PASO ROBLES - The day Paso Roblans have been waiting for finally came, the 92nd Annual Paso Robles Pioneer Day and Parade. Per tradition, beans started cooking at 7 a.m., with the parade floats making their way down Spring Street and through downtown.

Three candidates with different backgrounds are looking to win over voters in the race for Arroyo Grande Mayor. Caren Ray Russom has served as mayor since 2018. She is a Central Coast native who teaches world history as well as government and economics at Santa Maria High School.

After the June Primary, the San Luis Obispo County District 2 Supervisor race continues in November with a runoff. The original pool of four candidates is now down to just two. Bruce Gibson, the incumbent and the longest-sitting supervisor, is running for re-election against Bruce jones.

DANA POINT, Calif. (AP) - With California struggling through historic drought, the state's Coastal Commission on Thursday approved a desalination plant that could turn up to 5 million gallons of seawater a day into drinkable water. The commission voted 11-0 to approve the proposed Doheny Ocean Desalination Project in Dana Point, southeast of Los Angeles in Orange County.

California Department of Food and Agriculture Media Contacts: Steve Lyle (CDFA), 916-654-0462 , officeofpublicaffairs@cdfa.ca.gov Espaol SACRAMENTO, October 11, 2022 - The California Department of Food and Agricultures (CDFA) Office of Farm Equity announces that it is awarding $5 million in grants for projects throughout the state through the 2022 Beginning Farmer and Farmworker Training and Workforce Development Grant Program (BFFTP).

The farm bill is a critical tool for ensuring our nation's food supply remains secure. Funding for this comprehensive package, which could more accurately be called a food and farm bill, includes risk management tools for farmers, access to nutrition for low-income families, conservation programs and investments in agricultural research.

The American Farm Bureau Federation today released its priorities for what may be the most consequential legislation for agriculture in 2023 - renewal of the farm bill. The priorities were identified by a working group of Farm Bureau members and staff from across the country.

The American Farm Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers Council presented oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday. Micheal Clements shares more on the case that goes back to 2018. Clements: Farm Bureau and the National Pork Producers Council challenged California's Proposition 12 in the Supreme Court Tuesday.

PUBLISHED ON OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - When you think of farming, you might first think of fields of corn sprawled across the Midwest. But America's farmers grow many different types of fruits and vegetables, requiring a crop insurance program that is as diverse as the crops it protects.

RMA is offering virtual workshops on Oct. 11, Oct. 13, Nov. 15, and Dec. 13 for agricultural producers - especially important to specialty crop, organic, urban, and direct market producers- and stakeholders to learn about the latest updates and improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and the Micro Farm insurance options.

PUBLISHED ON WASHINGTON - Editor's note: The American Farm Bureau Federation, National Pork Producers Council, and National Cattlemen's Beef Association have issued statements concerning the U.S. Supreme Court case examining California's Proposition 12 law. For more information concerning this issue, click here.

Almost a quarter of farm operations are run by a principal operator who is under 55 years old. The principal operator is the person most responsible for making day-to-day decisions. In comparison, 63 percent of U.S. self-employed workers in nonagricultural industries are younger than 55, according to the U.S.

Recently passed Inflation Reduction legislation has funds earmarked for agriculture to combat greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and soil tillage. However, the Washington Policy Center's Initiative on Ag Director, Pam Lewison says producers already do a lot of the things they're calling for.

By Christine Souza California is preparing for a drier future. Climate impacts affecting the state, such as drought, a shrinking snowpack, higher temperatures and wildfires, were central to a discussion last week by California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross and members of the state board of food and agriculture.

PUBLISHED ON SACRAMENTO - The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) today announced that it has awarded $37.65 million in grant funding to 41 methane reduction projects across the state.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Five California tribes will reclaim their right to manage coastal land significant to their history under a first-in-the-nation program backed with $3.6 million in state money. The tribes will rely on their traditional knowledge to protect more than 200 miles of coastline in the state, as climate change and human activity have impacted the vast area.

Certification makes fresh produce available to more people - It's estimated that 1 in 4 Californians - roughly 10 million people - struggle with food [...]

There has long been a rally cry for alternatives to chemical fumigants in soil. Some voices are louder than others. "This is a philosophical thing, and it may be controversial, but I'm going to say it anyway," Steve Fennimore, an Extension Specialist with the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), says.

Americans eat over five pounds of strawberries a year, and to keep up with the massive demand, large-scale productions are needed year-round but sometimes weather extremes can play havoc with availability. California is the country's leading producer of strawberries, ...

As we previewed previously, a number of hot-button legislative proposals made it to Governor Newsom's desk this year - many of which would change the landscape for California employers. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, this year has been a "return to normal" year for California lawmakers, which means a return to aggressive legislation establishing and expanding workplace protections for employees.

The H-2A visa is America's most popular temporary worker program. It allows farms to hire temporary or seasonal agricultural laborers if there aren't enough qualified or willing U.S. Americans to fill the post. 

Beginning with the Bracero Program in 1942, the United States has a long history of hiring foreign workers, usually from Mexico, for agricultural work....

Grant recipients have been announced as part of an effort to support the U.S. food system. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping to cover certain pandemic-related health and safety costs for farmworkers, meatpacking workers, and grocery store workers. A total of $670 million is being distributed through the Farm and Food Workers Relief Grant Program (FFWR).

PG&E is sending helicopters to survey several cities and communities along the Central Coast to look out for fire risks. In a project that started on Thursday, helicopter patrols are scheduled over Morro Bay, Templeton, Cayucos, Atascadero, San Miguel, San Luis Obispo, Oceano, Arroyo Grande, Nipomo, Sisquoc and Santa Maria.

Cal Fire conducted a large, pre-planned fire near Lake Nacimiento on Thursday to control what they called "hazardous vegetation" in the area, according to a news release by the agency. The burn began at around 10 a.m. Thursday, according to the release, and a video posted on Twitter and Facebook shortly after showed firefighters spraying a stream of flames into brush.

Firefighters from CAL FIRE are conducting a prescribed 400-acre burning of hazardous vegetation in the Running Deer area along Gage Irving Road West/Southwest of Lake Nacimiento. The burning began at 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 13 and smoke was visible from the surrounding communities for the duration of the burn.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) denounced Google's decision to bias consumers against beef through their new sustainability search feature that provides inaccurate climate information o...

Despite a troublesome past couple of years for the cattle industry across the nation, one economist says producers can expect better days ahead. Lance Zimmermann, beef industry research analyst with Rabobank, says going through the pandemic period of 2020, 2021 and even early 2022...

MADERA, Calif. - After a two-year COVID-induced pause, 4-H animal judging returned this year, and if the state program coordinator has anything to say about it, the program will be bigger and better than ever next year. Laurie L. Fringer, the 4-H community education specialist for U.C.

Both vintages conceived and crafted by farmer-winemaker Eric Jensen of Booker Vineyard - My Favorite Neighbor this week introduced the latest vintages of its flagship [...]

Paso Robles has successfully transformed itself into a major wine hub over the last few decades, but the future of that status is uncertain. Housing, labor and environmental issues are threatening the foundations of the industry both now and in the future.

Winegrape harvest is winding down with most of this vintage in the hands of the winemakers now. It was a compressed season, thanks in part to early, unseasonably hot weather, followed by tropical rain over much of the Central Coast. I don't recall ever being finished picking this early.

MoneyWatch Water is California's most precious commodity these days, as the state endures a that scientists are calling the worst in 1,200 years. State officials say more than 1,200 wells have run dry this year, a nearly 50% increase over the same period last year.

Oct 13 (Reuters) - California regulators unanimously approved a $140 million desalination plant on Thursday, offering a guideline for how the state can convert ocean water into drinking water amid the worst drought in 1,200 years. Just five months ago, the same Coastal Commission had unanimously rejected a much larger and privately owned plant, citing environmental concerns.

The Supreme Court will take up a landmark dispute Monday that could shape the scope of the Clean Water Act for decades to come, affecting the fate of wetlands that have an outsize effect on emissions and climate change. The nation's highest court will kick off its new term with oral arguments in Sackett v.

Changes made to Salinas River flood maps in Paso Robles, San Miguel - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has proposed changes to the Flood [...]

The California Coastal Commission today green-lit a $140 million desalination plant in south Orange County's Dana Point, a pivot from its unanimous rejection in May of another controversial desalination project in the county. The decision indicates that state regulators see a place for new seawater desalination plants in California to bolster water supplies, particularly for coastal areas with few water sources of their own.