Do you know what the fastest growing alcoholic beverage category is? Yes, micro-brews are still rising in popularity, but actually, it's cider that is growing at the fastest rate.  "Cider's share of the market...in the U.S.—maybe 1%. But sales have soared of late, up nearly 100% in one recent 52-week period...the rising popularity of cider in the U.S...indicates that American hard cider production more than tripled from 2011 to 2013, from 9.4 million gallons to 32 million gallons." Time, April 2014

Growing Specialty Cider Apple Varieties Seminar

Here's a great opportunity to learn from the west coast's greatest expert in cider varieties along with several local experts who will discuss the potential to get started in this exciting industry. This half-day seminar includes a tasting of specialty hard apple ciders and lunch.

This seminar is for anyone interested in learning how to produce these varieties that make the best cider. 

Tuesday February 17th - 9:00 am to 1:30 pm
SRJC Shone Farm Pavilion, 7450 Steve Olson Lane, Forestville
Register online: $45 through February 10, $65 after February 10
Includes a coffee welcome, lunch, and a tasting of specialty hard apple ciders

Agenda:
8:30 Coffee and snacks
9:00-9:30 Feasibility of growing cider apples in coastal California, Paul Vossen, University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Sonoma & Marin Counties
9:30-10:30 Cider varieties and juice quality for hard cider. Carol A. Miles, Washington State University Extension Specialist – Dept. of Horticulture
BREAK
10:45-11:15 Organic and conventional apple growing: rootstocks, spacing, training systems, orchard floor management, irrigation, fruit thinning, and controlling pests. Paul Vossen
11:15-Noon Cider apple production economics & mechanical harvest. Carol A. Miles
Noon-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:00: Experiences in growing apples in Sebastopol. Jolie Devoto, Devoto Orchards
1:00-1:30: Tasting of different styles of apple cider. Chris Murray, Forestville cider maker.

Speakers:
Carol Miles is a Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Washington State University, and is the Horticulture Specialist located at the WSU Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center. She has been the program leader for cider apple research since 2009 and her work focuses on cider apple juice analysis and mechanical harvest. Carol has her Ph.D. in vegetable crops from Cornell University.
Jolie Devoto is the owner of Devoto Orchards Cider, who along with her husband Hunter Wade and father Stan Devoto grow and process 20 acres of apples into cider and fresh market fruit.
Chris Murray is one of the first cider makers in Sonoma County who turned his cider making hobby into a commercial business – a few years ahead of its time. Chris has many years of cider making and tasting experience. He has helped several local cider makers get their businesses started.
Paul Vossen is the University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor for Sonoma and Marin Counties. He has extensive experience working with the local apple industry in evaluating: rootstocks, varieties, cover crops, pruning systems and pest management. He was one of the technical authors of Organic Apple Production Manual UC ANR publication #3403

Register online
Contact: Lisa Bell, lkbell@ucanr.edu 

Everyone considering bringing a new food product to the market is invited to a one-day intensive workshop, “Starting a SUCCESSFUL Specialty Food Business,” offered by UC Cooperative Extension.

In this workshop, participants will learn the fundamentals of the specialty food marketplace and how to start creating their own success story. They will spend the day with specialty food business experts and hear specialty food producers tell their stories. All participants will receive a copy of the book, “Sell Your Specialty Food,” and will leave with a clearer understanding of the industry and real-world answers to their questions.

The workshop will be held at the Hamilton Community Center, 503 B South Palm Drive, Novato, CA 94949, on Monday February 9, 2015, from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Lunch and snacks are included in the workshop fee. Online registration is encouraged. The fee is $20.00 for online registration by February 2, or $35.00 (cash or check) at the door. Register online.

An additional Specialty Food Business workshop is scheduled in Oakland on Friday, February 13, 2015 and three others will be scheduled in Northern California this spring.

“Specialty Food experts will discuss the business realities – from production to promotion. We'll cover financing, marketing, sales and distribution, as well as essential lessons about safe and legal production methods,” said workshop organizer and speaker Shermain Hardesty, a UCCE Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis.

“Participants will also learn how to build their brand, get their product on the shelf, and price their product correctly for the market,” said Hardesty.

Other presenters will include Linda Harris, a UCCE Specialist in Food Safety and Microbiology at UC Davis, and Tim Sullivan, a specialty foods consultant with Sage Food Group. Harris will teach a section on “Staying Safe and Legal: Food Safety & Regulations.” Sullivan will discuss multiple aspects of pricing and marketing specialty food products.

“This is a great opportunity to learn directly from local farmers and specialty food producers about what worked, what didn't, and why,” said Julia Van Soelen Kim, North Bay Food Systems Advisor with UC Cooperative Extension.

Specialty food producers will tell their own stories, including Janet Brown of Allstar Organics and Dave Ehreth, founder and CEO of Sonoma Brinery. Allstar Organics produces a growing line of high-quality dried herbs, spices, and herbal salts and sugars. Sonoma Brinery is known for their handmade fresh pickles and sauerkraut.

The workshop will include opportunities for attendees to ask questions. Those participants who already have a specialty food product are invited to bring it to the workshop for everyone to taste.

Agenda

8:30 - 8:45 Overview & Introductions
8:45 - 10:15 Staying Safe and Legal: Food Safety & Regulations - Linda Harris, UCCE Specialist in Food Safety & Microbiology
10:15 - 10:30 Break
10:30 - 11:30 Marketing 101 for Specialty Foods - Shermain Hardesty, UC Small Farm Program Extension Economist
11:30 - noon Getting Your Product on the Shelf - Tim Sullivan, Sage Food Group
Noon - 12:45 Lunch & Networking
12:45 - 1:15 Processing & Packaging Options - Shermain Hardesty and Tim Sullivan
1:15 - 2:15 Money Matters/Pricing for the Market - Tim Sullivan, Sage Food Group
2:15 - 2:45 Financing Options - Shermain Hardesty
2:45 – 3:00 Break
3:00 - 4:15 Specialty Food Producers Panel - Janet Brown, Allstar Organics and Dave Ehreth, Sonoma Brinery
4:15 - 4:30 Wrap-up
4:30 Adjourn

Register online
Download the workshop agenda

For more information, please contact Shermain Hardesty, (530) 752-0467 or shermain@primal.ucdavis.edu

This project is funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

From UC Davis News Service:

UC Davis experts are urging backyard chicken enthusiasts and commercial poultry owners to practice strong biosecurity measures to prevent contact with wild birds, due to highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza recently detected in migratory waterfowl in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Butte County, California.

The current detected strains, H5N2 and H5N8, are not a risk to human health and have not been found in commercial poultry in the United States. However, commercial poultry flocks in British Columbia and backyard flocks in Washington and Oregon have been affected.

Avian influenza -- commonly called "bird flu" -- is a disease found in a wide variety of domesticated and wild birds. Once introduced into an area, infection can spread through bird-to-bird contact or through contact with contaminated clothing, shoes, hands, feed, water or equipment. Because waterfowl are reservoirs for avian influenza strains that can be fatal to domestic poultry (yet often show little to no signs in waterfowl), backyard and commercial chickens raised near areas commonly used by migrating waterfowl are at risk of transmission.

"Due to normal waterfowl migration along the Pacific Flyway, during the winter there are approximately eight times the number of waterfowl in California than what we will see three months from now,"
said Maurice Pitesky, a poultry specialist with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. "There are lots of birds that winter and establish roosting and feeding habitat in California wetlands and agricultural crops. If you are a poultry owner -- either backyard or commercial -- and live in proximity to waterfowl and their habitat, your birds are at risk."

Owners of backyard chickens who observe illness or increased mortality in their birds should call their veterinarian or the California Department of Food Agriculture sick bird hotline at (866) 922-2473.

The California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System includes four diagnostic labs in Davis, Turlock, Tulare and San Bernardino. The labs encourage veterinarians and owners of backyard chickens to submit sick or recently dead birds for necropsy (postmortem) examination. The exam is free of charge for California backyard flock owners of fewer than 1,000 birds (chicken, turkey, waterfowl and squabs). For more information, contact (530) 752-8700 or visit UC Davis Veterinary Medicine.

Reduce the risk of bird flu

To reduce the risk of avian influenza transmission, chickens should be kept separate from wild birds and monitored for signs of illness or increased mortality. The CDFA also urges owners to take the following necessary and crucial precautions:

* If you have a pond or body of water that can attract waterfowl to or near your facility, consider draining if feasible.
* Provide housing to confine domestic poultry and/or enclose an exercise area with netting.
* Avoid use of water that comes from sources where waterfowl may congregate during migration.
* Ideally, owners of poultry should try to avoid waterfowl hunting during migration. Otherwise, ensure clothing, footwear, vehicles, etc. used during hunts are laundered and/or disinfected.
* Permit only essential workers and vehicles on premises and provide disposable coveralls, boots and head coverings for visitors.
* Clean and disinfect vehicles and equipment entering or leaving the premises.
* Control movement associated with the disposal of mortality, litter and manure.

Additional resources

Information on good biosecurity and hygiene precautions to keep backyard flocks healthy can be found at:

* UC Cooperative Extension: Backyard Poultry Resources
* USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
* California Department of Food and Agriculture Avian Health Program

Reports of dead, wild birds can be directed to the Wildlife Investigations Lab at (916) 358-2790. There is also a on-line application for submission.

Rains from early December in California, which some are describing as falling in "biblical" proportions, will bring welcome relief from the historic drought, reported the Olive Oil Times.

"The storm will partially replenish water supplies, but there is still a long way to go," commented Dan Flynn of the UC Davis Olive Center.

The lack of rainfall the last few years has left many olive farms with low soil moisture, stressing the trees, said Paul Vossen, UC Cooperative Extension Specialty Crops Farm Advisor for Sonoma and Marin counties.

"Part of that stress influenced the crop load, which was lower than normal, and it also advanced the ripening of fruit," Vossen said. "This autumn harvest was at least two to three weeks early and was finished by Thanksgiving."

The story said the California drought cut U.S. olive oil production by 25 percent.

“The rainfall we are receiving right now is welcome for refilling the soil profiles, so that the olive trees can start off next spring with good growth,” Vossen said. “It is also a relief to see enough rain to start to see a replenishment of our reservoirs, so that irrigation water will once again be plentiful for next summer's needs. Even though we may get some temporary flooding, all in all, this rainfall is a welcome thing.”