- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The farm price roller coaster isn't often reflected in the cost of produce at the retail level, according to a column by Fresno County freelance writer Don Curlee. His article, based on research reported in the UC Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics Update newsletter, appeared in Capital Press yesterday.
While retailers are mostly unresponsive to farm price changes, they are more apt to respond to increases than decreases, Curlee noted, adding wryly, "Not...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A New York Times opinion piece invited four prominent economists to explain why they believe food prices are rising. The paper had reported that food prices spiked in April, even as oil and gas prices were down.
One of the experts, UC Davis Cooperative Extension agricultural economist Roberta Cook, made the point that food prices are rising because consumers have signaled they are willing to pay more to get what they want.
For example, consider the tomato. "A tomato is no longer a tomato is no longer a tomato," Cook wrote....
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
While there have been whispers of skepticism about the Great California Drought of 2009, all would likely agree that California's water woes are complicated. The Wall Street Journal today ran a story outlining the decision process for farmers considering whether they should use the water allocated to them to grow crops, or whether they should sell the water to the state and let their land lie fallow.
Writer Pete Sanders penciled out the equation for Don Bransford, who grows rice on a 700-acre farm north of Sacramento:
- The state is offering $275 per acre foot of water
- Take 100 acres of his farm out of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Sacramento Bee* reported bad news for California almond growers, but the director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, Dan Sumner, still had encouraging words for the industry.
According to the Bee story, written by Jim Downing, almond prices dropped more than 30 percent from August to December, the market for orchard real estate has gone cold, and the industry expects to be left with a 300 million pound surplus when the 2009 harvest begins in August.
Making matters still worse is a looming drought. West Side farmer John Diener told the reporter he plans to fallow 3,000 acres of land in order to concentrate what water he will have...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
One thing farmers apparently will not have to worry about during the upcoming growing season is a farm labor shortage. Slowdowns in the construction and food industries are turning many immigrant workers back to agriculture, according to a Los Angeles Times article published yesterday.
Reporter Jerry Hirsch wrote about a dramatic turnaround in what farmers considered a serious farmworker shortage three years ago. However, UC Davis agricultural economist Phil Martin offered the reporter a different view. He questioned whether the "shortage" was actually the result of a reluctance by farmers to raise...