agriculture

After a federal grant was cancelled last year, Cal State Monterey Bay agriculture researchers will appear before a judge this week to appeal that decision. Plus, Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa has died at 65. He represented rural northeastern California.

President Trump announced a $12 billion bailout for farmers in response to the effects of his tariffs, but it leaves out most small-scale fruit and vegetable producers. Plus, a new cohousing community is coming to Santa Cruz.

The Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner’s office publishes its fourth report analyzing the region's $11 billion agriculture industry. And, California farmworker families and environmental groups are calling for stronger protections against a cancer-causing pesticide used on berry, grape and nut crops.

The 11th annual International Spinach Conference makes its return to the United States on the Cal State Monterey Bay campus. And, Governor Gavin Newsom warns funding for food assistance programs could soon run out due to the federal government shutdown.

Head Start programs will continue running in Santa Cruz County through the end of the month despite the government shutdown. And, a state bill was set to create the first farmland access program in California. Then it was vetoed.

En el Valle de Salinas, los agricultores locales se han visto afectados por la reciente pérdida de los programas federales que les abrían el acceso a mercados para comercializar sus productos.

The U.S. Supreme Court has made it easier for immigration agents to stop people based on their race. And, a Central Coast food distribution network aims to shorten the farm to fork supply chain and help area small farms.

More than 14,000 people on the Central Coast face contaminated drinking water from nitrates in agricultural fertilizers. The regional water quality control board is searching for alternative water solutions.

Activists concerned with the health consequences of pesticide use in the Pajaro Valley rallied around Omar Dieguez who is leading a monthlong hunger strike.

The Salinas Valley produces more than half of the country’s lettuce. But the fertilizer used to help grow it has contaminated many of Monterey County’s drinking water wells.