PASO ROBLES, CA - The California 2011 vintage was riddled with pest and disease problems. But lessons can be learned from these challenges. Turning this difficult year into a learning opportunity will be the focus of the 2012 Central Coast VINE Symposium: "Learning from Adversity--a focus on vineyard pest and disease management." The third annual meeting will be held March 6-7, 2012 at The Paso Robles Event Center in Paso Robles, Calif.

"We can't predict the future but we can learn from the past," said VINE meeting director Lowell Zelinski. "Knowing how to prepare for pest and disease problems or deal with damage control after the fact is valuable, relevant information. Keeping VINE focused on hot topics and what's important is what has made the meeting successful."

Zelinski is a former University of California extension agent and has modeled the meeting after short courses and meetings he has produced in the past. Now in its third year, the Central Coast VINE Symposium is recognized a valuable resource for wine grape growers from all over the golden state. It's the only conference and tradeshow in California focused solely on wine grape production and the only one held on the Central Coast. Its mission is to provide growers, consultants and vineyard managers with production information to help them optimize yields, improve quality, decrease production costs and stay abreast of new technologies and techniques.

With projected 25-percent and 50-percent increases in U.S. and world populations, respectively, by 2050, substantial increases in freshwater use for food, fiber, and fuel production, as well as municipal and residential consumption, are inevitable.

This increased water use will not come without consequences, and as one of the largest users of water in the United States, agriculture will be impacted significantly by changes in water availability and cost. An abundant, reliable supply of water to meet demands cannot be taken for granted.

11/9/2009  by Stoel Rives LLP.

Say goodbye to water use as usual. On November 5, 2009, the California Legislature passed several landmark water bills characterized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as "the most comprehensive water infrastructure package … in the history of California." The five-bill package is the result of a herculean bipartisan effort that includes an $11.1 billion bond measure that requires voter approval to pay for a comprehensive infrastructure program. The major components of the five bills are:

Senate Bill X7 1: Delta Governance and Management.

This bill, which sets forth co-equal goals of providing a more reliable water supply and protecting the Delta ecosystem, creates mammoth changes to Delta governance in an effort to respond to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's water infrastructure and watershed crisis. While SB X7 1 does not authorize the construction of a canal through or around the Delta, often referred to as a peripheral canal, it does provide for the creation of a new seven-member governing council to oversee management of the Delta, which is authorized to approve or disapprove the controversial peripheral canal. More specifically, this bill:

Western Farm Press Daily

Feb 26, 2009 8:30 AM, By Aaron Kiess
Executive Director
California Alfalfa and Forage Association

There was a time when we wondered why anyone would write a letter to the editor. It seemed as though conspiracy theorists or people kidnapped by aliens from outer space had the best chance to be published in urban newspapers. Our all-time favorite letter to the editor got right to the point. The person who wrote it only needed two sentences: “I’ve never written a letter to the editor before. Now I feel better.”

From our experience it does make you feel somewhat better if you get your letter published. When this column was written we were waiting to see if our letter to the San Francisco Chronicle would be published. We were prompted to respond to yet another attack on alfalfa, and cotton, as well. It was, as you’ve probably guessed, the low value high-water use statement that continues to surface.

The letter writer had an easy solution for protecting Delta smelt; just eliminate the use of “subsidized irrigation water” for alfalfa and cotton. The water that would be saved would be allocated to the Delta. You can bet that the continuing drought will bring out more easy solutions and target alfalfa and other crops.