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More California farmers eligible for USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program funds
UC ANR experts available to comment
California farmers stand to benefit from the addition of more commodities now covered by the USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, say UC Agriculture and Natural Resources experts. Yesterday (Aug. 11) the U.S. Department of Agriculture expanded eligibility and extended the deadline to apply to Sept 11.
Farmers of aquaculture, nursery crops and flowers, sheep and specialty crops such as dates, dragon fruit, nectarines, pomegranates, pumpkins and many other specialty crops grown in California are now eligible for financial assistance to help keep their operations afloat during the business disruption caused by the pandemic.
Below are UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists who are available for comment:
Daniel Macon, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor serving Placer, Nevada, Sutter and Yuba counties, dmacon@ucanr.edu
“Including all sheep will be HUGE for California producers. Most California lambs are born in the fall and marketed in the late spring. The rest of the West has lambs born in the spring and marketed in the fall/winter/early spring. The original CFAP payments provided a maximum payout to lambs that would have been marketed earlier than most California lambs. And provided no payment for what we call running-age ewes (breeding animals).”
Jackson Gross, UC Cooperative Extension aquaculture specialist at UC Davis, jagross@ucdavis.edu
“This is a big distinction for our California freshwater fish producers. While it doesn't cover all of the diversity in California aquaculture, it does cover the majority of our industry as far as freshwater fish producers. A specialty crop distinction is important for our fish farmers, making them eligible for specialty crop funding and numerous other federal and state programs that were previously inaccessible.”
Cheryl Wilen, director of UC Cooperative Extension in San Diego County, cawilen@ucanr.edu
“It is my impression that ornamental nurseries will really have a good opportunity to recover money for unsold crops.”
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, UC Cooperative Extension small farms and specialty crops farm advisor for Fresno and Tulare counties, rdwillard@ucanr.edu
"The addition of crops such as bok choy, daikon, winter melon, and turmeric expands the program to include more of the specialty produce grown on small-scale Southeast Asian farms in the Central Valley. However, highly diversified farms may find it difficult to apply for small acreages of multiple crops, and with USDA offices operating remotely, additional technical assistance is needed to support farmers with the application process."
Ramiro Lobo, UC Cooperative Extension small farms and agricultural economics advisor in San Diego County, relobo@ucanr.edu
“The specific mention of minor crops can be significant for small-scale growers in the state, and Southern California in particular for growers of crops like dragon fruit, and other minor subtropicals because it legitimizes them as commercial crops.”
Aparna Gazula, UC Cooperative Extension small farms and specialty crops farm advisor for Santa Clara, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties, agazula@ucanr.edu
“It's great that the USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program has been expanded to include more minor crops. I hope the USDA offices have bilingual staff who can work with socially disadvantaged farmers with language barriers that often grow these crops.”
Aliasghar Montazar, UC Cooperative Extension irrigation and water management advisor in Imperial and Riverside counties, amontazar@ucanr.edu
“Maintaining date palms over the season is very labor oriented. During February to May, a lot of activities need to be conducted at a certain time. As you know, we had high pressure from the pandemic in the Coachella Valley during these months. It made labor less available, which created some challenges for growers.”
Mae Culumber, UC Cooperative Extension nut crop advisor in Fresno County, cmculumber@ucanr.edu
“Almonds, pistachios and walnuts commodities all suffered a price decline between mid-January and mid-April as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty to 50 percent of the previous season's crop is normally marketed during this time of the year. The CFAP program will provide financial relief for losses due to price decline and spoiled shipments that lost a marketing channel due to the pandemic. Commodity boards are working with the Farm Service Agency to assist producers in applying for the program.”
Torres Martinez Tribal Council helped distribute Farmers to Families produce boxes
During the month of June, families at the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe and nearby trailer parks in eastern Coachella Valley received free produce boxes weekly from the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
This program was created by USDA to give families in need access to fresh food during the coronavirus pandemic. From May 15 to June 30, USDA purchased agricultural products under Families First Coronavirus Response Act from suppliers who were impacted by closure of restaurants and other food service businesses for distribution to those in need.
The UC Agriculture and Natural Resources CalFresh Healthy Living Program at UC Cooperative Extension in Riverside County helped connect the Torres Martinez Tribal Council with Sunrise Produce Company, a supplier in Southern California that contracted with USDA.
About 400 22-pound produce boxes were delivered to the tribal headquarters every Friday in June. Vice chairman Joseph Mirelez of the Torres Martinez Tribal Council and his team organized the truckload delivery and distribution. CalFresh Healthy Living, UC nutrition educator Jackie Barahona provided indirect education by distributing recipe cards from Leah's Pantry and handouts with the "eating the rainbow" recommendation from the Plate Full of Color storybook produced by CDC Native Diabetes Wellness Program.
According to the American Community Survey (2014-2018), 28% of families in Thermal live below poverty level (shaperivco.org). In addition, 16.7% (14,647) of children in Coachella Valley live in households where their parents/guardians were often or sometimes concerned about their ability to buy food. (harcdata.org, 2019)
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UC conducts survey of COVID-19 prevention on farms
All California growers, ranchers, farm labor contractors and ag supervisors are invited to complete a short survey about their experiences addressing COVID-19? in the workplace. The survey is being conducted by the UC Davis Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety.
The survey ?is anonymous, should take less than 10 minutes ?to complete?, and is available in English and Spanish at https://bit.ly/agCOVIDsurvey.
“At the UC Davis Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, we are working to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with practical resources for growers, ag employers, and farmworkers,” said Heather E Riden, agricultural health and safety program director. “The goal of this survey is to understand what practices farms are implementing to prevent COVID-19, where they have seen success, and where there may be challenges. We will take this information to assess whether there are new resources, trainings, or information that we can provide.”
Respondents are given the opportunity to share their contact information at the end of the survey.
“We plan to share any findings as well as new materials with anyone who expresses interest,” Riden said. “We will also summarize the results and post them on the WCAHS website.”
For more information about the survey, contact aghealth@ucdavis.edu. ?
Visit https://aghealth.ucdavis.edu/covid19 for COVID-19 training resources and employer guidance. The center's COVID-19 website offers farmers many resources, including an employer checklist and tailgate training discussion guide.
LGBTQ+ community at higher risk for COVID-19 complications
The coronavirus crisis is revealing inequities in public health that arise out of social factors. Raising awareness among LGBTQ+ individuals about COVID-19 is one of 85 research projects selected for funding by the University of California to lessen the pandemic's impact.
"LGBTQ+ individuals are at increased risk for severe illness from a COVID-19 infection,” said Katherine Soule, UC Cooperative Extension youth, families and communities advisor, who is leading the project. “We are partnering with LGBTQ+ serving organizations, health care providers, government agencies and decisionmakers to develop an educational campaign. Our goal is to increase the quality of healthcare services for LGBTQ+ individuals.”
The team is working with community partners across the state to deliver the information through social media, online training and other means of information sharing.
One reason that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are vulnerable to more COVID-19 complications is that they are likely to postpone medical care due to fears of stigmatization. Also, LGBTQ+ individuals report poor quality healthcare and abuse in healthcare facilities, which may deter them from seeing a doctor. In addition, LGBTQ+ individuals are also hesitant to reveal or discuss their gender identity and/or sexual orientation, which can lead to inadequate treatment, care and access to essential services.
At the same time, LGBTQ+ individuals are at higher risk of having underlying chronic medical conditions, such as asthma, cancer or HIV. LGBTQ+ people over age 65 are also more likely to suffer from poverty, physical conditions and mental health conditions that put them at higher risk during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Consequentially, healthcare professionals and medical providers need to be prepared to effectively communicate with, engage with and treat LGBTQ+ individuals during this crisis,” Soule said.
Working with LGBTQ+ organizations and health care institutions, Soule and two student interns are leading an effort to develop a campaign to increase awareness among LGBTQ+ individuals of their heightened risk during the COVID-19 crisis. For healthcare providers, they are raising awareness of LGBTQ+ terminology and issues to improve their competency in treating LGBTQ+ patients.
Although statistics on the death toll and infection rates are tracked for race and ethnicity, they are not tracked for LGBTQ+. “The systemic decision to not track sexual orientation and gender identity is one of the reasons why this high-risk population is both more vulnerable and mostly invisible,” Soule said.
“Increasing awareness of these issues by healthcare providers, medical professionals, and community service organizations is vital during the COVID-19 crisis to support positive health outcomes of LGBTQ+ individuals," she said.
Her two student interns are 4-H Youth Development Program alumni: Danielle Pacheco, a Smittcamp honors student at California State University, Fresno, and Trent Baldwin, a Monterey County native majoring in community extension education at The Ohio State University.
“I am pursuing a career in medicine and feel strongly about addressing the needs that marginalized communities face in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis,” Pacheco said. “I am also passionate about LGBTQ+ issues as I am a member of that community. This project is a great way to support the community I love as well as being able to work on something I am passionate about.”
Baldwin said, “Through my time in the 4-H program, I developed a passion for LGBTQ+ youth development and extension work. I worked for a time with Ohio 4-H on their LGBTQ+ Youth Dialogue event. I'm excited to be involved and to get extension work experience in this topic!”
Related stories:
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Newly funded COVID-19 research aims to protect the most vulnerable
How has coronavirus pandemic impacted California food, agriculture and environment?
New report explores long-term effects of COVID-19 on state's cattle, dairy, produce, strawberry, tomato, nut and wine industries.
COVID-19 continues to affect parts of California agriculture in different ways. A new report from agricultural economists at the University of California examines the current and long-term impacts on California's leading agricultural industries.
Profiles in the report illustrate the different ways the pandemic has impacted dairy, beef and produce – industries that have scrambled to repurpose products from foodservice to retail – and tree nuts, an industry that saw a temporary spike in sales as consumers hoarded storable goods. The report includes expert assessments of what the future holds for California's cattle, dairy, produce, strawberry, tomato, tree nut and wine industries.
The studies are contained in a special coronavirus issue of ARE Update, a bimonthly magazine published by the University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics. Contributors include several experts from the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
In addition to industry profiles, the report includes three articles addressing the effect of the pandemic on farm labor, food security, and traffic and pollution in California. The authors conclude that farm labor supplies are likely to be reduced due to the pandemic, hastening the trend toward mechanization. Authors of the study on federal nutrition assistance programs expect participants in these programs to face unprecedented economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They suggest specific policy responses to reduce the impact. The study on vehicle traffic (and associated pollution) in California shows that travel dropped dramatically—by 40% to 60%—in California following the stay-at-home order, but then began increasing in mid-April, long before any restrictions on the stay-at-home order were lifted.
“Although the coronavirus pandemic continues to afflict most parts of the world, states and countries are attempting to reopen their economies and assess the damage that has been wrought,” said Richard Sexton, UC Davis distinguished professor and co-editor of ARE Update. “We look at the impacts on California agricultural industries and the implications for the environment and consumers, especially the most vulnerable among us.”
COVID-19 and farmworkers
No state relies upon agricultural labor more than California, where employment peaks seasonally in June. When stay-at-home orders were issued in March 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19, farmworkers were deemed essential and expected to continue working.
As California's farm employment climbs toward its June peak, sick farmworkers, closed schools and uncertainties surrounding the H-2A guest worker program could reduce the supply of farmworkers, accelerating trends already underway such as mechanization.
Full article can be found at https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/giannini_public/c8/0a/c80aa637-6775-4bfa-9a64-bd680cc2dbce/v23n5_2.pdf.
Nutrition assistance programs
Processing plant closures, consumer stockpiling of key staple foods and other supply chain disruptions have raised serious questions about food security in the U.S. Enrollments in CalFresh, for example, are up as much as 80% in California from last year at this time.
The authors address the role policymakers, food banks and food assistance programs like the National School Lunch Program and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) can play in meeting food-security challenges now and in the future.
Full article can be found at https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/giannini_public/75/3d/753dcb99-8d44-4bd9-a668-b277a45456eb/v23n5_3.pdf.
Traffic, travel and pollution
Near real-time data can give key insights into how the pandemic and economic shutdown have impacted behavior in California. Using Caltrans traffic sensor data and Apple data, economists show that travel in California dropped precipitously when the stay-at-home orders were issued—down 40% to 80%, depending on the data source—but the rate of decline varied considerably by regions within the state.
While the stay-at-home order did reduce travel, the report found that the shutdown had no effect on fine particulate concentrations, a key contributor to air pollution.
Full article can be found at https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/giannini_public/30/4c/304cd12d-bcae-4ebb-8f5c-288695030eca/v23n5_4.pdf.
To read ARE Update's Special Issue: Implications of the Coronavirus Pandemic on California Food, Agriculture, and the Environment, visit https://bit.ly/ARECOVID19impact or https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/giannini_public/d4/e0/d4e0d72d-648c-4a0e-9048-cef6d9f2ba77/v23n5.pdf.
Commodity profiles can be found at
Strawberry: https://s.giannini.ucop.edu/uploads/giannini_public/6a/03/6a0331aa-30fe-47d6-97e7-1d6d437ec6fc/v23n5_10.pdf
