Posts Tagged: Olives

Olive growers don't appreciate U.S. support of Morrocon farmers

To ease poverty and stimulate economic growth, the U.S. government has pledged $301 million to help Morrocon farmers rehabilitate existing olive trees and expand olive, almond and fig production. However, San Joaquin farmers say the move undercuts the struggling local industry, according to an article in the Porterville Recorder.

“It’s ludicrous,” said farmer Rod Burkett. “We’re a small industry. We have less than 24,000 acres (of olive trees) in the state. [Morocco] has more than 1 million acres. That gives them a real advantage. Now [the U.S. government] is taking my tax money and giving it to those people so they can make their trees more productive.”

Recorder staff writer Alex Schultz used UC Cooperative Extension figures to illustrate the hardships California olive growers are facing this year. Production is so low - down 86 percent from last year - that harvesting any fruit may not be worth it. Meanwhile, it costs $1,400 each season to maintain an acre of olive trees.

olives

Kearney trial could reveal the next great white wine

San Francisco Chronicle wine columnist Jon Bonné wrote about the prospects for another variety of white wine to rise in popularity, perhaps to the level of such well known wines as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Reisling. In the article, Bonné referenced a new trial at UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, where 55 varieties are under study, from Trebbiano to Petit Manseng. The study was designed to determine what might best match the San Joaquin Valley's hot climes. Project leader UC Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist Jim Wolpert was intrigued by grapes from warm spots like Sicily, where Grillo and Carricante thrived in the heat. At the same time, he saw a flood of new varieties being made available by Davis' Foundation Plant Services, yet little interest from nurseries. An experiment was born. "I think there's a treasure trove of varieties there," Wolpert said. "All we need to find is a couple."

Proposed Green Tech High School Academy draws critics
Jennifer Bonnett, Lodi News Sentinel

Lodi Unified School District has proposed developing a Green Tech High School Academy, the first of its kind in California. The district has already spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars laying the groundwork for a new school that some trustees say they can’t support. Parent Paul Verdegaal called it the wrong idea at the wrong time. “It appears that LUSD is once again chasing pipe dreams at great cost in money and opportunities for students to actually learn, especially with reduced budgets," he said. The article noted that Verdegaal is a farm adviser for the University of California Cooperative Extension in San Joaquin County. Verdegaal said he sees students who don’t understand science or math, key subjects in creating sustainable practices.

This year's olive harvest is the pits
Martin Espinoza, The Press Democrat

Sonoma County olive growers are bracing for a disastrous harvest, one that could wipe out the supply of fresh local olive oil. Paul Vossen, a farm advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension, said that in an average low-yield year olive orchards produce 50 to 60 percent less. “We have some places where they have almost nothing,” he said.

Young Family Ranch is a UCCE teaching ground

Thanks to the generous spirit of late brothers Allen and Robert Young, the 3-acre Young Family Ranch in Weaverville is the setting for community workshops on soils, gardening, food preservation and more, reported Laura Christman in the Redding Record Searchlight. The farmhouse basement has been turned into a community classroom. Carol Fall, program specialist with Trinity County UC Cooperative Extension, has office space in the basement. Upstairs, two bedrooms are offices for the extension's nutrition staff. Being at the ranch allows the UC experts to tap into the gardens and orchard for workshops and classes. "We really use this as a teaching facility," Fall said.

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Modesto olive oil producer celebrates its 75th anniversary
John Holland, Modesto Bee

Nick Sciabica & Sons, in business for 75 years, is the state's oldest, and one of its leading, olive oil producers. Dan Flynn, executive director of the Olive Center at the University of California at Davis, told the Modesto Bee that California companies produced about 1.2 million gallons from the last crop but could soon reach 5 million. The Modesto company is a key part of this. "A lot of people have a high regard for the Sciabica family and all they have done in the industry," Flynn said.

Weather takes olive crop 'from bad to worse'
Tim Heardon, Capitol Press

California olive growers were expecting a lighter crop this season after last year's record yields, but not this light. This year's olive crop estimate is 65,000 tons -- a 67 percent drop from last year's record 195,000 tons, according to a probability survey from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Adverse weather during the bloom affected the crop as orchards were already stressed from last year's heavy load. In Northern California, an early-winter frost affected many orchards, said UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Rick Buchner.

A scene at the Young Family Ranch.

USDA's new olive oil standards take effect Monday

The USDA's new voluntary guidelines defining "extra virgin" olive oil go into effect Monday, but many of California's producers are already following even stricter regulations set down by the California Olive Oil Council, according to an article in the Ventura County Star.

USDA's guidelines allow for no defects and no more than 0.8 percent free oelic acid in olive oil labeled "extra virgin;" COOC requires no defects and no more than 0.5 percent free oleic acid.

The new guidelines come on the heels of a UC Davis Olive Center study finding that of 52 bottles of 19 brands of extra virgin olive oils sampled, 32 failed to make the extra virgin cut as described in the new guidelines. The study focused on imported brands, but included two samples each of five California brands. Of the 10 California samples, one failed the extra virgin test.

Even though they are voluntary and there is uncertainty over how or even whether they will be enforced, executive director of the UC Davis Olive Center Dan Flynn welcomes the new national guidelines.

“This is an important first step, because the current guidelines date back to 1948 and are irrelevant to the way olive oil is marketed today," Flynn was quoted in the story. "Instead of ‘virgin’ and ‘extra virgin,’ they use terms like ‘Grade A Fancy,’ as though you were talking about cans of fruit cocktail. It’s a consumer-protection issue."

Olive oil.

Olive Oil Times touts UC Davis Olive Center

An industry blog on the website Olive Oil Times devoted a lengthy post to the UC Davis Olive Center this week. The center, established two years ago, is part of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

In the post, writer Sophia Markoulakis noted that acreage of California olive trees for oil has increased from 6,000 in 2004 to 22,000 in 2009.

"And with California producing 99 percent of the nation’s olive oil, the UC Davis Olive Center is ground zero for ongoing olive industry research and outreach," Markoulakis wrote.

The post included comments from the center's executive director Dan Flynn, who told the writer he is pleased with consumers’ growing enthusiasm for olive oil and growers' dedication.

“Being out there with those in the industry to find out their needs and how the university can help better serve them is a unique position that the Olive Center is in," Flynn was quoted. "We are the conduit between the university and the industry."

In the future, Flynn plans to develop a collaboration between table olive and oil olive growers.

“Up until now they have operated separately and I think they realize that they have to work together. They are both facing overseas competition”, the post quoted Flynn.

Dan Flynn

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