Mark your calendars! The Central Coast Greenhouse Growers Association, CCGGA, is hosting its 20th Annual Open House event on April 1st. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The following nurseries in the Arroyo Grande and Nipomo areas will be opening their doors to the public.

The latest atmospheric river storm to hit San Luis Obispo County brought several inches of rain to an already incredibly saturated Central Coast. Rocky Butte, a mountain area northeast of Cambria, got nearly a foot of rain from the drenching, while most other areas in the county saw at least 3 inches of rainfall between Thursday and Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Due to recent storms and subsequent damage, a local emergency has been declared in the city of Arroyo Grande. The City's Emergency Services Director and the City Manager issued a proclamation announcing the declaration via Twitter Saturday.

Author: County OES Date: 3/11/2023 12:21:56 PM The County of San Luis Obispo Office of Emergency Services has posted recovery information for the public on their RecoverSLO.org website for those in need of assistance following the recent storm.

Gov. Newsom on Friday requested a Presidential Emergency Declaration to authorize federal assistance supporting the state and local response to the severe storms impacting much of the state. This comes after the governor on Thursday proclaimed a state of emergency in 21 counties to support disaster response and relief efforts, following the state of emergency he proclaimed in an initial 13 counties earlier this month.

Californians who faced severe winter storms in December and January can file their state and federal taxes as late as Oct. 16 this year. For most Americans, taxes will still be due April 18 this year, but Gov. Gavin Newsom extended the deadline for nearly all of California's counties to bring the state in line with the federal government.

Smith: A new Memorandum of Understanding between the American Farm Bureau Federation, Case IH, and New Holland provides farmers and ranchers the right to repair their own farm equipment. Sam Kieffer, vice president of public policy for the American Farm Bureau, talks about how the agreement will benefit U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) - President Joe Biden on Monday told Americans the nation's financial systems were safe, seeking to project calm following the swift and stunning collapse of two banks that prompted fears of a broader upheaval. "Your deposits will be there when you need them," he said. U.S.

NEW YORK (AP) - It was called Silicon Valley Bank, but its collapse is causing shockwaves around the world. From winemakers in California to startups across the Atlantic Ocean, companies are scrambling to figure out how to manage their finances after their bank suddenly shut down Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $89 million across the country (PDF, 160 KB) to finance the startup and expansion of independent meat processors. USDA also announced initial steps the Department is taking to create a more competitive marketplace for seeds and other agricultural inputs.

Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux said at Commodity Classic that the $3.4 billion Congress provided for ag disaster relief in 2022 will only cover one-third of the need identified by USDA.

Ducheneaux said the department’s estimate was based on coverage USDA has been providing for earlier years under the Emergency Relief Program. To date, USDA has disbursed $7.4 billion in ERP payments for 2020 and 2021 losses.

The Californians for Safe Pesticide Policy coalition is working to ensure the state's "Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap" provides viable options for protecting crops By Scott Dahlman On Jan. 26, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation released its "Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap."

President Joe Biden proposed spending more than $24 billion both to fund natural disaster response efforts and to bolster environmental conservation as part of his 2024 budget. That is among other billions in government money that he wants Congress to allocate to environmental measures as California and neighboring states perennially reel from wildfires, flooding and other climate-related catastrophes.

"Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it" is an old quip attributed - probably erroneously - to Mark Twain. It could be legitimately applied to the California Environmental Quality Act, a 53-year-old law originally meant to prevent government agencies from ignoring the impacts of their public works projects but later expanded, mostly by judicial decisions, to private developments as well.

A moment of truth has arrived for Central Coast vegetable growers, who face the challenge of meeting fertilizer water quality regulations that will steadily grow stricter between now and 2051.

March 1 marked the beginning of the first year that growers in impacted areas will have to record and report fertilizer applications under rules approved in 2021 by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.

In honor of International Women's Day, March 8, the California Avocado Commission, which represents growers farming on about 50,000 acres in the state, is sharing profiles of some female avocado farmers to showcase the role of women in the industry. As with all farming, women have long been active in growing California avocados.

By Caitlin Fillmore Katie Reneker discovered the natural immune-boosting properties of elderberries in 2015, trading homemade syrups with her Carmel Valley neighbors who let her forage for the native plant. That inspired her to produce elderberries, as she looked to commercialize what has been largely a wild shrub hardly seen as a potential cash crop in California.

Thousands of undocumented farmworkers in California are reaching retirement age. But many need to continue working because they don't have access to retirement benefits such as Social Security. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A growing number of undocumented workers are reaching retirement age but can't afford to stop working because they won't be able to get payments from Social Security even if they've been paying into the fund.

A new law expanding rights for California farmworkers seeking to unionize went into effect in January, but it's already scheduled for some major revisions. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 2183 in September last year, which significantly changed the way the state's farmworkers can vote to unionize by allowing farmworkers to vote by mail or by signing union authorization cards.

Decades after Cesar Chavez made the union a power in California fields, it has lost much of its clout. Membership dropped precipitously, from 60,000 to 5,500. It hopes a new law will turn the tide. Veronica Mota, who has worked seasonal jobs for two decades, said that on farms without union contracts, bosses sometimes refused to let workers take breaks in 100-degree heat.

SACRAMENTO - Wildfires and severe drought are killing trees at an alarming rate across the West, and forests are struggling to recover as the planet warms. However, new research shows there are ways to improve forests' chances of recovery - by altering how wildfires burn.

Summer wildfires are reaching higher into the California mountains in recent years, and a new study finds the charred forests are having a dire effect on winter snowpacks long after the flames have been doused.

Since last year, the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has resulted in the killing of nearly 60 million farmed chickens and turkeys, and many epidemiologists and food industry figures believe vaccinating the birds could be the only way to quell the crisis.

Entry limits for small animals have changed - The California Mid-State Fair has announced a new online auction for small animals in 2023, including meat [...]

The deluge of winter storms battering California with exceptional amounts of snow and rain has made traveling difficult, if not impossible. The poor conditions have also left cattle "starving" and "snowed in," and with ranchers unable to get to them, officials have found a way to try and save them - "Operation Hay Drop."

A winery named after a beloved pet dog just opened its first tasting room in downtown Paso Robles after 10 years of online-only sales. Dracaena Wines opened the doors of its tasting room at 1244 Pine Street, Suite 101B, on Monday. The winery was started by Lori and Michael Budd, who live and work in Fresno and Paso Robles.

The short winegrape crop in 2022 could be a good thing for the industry overall. President of Allied Grape Growers, Jeff Bitter said that demand has someone leveled off in the past couple of years. Winegrape crush numbers were surprisingly low last year, largely due to environmental complications.

The wine industry is facing an unprecedented financial crisis amid the fallout of Silicon Valley Bank, the leading bank for California wineries. Silicon Valley Bank was closed Friday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation after a bank run by its venture capital customers.

Auction raises funds for high school scholarships - The Paso Robles Wine Country Virtual Auction is back, offering 23 unique and exclusive packages not typically [...]

As storms bring rain and snow to California, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to enable local water agencies and other water users to capture water from the latest round of storms to recharge state groundwater supplies. The order suspends regulations and restrictions on permitting and use to enable water agencies and water users to ...

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has issued decisions for groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) for a dozen critically overdrafted groundwater basins. DWR has now provided determinations for 24 of the 94 groundwater basins required to submit plans under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Additional plans from 59 high- and medium-priority basins are currently under review.

At the January meeting of the California Water Commission, Keali'i Bright, Assistant Director of the Department of Conservation's Division of Land Resources, gave a presentation on the Department's Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program. Mr. Bright began by acknowledging that the Department of Conservation is not an expert on water or habitat, but the Department does have...

As storms melt snowpack, managers released water to prevent reservoirs from overflowing and flooding Central Valley towns - and that sends water into the ocean. The warm rains melt snow that ideally would last into spring and help with water deliveries.

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Wet, miserable weather continued across huge swaths of California on Sunday as an atmospheric river that caused major flooding flowed eastward and makes way for another onslaught of rain and snow that could yet again pummel the beleaguered region as soon as Monday night.

The series of atmospheric river storms that have hit the Central Coast have pushed another San Luis Obispo County reservoir to full capacity - and it's spilling for the first time in about 18 years. Whale Rock Reservoir near Cayucos along San Luis Obispo County's northern coast has gained about 3.5 billion gallons since Jan.