Posts Tagged: small farms

New food safety law could hurt small farmers

A behind-the-scenes battle is raging in the Senate over how to regulate small and organic growers without ruining them - and still protect consumers from contaminated food, according to a story published yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The crux of the legislation gives the Food and Drug Administration greater authority to regulate how products are grown, stored, transported, inspected, traced from farm to table and recalled when needed.

Small-scale producers may face compliance with tough laws.

Upscale magazine celebrates Hmong cuisine

A brief article in this month's issue of San Joaquin Magazine gave readers a glimpse of one of the more unusual research plantings at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center by UC Cooperative Extension small farm advisor Richard Molinar and his assistant Michael Yang.

The publication, which the title page claims "is found in affluent homes of Stockton, Lodi, Tracy, Ripon, Manteca, and Mountain House," said "evocatively-named" herbs Siberian motherwort, Vietnamese coriander, Black nightshade and Jewels of Opar and others are grown in the UC "garden" to celebrate Hmong culture.

"We want to enlighten people about these herbs," Molinar was quoted in the story.

Yang, an immigrant from Laos, explained that the preparation of chicken soup has a special significance in Hmong kitchens.

"We prepare a bundle of at least five different herbs, usually including such herbs as koj liab and pawj quaib, and simmer in chicken soup stock. It is a common practicie for Hmong women to drink this soup for the first month after they give birth," Yang was quoted.

San Joaquin Magazine.

UC ag research seasons Hmong cooking feature

A plot of Southeast Asian medicinal and culinary herbs at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center made an appearance in a Fresno Bee food story published yesterday.

The article centered on "Cooking from the Heart: The Hmong Kitchen in America," a cookbook for Americans who wish to try the exotic cuisine introduced by Hmong immigrants. A large population of Hmong settled in the San Joaquin Valley after the Vietnam War. The Hmong collaborated with the CIA during the conflict and were promised protection in the event of a loss. They were ultimately relocated to enclaves in California, Minnesota and other areas.

Writer Joan Obra says some of the recipes in the new cookbook evolved from Southeast Asian traditions and others as Hmong families assimilated to American life.

The plot at Kearney, she noted, is the collaborative effort of UC Small Farm Program advisor Richard Molinar, based in Fresno, and his Hmong-descended research assistant Michael Yang.

Obra says the Hmong garden, which she recently toured, may be the only such research collection in the United States.

In fact, "(The plants) are not really common on California farms," the article quotes Molinar.

Michael Yang, left, and Richard Molinar, center, talk to a Southeast Asian farmer.

Small-scale dairy producer's chores punctuated with worry

There are perhaps no farmers who work harder than small-scale dairy operators. Consider that the cows must be milked twice a day, seven days a week, year-round - no matter the weather, illnesses, holidays or special occasions.

Add to that the dismal economics of milk production, and you have a recipe for dispair.

Those are the feelings of Marc Duivenvoorden, who was recently profiled in the Redding Record-Searchlight. He owns a dairy on the border of Tehama and Shasta counties with 25 producing Jersey and Holstein cows.

Processors are required to pay farmers for milk using formulas set by state regulators and based off commodity prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. California processors are currently buying milk for $11 to $15 per hundredweight. With feed and overhead costs, Duivenvoorden spends at least $18 to produce a hundredweight, the story said.

Reporter Ryan Sabalow wrote in his article about the additional burden of managing dairy waste. He wrote that UC Cooperative Extension informed him that dairy farmers are required to have a waste-management plan to control dry manure and wastewater, and must complete an annual plan to safely contain nitrate- and ammonia-rich dairy waste byproducts.

Meanwhile, one of the UC programs that supports small scale farmers - the Small Farm Program - is slated for closure on Dec. 31. Over the weekend, the former director of the program, Desmond Jolly, wrote an essay for the Davis Enterprise suggesting that the decision is ill-advised.

The article, which is only available online to Enterprise subscribers, said the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources "took a giant step backwards" with the decision.

In a letter distributed Oct. 22, UC ANR vice president Dan Dooley noted that all advisors and specialists affiliated with the program have retained their positions and are "expected to continue their excellent work." Coordination of program functions will continue through workgroups, continuing conferences, and collaborations among individual advisors, specialists and faculty on research and outreach contracts and grants.

Fresno Bee writer laments the Small Farm Program's fate

Fresno Bee food writer Joan Obra devoted her column this week to the impending closure of the UC Small Farm Program, a move being taken by UC ANR to meet budget constraints. Though Obra often writes about restaurants and recipes, she delved into agricultural topics long before it became fashionable in the genre. Because of her interest in agriculture and local food systems, the San Joaquin Valley's UC Small Farm Program advisors have made frequent appearances on the Fresno Bee food page.

In her column, Obra said the program's closure has UC's small farm advisors "scrambling for dollars to continue their research."

Obra spoke to UCCE small farm advisors Manual Jimenez of Tulare County and Richard Molinar of Fresno County and Small Farm Program director Shermain Hardesty, based at UC Davis.

All the academics will keep their jobs and continue to work with small-scale farmers, but Jimenez said he had to lay off a technician, and can't pay for plastic to protect his guavas this winter.

"If I don't get the plastic, they freeze and die," he was quoted.

Molinar said the program typically provides $10,000-$15,000 of his costs each year and he will scale back his work without the funding. He said it may be more difficult winning grants without the prestige of the Small Farm Program attached.

Hardesty told Obra UC ANR will achieve one-time savings of $268,000 and $140,000 in annual costs by closing the program.

The Small Farm Program isn't the only statewide program slated for closure. On Oct. 2, ANR vice president Dan Dooley announced that the Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program, the Center for Water Resources and California Communities Program will also be closing.

In a letter distributed today, Dooley said:

"Closing statewide program structures has reduced administrative costs, and is driving a restructuring of support functions to take full advantage of improved business processes, streamlined workflow, and UC-wide efforts to improve efficiency, leverage technology and to share common solutions. We can neither afford nor justify individual staff for each program area when those functions can be more efficiently handled. This is not a criticism of the hard work and capabilities of our staff, but essential and strategic restructuring for our future."

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