niche market with unique varieties of organically and hydroponically grown fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices.
They believe they can offer consumers reduced-cost everyday staples, including varieties of tomatoes and lettuces, but also appeal to gourmets and food adventurers by providing hard-to-find — and often pricey — items that many believe cannot be found or grown in Florida.
Shrump said in a recent interview that the company can succeed in a down market because of one word: “shortages.”
That is, shortages in the food chain created by diseased products imported from other parts of the world, the high retail prices of exotic goods, the lag time of a normal growing cycle and even the declining acreage of farmland.
Those factors tend to drive up prices, Shrump said, and the reduced cost accompanying local production will appeal to many consumers.
But the company is also emphasizing that locally grown also means a safer food supply.
Over the last few years, salmonella outbreaks have been
linked to tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, parsley, spinach and peppers. Earlier this
year an E. Coli outbreak tied to bean sprouts grown at an organic farm in
The logistics
Organic Specialty Farms is looking at a $27 million investment — all self-funded without government help — when the project reaches its endpoint sometime within the next three years.
“Why not do it yourself?” Philip Pavicic asked.
The plan is to use 180 acres of the overall site. The company could build as many as 14 greenhouses per acre — or about 2,500 total. And that could also mean, with an estimated four jobs per acre, more than 700 jobs in the near future.
The Pavicics and Shrump teamed about a year ago after being
introduced by a mutual friend who had participated in a trade mission to
They chose the site, owned by the Pavicics and planned for residential development until that market soured, because of some inherent advantages: its proximity to The Villages and the gated communities in the State Road 200 corridor, access to I-75, and a nearby natural gas line that will supply power and hold down electricity costs, and available water and sewer lines.
As of now, the only evidence of their venture is a single-wide construction trailer flanked by a series of stakes tied together with string that forms the outline of the first greenhouse.
Yet the present activity pales in comparison to the vision of the future that the proponents see for their grass- and hay-covered pasture.
The strategy
According to Shrump, Organic Specialty Farms will sell its goods retail to walk-in customers. Besides produce, that would include offering the greenhouses themselves to backyard farmers, who would be instructed in how to grow their own food.
The company also will feature a “produce club,” wherein regulars would pay a one-time fee to be advised of, and get first crack at, the latest crop or newest arrivals.
“We'll have that stuff you see in a five-star restaurant, or see on the cooking shows, that you can't get your hands on,” Shrump said.
The end game is to be a cheaper supplier of produce to
grocers, restaurants and other suppliers in
Ultimately, they also want to form a cooperative among local farmers, tap into the resources at the University of Florida and offer future farmers internships to learn the business and set aside part of the property to grow food specifically for Ocala's nonprofits, food banks that help adults and children, and homeless shelters.
‘Slow food'
The project, Shrump noted, is related to the “slow food”
movement — a grassroots effort born in
According to slowfood.com, the initiative seeks to preserve and promote rich-tasting, locally grown, naturally produced and nutritionally beneficial regional foods.
“The advantage we'll have is that everybody is going to cooperate,” Shrump said. “We're going to make you want to stay.”
According to the Organic Trade Association, interest in organically grown products is rising.
Sales of organic food and beverages reached nearly $27 billion in 2010, up from about $1 billion two decades earlier, the group reported.
Last year's sales were up almost 8 percent over 2009, with the biggest jump coming in organic fruits and vegetables, which rose nearly 12 percent above 2009 sales.
The association also notes that organic fruits and
vegetables now make up 11 percent of all
And while certified organic cropland remains less than 1 percent of all farmland in the United States, the total acreage of organic farms jumped 15 percent annually between 2002 and 2008, the association notes.
Despite the near-morbid economy — both locally and nationally — Shrump thinks the project will gain followers.
For one thing, the company has already secured $5 million in contracts with food brokers, he said.
Joining the club
Others, it seems, are ready to join Organic Specialty Farms in the food business, as events in recent weeks demonstrate.
American Fresh Farms, another group featuring hydroponic
food and replete with millions of dollars in government-provided incentives,
was approved to set up shop at the
Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach recently announced his
plan to establish a 24,000-acre cattle ranch, including an abattoir, in
Rick Michael, director of the county's Office of Economic
and Small Business Development, told the
Tracking the plight of the bumble bee
(USDA-ARS) – A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist is trying to learn what is causing the decline in bumble bee populations and also is searching for a species that can serve as the next generation of greenhouse pollinators.
Bumble bees, like honey bees, are important pollinators of native plants and are used to pollinate greenhouse crops like peppers and tomatoes. But colonies of Bombus occidentalis used for greenhouse pollination began to suffer from disease problems in the late 1990s and companies stopped rearing them. Populations of other bumble bee species are also believed to be in decline.
Entomologist James Strange is searching for solutions at the
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Pollinating Insects—Biology, Management and
Systematics Research Unit in
Many greenhouse growers now use commercially produced Bombus
impatiens, a generalist pollinator native to the Midwest and Eastern United
States and
Strange has been studying a pretty, orange-striped
generalist named Bombus huntii, native to the western half of the country, that
could be used in greenhouses in the western
To understand the decline of B. occidentalis, Strange and his colleagues also have been tracking its habitat range and population trends. Evidence gathered so far shows that the range and populations of B. occidentalis have declined, that it is not as genetically diverse as it used to be, and that it has higher pathogen prevalence than other bee species with stable populations. The results were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers also have assembled a large database with information on more than 80,000 Bombus specimens representing 10 species throughout the country, including B. occidentalis. With Geographic Information System (GIS) modeling technology, they were able to construct historic and current range maps of several bumble bee species. The mapping process is described in the Uludag Bee Journal.
Funding drying up on US college farms
(Los
Angeles Times) -- The cattle, sheep and horse herds are smaller these days
on the 700-acre farm operated by Cal Poly Pomona in the rolling foothills of
the
State funding cuts that have resulted in tuition hikes and
fewer classes at
Agricultural programs like Cal Poly Pomona's face challenges other academic disciplines don't: Animals don't take a break for summer, bug infestations can wipe out crops, farm equipment can break down, and ever-rising costs of feed have to be considered.
And unlike labs in other academic departments, Cal Poly Pomona's farm and ranch must pay for themselves or borrow money from the campus foundation.
"It's not like working in a chemistry lab," said Lester C. Young, dean of the campus' agriculture college. "You can't neglect animals — they have to be watered and fed — which means a 24/7 operation. Our academic programs are a living entity."
The college used to have five majors in the plant science
department but now has just one as budget cuts have forced retrenchment.
Meanwhile, enrollment in
The programs under the general heading of agriculture now include veterinary science, human nutrition, pest control, international agribusiness, food marketing, environmental design and recycling.
But it is in the living laboratories that students learn firsthand about ranching, farming, horticulture, irrigation and resource management while conducting research on ways to cultivate and protect the state's rural and urban ecosystems.
Spencer Bray, a Cal Poly Pomona plant science major from
"They can tell you to go catch a pig, but it's pretty meaningless until you've tried," said Bray, 22, as he hosed out a hog pen. "It's essential to keep these programs because you can't learn everything in a classroom."
Young said his budget has been cut 25% in the last two years. Only one full-time and one part-time staffer run the animal units, where students have assumed more responsibilities.
"That's challenging because students are still learning and will make mistakes," Young said. "When we're working with large animals and machinery, safety is our first concern."
At Cal State Fresno, state support to operate the campus' 1,050-acre farm has fallen to about 25% of its total operating cost of nearly $6 million, said Charles Boyer, dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences & Technology. A decade ago, the state covered about 70% of the farm's budget, he said.
Staffers have been cut, cattle and other herds have been reduced, and the college is planning to merge some programs, while also looking to grow more of its own feed, Boyer said.
"When corn goes to $7 a bushel in the
State support for agricultural and natural resource programs
at UC campuses in
Dozens of administrative and support positions have been eliminated, research has been cut, and some departments within colleges have been eliminated or consolidated, said Daniel Dooley, vice president of UC's division of agriculture and natural resources.
The stakes are high if
"There's an enormous relationship between public
investment in agricultural research and farm productivity," Dooley said.
"If we're going to play a significant role in meeting worldwide demand,
including adjusting to climate change, we're going to have to enhance
productivity....
But it is likely that college agriculture programs will rely increasingly on public and private partnerships, Dooley said.
Officials at Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Fresno also are searching for ways to make their operations more profitable by, for example, expanding beef, pork and wine sales to the public.
At Cal State Fresno, about $4.5 million of the farm's $6 million budget comes from sales, but it just breaks even, Boyer said. The farm annually produces 30,000 gallons of red and white wine, as well as almonds, pistachios, sweet corn and dairy products, including 60 flavors of ice cream sold in the campus market.
The
The school's famed Arabian horses — housed at a center established 85 years ago by Kellogg cereal founder W.K. Kellogg — are sought by breeders and others. A foal from one of the stable's top brood mares recently sold for $25,000 as a prospective show horse.
The campus is also considering opening a petting zoo.
"We have to meet our teaching mission," said Young, "but it helps if we can make more money in these tough economic years."
Mexico
(AFP)
– Despite a lack of recognition abroad and a drug war that has made tourists
flee,
Production increased almost 40 percent in the past five
years, causing cheer at the annual Vendimia harvest festival in
The two-week fiesta was expected to welcome more than 30,000
visitors to some 40 concerts, wine-tastings and contests around vineyards lying
just over an hour's drive south of the border city of
"People have only just started to drink wine and to
learn about it. So promoting it, educating people and holding these kinds of
events are essential so that they feel more confident," said Hans Backoff,
director general of the Monte Xanic winery in the
An ideal mix of sunshine, sea breezes and cool nights
attracted the first winemakers, Spanish missionaries, to the
But Mexican wines only started to win acclaim more recently.
The industry faced protectionist laws from
Wine making increased in the region in the last century, but the removal of trade barriers in the late 1980s opened the market to foreign competition and production sunk again.
At around the same time a group of wine lovers, including Hans Backoff senior, the father of the current head of Monte Xanic, decided to focus on making better wines.
It was the start of a boom in boutique wine-making in the
region, which includes
"It all changed pretty fast. It went from barely drinkable wines to drinkable wines to a lot of wines of good quality to some excellent wines," said Steve Dryden, a US wine writer who lives in the region.
One dynamic winemaker, Hugo D'Acosta, set up a school with short courses for aspiring winemakers, attracting locals from doctors to farmers.
Some have since branched into food sales, concert venues and
other attractions to lure tourists to a wine route which starts in the port
city of
Those who can afford it have invested in machinery from
Agronomist Antonio Escalante celebrates the 10th year of the Roganto winery this year, with a production of 10,000 cases, up from 125 in the first year.
The wealthy water well driller, who works with four people, has attracted a growing following.
Like many wineries here, the company started buying grapes from established vineyards before planting its own.
A wide selection flourishes in the region, including tempranillo, syrah or nebbiolo, and winemakers often mix varieties.
But it is still a challenge to succeed.
Water supplies are limited, the arid soil can be salty, and government taxes on the industry are around 40 percent.
Escalante said wine makers struggle to compete with
subsidized wines from
"Obviously they are wines that are undervalued and that causes a lot of damage to the industry. We'd like the government to help us with that," Escalante said.
Nevertheless, an increase in wine drinking has provided a boost to the industry in a country where tequila and beer have long been the preferred drinks at festivities.
Although still small, wine consumption has almost doubled in the past 10 years. The National Wine Council, or Consejo Mexicano Vitivinicola, predicts it will double again by 2015.
At the same time, tastings and courses have sprung up in big cities and wine regions.
Attending a festival concert, chemical engineer Lourdes Reyes said she recently took a wine course and was now taking her hobby further.
"We've started meeting up with friends just to drink wine and we've tried wines from all over the world: Mexican, Chilean, Argentinian. I think that interest for wine has changed," Reyes said.
End Transmission