WASHINGTON, DC – The nation's organic farms and ranches have higher average sales and higher average production expenses than U.S. farms overall, according to results of the 2008 Organic Production Survey released this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture' s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

"This was USDA's first wide-scale survey of organic producers, and it was undertaken in direct response to the growing interest in organics among consumers, farmers, businesses, policymakers and others," said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. "The information being released today will be an important building block for future program and policy development. "

The survey counted 14,540 U.S. farms and ranches that were either USDA certified organic or were exempt from certification because their sales totaled less than $5,000.

These operations comprised 4.1 million acres of land, of which 1.6 million acres were harvested cropland and 1.8 million acres were pasture or rangeland.

While there were organic farms or ranches in all 50 states, nearly 20 percent of the operations were in California.

California also led the nation in organic sales, with $1.15 billion – or 36 percent of all U.S. sales. Nationwide, 2008 organic sales totaled $3.16 billion, including $1.94 billion in crops sales and $1.22 billion in sales of livestock, poultry and their products.

The nation's certified and exempt organic farms had average sales and production expenses that were higher than those of U.S. farms overall.

Organic operations had an average of $217,675 in sales, compared with $134,807 for all farms as reported in the 2007 Census of Agriculture. Production expenditures averaged $171,978 per organic farm, compared with the nationwide average of $109,359 for all farms.

Most U.S. organic producers sold their products locally, with 44 percent of sales taking place less than 100 miles from the farm. Nearly 83 percent of organic sales were to wholesale channels, including processors, millers and packers.

Just over 10 percent of sales were direct to retail operations, including supermarkets. Only 7 percent of sales were direct to consumers, via farm stands, farmers' markets, community supported agriculture and other arrangements.

Survey respondents indicated that they face various challenges, including regulatory, production, management and marketing issues.

Despite these challenges, more than 78 percent indicated that they plan to maintain or increase their organic production over the next five years.

Complete results of the 2008 Organic Production Survey are available at http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/Organics/ .

LOS ANGELES – Farmers Insurance Group of Companies has made a $25,000 contribution to the American Red Cross to help aid relief efforts in Haiti, where a devastating earthquake killed more than 100,000 people and left the country in shambles.

This is the first donation with more contributions planned as the need continues.

“Farmers is proud to support the American Red Cross,” said Bob Woudstra, Chief Executive Officer of Farmers Insurance Group Inc. “The American Red Cross rushes immediately to where the need is greatest and we greatly admire and respect the world-wide work this fine organization does for so many people.”

In addition to the $25,000 dollar immediate donation, Farmers held a countrywide “blue jean” day on Jan. 22 when Farmers employees wore blue jeans to work in exchange for a monetary donation to be given to the American Red Cross to further support relief efforts in Haiti.

“This earthquake may have happened half a world away from us, but as a California based company we know all too well the devastation and fear that comes with a large scale earthquake, and our hearts go out to the nation of Haiti,” said Woudstra.

“Farmers Insurance and their agents are always there to support people in their times of great need” said Paul Schulz, CEO of the Los Angeles Red Cross. “With their generous support of the Haitian recovery it is clear their mission of recovery extends across national boundaries. Farmers’ pledge of support is most appreciated and needed at this early stage in this disaster.”

For more information about Farmers, visit our Web site at www.farmers.com .

SACRAMENTO – California’s specialty crop farmers can benefit from an export training program designed to assist companies expand sales overseas.

The California Agricultural Export Training Program, facilitated by the California Centers for International Trade Development, will hold six training sessions over the course of three months beginning in March 2010.

Classes will be held in Fresno, Sacramento and San Luis Obispo.

“Exports are a vital component of our farm economy,” said Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura. “With more than $10 billion in exports, California’s international markets support jobs, farm families and rural communities.”

The California Export Training Program is funded by the 2009 California Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops.

The training program benefits producers, processors and markets of California grown specialty crop products and processed foods.

The six training sessions cover of variety of topics including: international marketing; logistics and documentation, negotiation and cultural aspects; financing; and foreign regulations.

The program is designed for new-to-export companies.

Further information, including online registration, about the training program can be found at www.fresnocitd.org or by contacting Frank Nunez, California Centers for International Trade Development at 888-638-7888.

A single European grapevine moth – whose scientific name is Lobesia botrana – was detected in the Oakville region of Napa County, along with larvae, according to an October report from Napa County Agricultural Commissioner Dave Whitmer.

Whitmer said it was the first known detection of the moth in the United States.

The moth also is found in Europe, the Mediterranean, southern Russian, Japan, the Middle East, Near East and northern and western Africa, officials reported.

Since its initial discovery, numerous moths have been found not just in Oakville but the Coombsville region of Napa County, according to the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner's Office.

Napa County agriculture officials are working with the US Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture to trap and survey in the Oakville area in an attempt to locate any additional European grapevine moths.

In addition, regulatory and quarantine actions are under review for Napa County, officials reported.

Lake County Agricultural Commissioner Steve Hajik said his department is monitoring the situation.

The Lake County Agriculture Department will hold a meeting from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at the Finley Grange, 1510 Big Valley Road, to discuss its response and detection plan for the moth.

Biologist Dr. Lucia Varela of University of California, Davis, a noted expert on grape pests and North Coast integrated pest management advisor, and CDFA representatives will be in attendance at the Feb. 26 meeting to discuss and review pesticide controls for the European grapevine moth.

Studies of the European grapevine moth internationally show that larve feed primarily on the flowers and fruit of the grape; however, they also will feed on a number of other hosts including olives, blackberries, cherries, nectarines, persimmons and pomegranates.

Hajik reported that his department has applied for continuing education hours for the Feb. 26 meeting, but those credits have not yet been confirmed.

The Lake County Agriculture Department urges local commerical growers and wineries, as well as home winemakers, to attend the meeting.

For more information contact the department at telephone 707-263-0217.

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The workshop will begin at 1 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m.

Cost for attendance is $20 for commission members and $25 for all others. Reservations are required. To make a reservation or inquire about the workshop, call the Commission office at 707-995-3421.

Lake County microclimates, weather forecasts, and air quality requirements will be the topics covered by three workshop speakers, according to the Commission’s executive director, Shannon Gunier.

Microclimates and their effects on growing high quality winegrapes will be discussed by Rick Snyder, a biometeorologist with the University of California, Davis.

Weather forecasting tools provided to Lake County crop growers will be demonstrated and explained by Don Schukraft, chief executive officer and consulting meteorologist for Western Weather Group, the company that tracks and posts useful weather data on the Commission’s website.

The winegrape commission is a primary funding source for Western Weather Group’s weather stations and services. The County Ag Department’s Fruit Frost Trust and donations from American Ag Credit are sources of additional funding for the work done by Western Weather Group.

Workshop attendees will learn from County of Lake Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart about air quality requirements that impact the agriculture community.

Internet access via WiFi is available in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, according to Gunier. Workshop attendees are invited to bring their own laptops to follow along with the discussions, especially the Internet data to be presented by Schukraft.

Additional information about the Lake County Winegrape Commission and its events can be obtained by calling the Commission office, 707-995-3421, or visiting the Commission’s Web site, www.lakecountywinegrape.org .

The county's GE Crops Advisory Committee offered the final proposal. Committee members said that an estimated 40 meetings and hundreds of hours of discussion yielded their final proposal, which they said represented a middle ground approach despite the fact that they had at least begun their work with polarized stances.

The nine-paragraph document proposed registration of GE crops, which would be overseen by a five-member committee including at least three growers, plus one person with scientific training in an agricultural or plant science discipline and a University of California farm advisor to assist the group.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously suggested using the proposal for the basis of an ordinance, with some changes, including dropping a paragraph that gave a five-year time frame to reexamine the process and directing county staff to come up with estimates on what the registration proposal would cost the county.

The GE Crops Advisory Committee began meeting in January 2009, and late last year came back close to having a proposal but lacking the needed consensus, which for their purposes was unanimous.

The Board of Supervisors later agreed to reduce the committee number down to seven, and that “phase two” group was selected in December and came back with the proposal.

Committee member Andre Ross presented the proposal in the absence of Mark Hooper, a committee alternate who has helped facilitate meetings.

Ross said the document created a framework for another, future committee that would monitor GE crop registration with the assistance of the agricultural commissioner. They also suggested a “reasonable enforcement mechanism” to ensure compliance with the rules.

During public comment, Lower Lake resident Victoria Brandon said the committee approached the proposal “from a very polarized standpoint,” and initially many of the committee's members made speeches at each other.

She said they were able to come to the middle and produce a set of recommendations to meet local needs in regard to GE crops, an issue that she said concerns many community members.

Brandon said the committee members agreed that, going forward, the committee that will monitor registration should have the highest level of transparency, and she urged the board to keep the group's Web page for that purpose and to notice its activities in the press.

The committee, according to Brandon, spent a lot of time discussing a dual registration system in which growers could use either the agricultural commissioner or the California Crop Improvement Association. The latter was suggested because of the concern that there wouldn't be sufficient privacy through the agricultural commissioner.

The committee couldn't agree on standards for buffer zones, which were proposed to be based eitehr on a range that allowed for a de minimus gene flow level of 0.1 percent for seed crops, 0.5 percent for food crops and 0.9 percent for animal feed and native plants, versus a nondetectable level. The proposal was meant to give a higher protection to seed crops, which depend on purity, Brandon said.

None of the members of the committee that offered the proposal were intending for their group to be extended, said Brandon. “This was not part of the deal.”

They had fulfilled their mandate and wanted to be officially dissolved so they could have a potluck, Brandon said.

Lower Lake resident Charles Hossom said there have been no risks identified and no health risks documented because of GE crops, and he suggested the proposal's impacts on property rights needed to be weighed carefully. He also was concerned that if the county's rules were stricter than those of the state or federal government, legal issues could arise.

Chuck March, executive director of the Lake County Farm Bureau, said that the group has been opposed to any regulation on GE crops for the past six years.

“We still believe strongly that these crops are legal, safe and authorized for use by various agencies of the federal government,” he said, reading from a Farm Bureau statement. “They are an important tool and the choice to utilize this technology should be available to agriculture producers in Lake County.”

The Farm Bureau requested that the board support a concept included in a letter from Hooper on Jan. 28, which outlined the positive uses of GE technology, March said. Last November, the Farm Bureau's local board voted to support a proposed registration process as presented to the board in December.

March outlined some of the group's concerns, including confidentiality, which they felt was offered by third party registration. They also supported having a five-member registration committee.

Finley organic farmer Phil Murphy said many people believed that, with the new president, there would be changes in how agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Agriculture would be run, but he said they're seeing a continuation of the impact of corporate interests.

“The bottom line is, if anything's going to be done to protect the property rights of people in this county from unwanted contamination, it's going to have to be done here,” he said.

With the state and federal government unlikely to get involved, “It's basically up to you folks to do this job,” Murphy said.

He said he had some small reservations, and suggested going with the lower level of possible contamination. He also was wary of terminology that was too vague regarding the member of the monitoring committee that should have “scientific training.”

Beyond that, he said, he found it a good example of how people with different viewpoints can sit down and work out their issues and address each others' concerns. “I think it's a good example of democracy in action.”

Board members discussed paragraph nine of the proposal, which stated, “No less than five (5) years from the date of establishment, this regulation process may be re-visited by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.”

The supervisors didn't find a reason to have the clause, which they later agreed to remove.

Supervisors Rob Brown also raised issues about the document's paragraph six, which said that the registration process' overhead costs will be borne by the county. In light of a discussion at the board meeting earlier in the day about the prospect of having staff layoffs, Brown wanted to know how much money it would cost.

Board Chair Anthony Farrington said they could have staff determine that so it didn't become an unfunded mandate.

Michelle Scully, another committee member, said the effort was a labor of love for those involved.

“We wrestled with something really weighty, and that's really emotional for a lot of people,” said Scully, who said he was “hugely pro-farmer,” meaning she supported family farmers, not corporate farmers.

Scully represented conventional farming on the committee, and said its members came to the table in good faith, and sat through some occasionally ugly times.

Ross, a relative newcomer to Lake County, said he shared Scully's pro-farmer attitude. He said that there are many conflicting messages about GE crops, from the promises farmers receive about them to the messages consumers get about potential health risks. He said the committee did its best to come from both perspectives and meet in the middle.

Because of the fast changes in technology, Ross suggested the registration process should be appraised within two to three years, not five.

Agricultural Commissioner Steve Hajik said he wanted guidance from the board on how to apply the rules.

Specifically, he said he read the regulations to mean that if a GE crop already was being grown in an area, nearby organic growers can't complaint and, on the other hand, if an organic grower already is in operation, a GE crop can't be grown within the buffer zone. That's based on the “first in time, first in right approach,” which committee member Broc Zoller later said is part of California seed law.

Community member Cedar Moss didn't understand the need for privacy, which board members said came out of concerns for vandalism and property damage.

Moss said they should take the chance to ban GE crops. Once the cows are out of the barn, it's hard to get them back in, she said. “You have a situation where they're not out yet.”

Zoller told the board that if they look at accepting nondetectable gene flow levels, “you're talking about a ban.”

Supervisor Denise Rushing said she's sure there is something in the document for everyone to be unhappy about, and admitted there were parts she also didn't like, but nonetheless foond it “extraordinary” that the committee had put a recommendation on the table.

Rushing said she had wanted to avoid the divisiveness to the community that would result from a ballot measure.

She said she wondered if coexistence between organic and GE crops is possible. “This may not be the ultimate solution for GE crops, but it might be a step in the direction of learning how to work together,” she said, adding, “I don't think we can legislate a change in consciousness.”

Supervisor Jeff Smith moved to disband the committee that made the proposal, which the board approved 5-0.

Before voting to send the document forward to the county counsel to be crafted into an ordinance, they removed paragraph nine on the five-year revisiting of the process, agreed to keep the new registration monitoring committee's membership at five and accepted the buffer zones at the higher de minimus standard. They also directed staff to come back with more details on program costs.

“We won't say yes to the ordinance until we know the cost,” said Rushing.

March told the board that the California Crop Improvement Association charges $2.50 an acre for 40 acres or more for its seed verification program.

Rushing moved to accept the proposal with the proposed changes, which the board accepted 5-0.

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