SACRAMENTO – As part of this year's Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, scheduled for Jan. 26 through 29, Lake County's high elevation winegrape growing will be featured during a full day of sessions entitled "High Elevation/High Latitude Seminar: Wine Growing On the Edge."

Lake County Winegrape Commission Chair Peter Molnar will join Glenn McGourty of the University of California Cooperative Extension to moderate the discussions.

The one-day seminar is scheduled for Jan. 29, 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., and will take place at the Hyatt Regency at Capitol Park, 1209 L St., Sacramento. The Lake County Winegrape Commission is a major sponsor of this event.

Commission Chair Molnar will join Casey Hartlip of Eagle Point Vineyard, Mendocino County, and Randy Ullom of Kendall-Jackson Winery for an afternoon session on "California North Coast High Elecation Winegrowing.

Earlier sessions will include speakers from several different countries as well as a group from the Sierra Foothills of California.

The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium at the Convention Center in Sacramento is an annual event featuring informational panel discussions, workshops, and a trade show of more than 500 vendors showing industry equipment and services.

The symposium is jointly organized by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture and the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

Information about the symposium, including a list of speakers and topics, is available on the Unified Symposium's Web site, www.unifiedsymposium.org .

Individuals may register for participation by visiting the website or calling 530-753-3142.

 

LAKEPORT – Lake County winegrape growers are invited to attend two events focusing on “quality,” the Lake County Winegrape Commission has announced.

The first is a growers marketing meeting scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 7, at the Lakeport Yacht Club, 15 Fifth St. The second, a pruning workshop for vineyard owners and managers, is slated for the following day, Friday, Jan. 8, at the Robledo Family Winery, 2040 Soda Bay Road, Lakeport.

With a focus on “Quality Marketing in this Economy,” the marketing meeting will start with registration at 9:30 a.m. Presentations and discussions are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Commission Chair Peter Molnar and Executive Director Shannon Gunier will facilitate the meeting and make presentations aimed at assisting the county’s growers with marketing issues.

Gunier will begin the meeting with an update on current commission activities and will review key marketing activities from the past year.

“Lake County Rising,” Molnar’s portion of the program, will feature a look at “a new direction for the Commission’s marketing activities, focusing on re-defined key messages for current and prospective customers,” according the meeting agenda.

Molnar will base his comments on findings of the Commission’s examination of its budget and marketing methods that are “worthwhile, timely, and in keeping with the current economy.”

A presentation entitled “What wineries and grower relations representatives are looking for in this economy – the unvarnished truth” will help growers identify necessary products and tools they may need to offer buyers in the current economic climate.

“Buyers are looking for good value along with good quality,” the meeting agenda states. Presenters will discuss how Lake County fruit will fit in with providing value with excellent quality.

Attendees will enjoy a networking lunch following the business portion of the meeting.

The “Pruning for Quality” workshop on Friday, Jan. 8, will be presented in English and Spanish.

Reynaldo Robledo Sr. will share his pruning techniques starting at 10 a.m. Registration for the workshop will start at 9:30 a.m. at the winery.

Robledo manages more than 200 acres for other growers and owns 37 acres of his own where he has started to produce his own wines. He works long hours to increase his knowledge and skill in the vineyards, states a commission announcement about the workshop. He says the learning never ends. Workshop participants will be invited to enjoy lunch following the pruning clinic.

Winegrape growers interested in the marketing meeting or workshop should call the Lake County Winegrape Commission office, 707-995-3421.

For more information about upcoming Lake County Winegrape Commission events, visit the Commission Web site, www.lakecountywinegrape.org , or call 995-3421.

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LAKEPORT – On Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, the Lake County Genetically Engineered Crops Advisory Committee will meet in the board room at the Lake County Farm Bureau building, located at 65 Soda Bay Road, Lakeport.

The meeting will be called to order at 5:30 p.m. and adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

Committee members JoAnn Saccato and Lars Crail have asked that four articles be uploaded to the “Recommended Readings” page on the committee's Web site and asked that the advisory committee members review and be prepared to discuss these articles in the meeting on Monday:

• http://deltafarmpress.com/rice/gm-rice-case-1216/ : First GM rice-related case.

• www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026152938.htm : Modified crops reveal hidden cost of resistance.

• www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do-seed-companies-control-gm-crop-research : Do seed companies control GM crop research?

• www.biolsci.org/v05p0706.htm : A comparison of the effects of three GM corn varieties on mammalian health.

LAKE COUNTY – The Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced that applications are now being accepted from Lake County farmers and ranchers wishing to participate in the 2010 Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Applications must be received in the NRCS office by Jan. 15, 2010.

The EQIP program offers funds to producers for practices ranging from animal waste systems to windbreaks to irrigation systems that conserve water.

Applications are scored and ranked based on a locally modified scoring system striving to get the best environmental benefits. It gives each county an opportunity to focus EQIP dollars and prioritize conservation work to address its most pressing resource needs.

For the 2009 EQIP program, Lake County farmers and ranchers were awarded contracts enrolling approximately 10,000 acres into the EQIP program.

EQIP funds are a way for landowners to solve a resource problem such as fixing a nuisance gully. It can also be used to address regulatory concerns like water quality rules or to receive incentives for water conservation.

The primary resource concerns being addressed in Lake County for 2010 include:

High priority:

• Irrigation Efficiency, including system retrofits and system conversions.

• Erosion, including gullies, roads, and stream banks.

• Grazing and livestock management, including, water quality improvements (fencing), stock water, and grazing management.

• Buffers addressing, animal waste, nutrients, pesticides or sediments in water.

• Water quality projects that address runoff from headquarters or heavy use areas.

• Forestry Conservation Activity Plans greater than 20 acres or part of a group project.

Medium priority:

• Forestry projects identified in a FMP or NTMP or other forestry plan.

• Forestry Conservation Activity Plans less than 20 acres.

• Wildlife Habitat for Clear Lake Hitch.

Other programs may address the following resource concerns:

• Air quality – diesel engine replacements.

• Cropland – conversion to organic production or assistance with organic production.

Applicants are encouraged to begin the application process early to avoid unforeseen delays, and assure their application can be considered for funding this year.

Landowners wanting more information about EQIP and how it can be used to install conservation measures on their property should contact their local NRCS office at 889 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport, CA 95453, telephone 707-263-4180, Extension 14.

Specific information about EQIP in Lake County can also be found on the Internet at www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov .

LAKEPORT – The Lake County Genetically Engineered Crops Advisory Committee will meet on Monday, Dec. 21, at the Lake County Agriculture Department building, located at 883 Lakeport Blvd., Lakeport.

The meeting will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Agenda items include continued work on revisions to the proposal presented to the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 1, and discussion and consideration of topics for future meetings.

Committee members include Victoria Brandon, Lars Crail, Melissa Fulton, Andre Ross, JoAnn Saccato, Michelle Scully and Broc Zoller, and alternates Lori Gray and Marc Hooper.

The group's next meeting is set to take place on Monday, Dec. 28, in the same location.

STOUGHTON, WI – American farmers are feeling the effects of a concentrated seed industry. Seed options are diminishing while prices increase at historic rates.

A new report, “Out of Hand: Farmers face the consequences of a consolidated seed industry,” examines these trends, substantiating the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into alleged anticompetitive conduct in the seed industry.

“Farmers are facing fewer choices and significantly higher prices in seed,” said Kristina Hubbard, author of the report. “Seed options narrow when a handful of companies dominate the marketplace.”

Discussions on seed industry concentration typically center on the dominant firm, the Monsanto Company, which achieved the No. 1 position by capturing the markets for most major crops through a series of acquisitions and mergers.

Monsanto accounts for 60 percent of the corn and soybean seed market through direct seed sales and seed trait licensing agreements with other companies.

Monsanto’s biotechnology traits are planted on more than 90 percent of U.S. soybean acreage and more than 80 percent of U.S. Corn acreage.

The report outlines events that led to extensive concentration, including weak antitrust law enforcement and Supreme Court decisions that allowed genetically engineered crops and other plant products to be patented. These factors have created unprecedented ownership and control over plant genetic resources in major field crops.

“We are encouraged that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Justice have launched a joint investigation into anticompetitive practices in agriculture,” said Bill Wenzel, national director of the Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering. “We believe this report will shed light on the severe negative impacts that these practices have had on producers and provide insight on what changes in policy are necessary to protect farmers’ rights and interests.”

“Out of Hand” uses industry sources, government data, and personal interviews with farmers and seed industry representatives to document the consequences of concentration in the seed industry.

One important finding is a general fear in agricultural communities that simply talking about problems in the seed industry will result in backlash from industry leaders, namely Monsanto.

Paul Rozwadowski, a farmer in Chippewa County, Wis., says he has seen his seed options rapidly decrease in the last five years.

“Seed corn varieties that I once relied on are difficult if not impossible to locate,” Rozwadowski said. “And the prices of seed available have skyrocketed these last two growing seasons.”

“The trend in seed corn is for the largest firms to stack as many traits as possible into single varieties,” Rozwadowski said. “Not only are conventional varieties more difficult to locate, farmers have a hard time finding biotechnology varieties with just one or two traits.”

Todd Leake, a farmer in Grand Forks County, North Dakota, says he is concerned about the lack of breeding programs focused on bringing conventional soybean seed to the marketplace.

"Most of the conventional, non-GE varieties that I can find are ten to twelve years old,” Leake said. “Their disease resistance and yield have fallen well behind the Roundup Ready varieties. The disease package and yield come from conventional soybean breeding, not from any GE trait.

“Public breeding programs historically met the diverse needs of farmers, including conventional varieties with good genetics for yield and disease resistance,” Leake added.

“But the focus of these programs has changed in the face of increased biotechnology industry funding. For the last ten years, many public breeding programs and private firms have only been interested in offering the newest genetics in seed with expensive biotechnology traits."

The report also examines the role patent law has played in encouraging concentration. Over the course of decades, Congress has visited intellectual property protection for breeders of living organisms and consistently argued that patents on sexually reproducing plants would curtail innovation, threaten the free exchange of genetic resources, and increase market concentration. These problems are now being realized.

The report recommends that the U.S. Department of Justice closely examine anticompetitive conduct in the industry, enforce antitrust law, and engage the public in assessments of proposed and pending mergers.

Other recommendations include revamping patent law as it pertains to crops because such patents are reducing farmer choice and researcher access, and directly contribute to the concentration of power over plant genetic resources.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture should also reinvigorate public breeding and cultivar development programs to ensure that the needs of farmers and the general public are met and that research is conducted in an open and honest way.

“Competition in the seed industry is crucial to the success of American farmers,” Hubbard said. “Farmers deserve an open and fair marketplace that encourages innovation and provides a variety of seed options at competitive prices.”

The full report can be downloaded at www.farmertofarmercampaign.org .

The Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering is a national network of farm organizations that serve as a voice for family farmers on agricultural biotechnology issues. Farmer to Farmer seeks to build a farmer driven campaign focused on concerns around agricultural biotechnology and to provide a national forum for farmers on these issues.