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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — On Friday, Oct. 17, community leaders in Lake County’s chapter of the California Women in Agriculture’s AgVenture class met to hear speakers discuss the walnut industry, food safety, pest control and current trends in California agriculture.
They also took a field trip to Seely Orchards, a local multi-generationally farmed walnut orchard in Upper Lake, to experience harvest.
Fidel Perez, the North Region Environmental Program manager for the California Department of Pesticide Regulations, gave an in-depth presentation on his office’s monitoring, testing and enforcement of federal regulations of pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables marketed and consumed in the state.
Perez is a Lake County native who grew up on the Quercus Ranch in Kelseyville.
The California Farm Bureau was represented by its chief operating officer, Dan Durheim, who talked about the depth and breadth of the state’s $61 billion dollar agriculture industry.
Lake County’s agricultural industry is $140 million of those revenues with wine grapes being the majority crop followed by pears, livestock/walnuts.
Eighty percent of farms in California are family-owned with dairy being the largest contributor followed by almonds and grapes.
Darren Dencklau from Attaway Field Research led off a pest control advisor panel discussing the lengthy research and development process to register new materials for use.
He was joined by Padrick Sherlock from Beckstoffer Vineyards, and Janice Luke, an agricultural biologist from the county of Lake, who explained pest control management in the field, navigating federal and state regulations using organic and sustainable practices. Many new products are certified in both organic and sustainable programs.
Bill Carriere, a walnut farmer and member of the California Walnut Board, spent the day with the class sharing nutrition research, product innovation, and general facts regarding walnuts. There are approximately 375,000 bearing acres of walnuts in California.
Colleen Seely Rentsch joined her daughter, Jessica Rentsch Mihalenko, and son-in-law, Jordon Mihalenko, third and fourth generation farmers, to host the group at their Upper Lake orchard to walk amongst the trees and learn how the walnuts are harvested.
Several class participants got to try their hands at running the walnut shaker which is a machine that clamps onto a tree and vigorously shakes it making all the nuts fall.
Colleen Rentsch’s grandparents bought that property in 1953; her parents, Ed and Francis Seely, assumed management of the farm in the early 60s expanding the orchards and modernizing the operation.
A final panel closed out the afternoon. Jennifer Beretta, from Beretta Dairy in Santa Rosa, opened the discussion with Makaila Benjamin and Katy Evans. They discussed challenges of regulations affecting their farms and the need to diversify, expanding awareness of how our food is grown, and educating next generations about job opportunities in agriculture.
Recurring themes throughout the day were California’s national leadership in agriculture, being the number one producer in the nation of food and fiber, the challenging regulatory environment at state and federal levels, and the need to educate the public on the importance of supporting our diverse agricultural industry so future generations can continue to produce safe and healthy food.