- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Above average rainfall in February benefits strawberry crops in the Central Valley
(ABC 30) Reuben Contreras, Feb. 28
…Above average rainfall in February will help this year's harvest last through October.
"It looks like it is in full bloom right now and it looks like it is going to rain. So we need the water as much as we can right now," said Michael Yang, University of California Cooperative Extension.
He works with small farms and specialty crops in the Hmong community, including a strawberry field in Northeast Fresno near Willow and Behymer.
Yang said the rain will add to the groundwater supply most farmers use to grow their crops plus it will help make the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Strawberries in the central San Joaquin Valley are ripening about two weeks earlier than normal in 2015, reported Robert Rodriguez in the Fresno Bee. The story was localized and also used in the Merced Sun-Star and Modesto Bee.
Normally strawberry season starts in early April, but in the Fresno area Rodriguez found a dozen roadside stands already selling the springtime favorite.
Rodriguez spoke to Michael Yang, an agricultural...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Los Angeles Times ran a profile today of Fresno County farmer Pang Chang, an immigrant from Laos who grows mangoes, papayas, 20 varieties of guava and jujubes. The article said the secret to Chang's incongruous crops is his friendship with UC Cooperative Extension Hmong agricultural assistant Michael Yang.
Yang told reporter Diana Marcum he grew up helping his family raise vegetables — and hated...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
No matter how small the farm, the operator must have a workers' compensation policy and comply with other regulations - even if they are getting on-farm assistance only from family, said UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Richard Molinar in a press release picked up by GrowingProduce.com.
If farms are found to be out of compliance, they could be hit with substantial fines. Molinar provided the following example:
A refugee strawberry farmer who speaks very little English was fined $2,000 by Labor Standards Enforcement for not having workers’ compensation...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Yesterday, Fresno's ABC Action News ran a report on the effect of recent rain storms on strawberry production. The story featured Southeast Asian grower Nelson Yang, who expressed relief that the rain seems to have stopped before damaging his crop.
Reporter Dale Yurong also interviewed UC Cooperative Extension agricultural assistant
