U.S. farmland values have climbed nearly 44% since 2020
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By: Ag Daily
.S. farmland values have climbed to another record in 2026, strengthening balance sheets for landowners while making it increasingly difficult for beginning farmers, renters, and existing operations to acquire more ground. The average value of U.S. farm real estate, including land and buildings, rose 3.4 percent this year to $4,500 per acre, according to an analysis from American Farm Bureau Federation economist Daniel Munch. Cropland values increased 3.3 percent to $6,020 per acre, while pastureland values rose 4.2 percent to a record $2,000 per acre. The increases continue a dramatic run-up in agricultural real estate since 2020. Average farm real estate values are now nearly 44 percent higher than they were six years ago, while cropland values
have risen 48 percent and pastureland values nearly 43 percent. However, the annual pace of appreciation has slowed considerably. Farmland Values Since 2020, the largest percentage gains have been concentrated in the central Plains, with values rising 76% in Kansas, 65% in Nebraska and 61% in South Dakota (Image by AFBF) “The average value of U.S. farm real estate, which includes land and buildings, rose 3.4 percent to $4,500 per acre. Cropland values increased 3.3 percent to $6,020 an acre, and pastureland rose 4.2 percent. That pace has slowed, though, since 2020. It’s a 44 percent increase since then. But in the first year, it was an 11.7 increase that went down to 3.4 percent in 2026,” Munch said. For farmers who already own land, higher valuations can provide significant financial advantages. Rising
real estate values add equity to farm balance sheets and can provide additional collateral when producers seek financing. But those gains come with another side of the equation: Land is becoming more expensive for producers trying to get started or expand. “That increases farm equity, provides additional collateral, and that it can improve access to credit. The downside is that higher values make it much more expensive to buy land, enter farming for beginning or new farmers, or expand an existing operation. Renters face a particular challenge because they pay higher costs without receiving the equity gains,” Munch said. That divide is becoming increasingly important as farmland prices remain elevated while agricultural margins face
pressure. Cash rents have offered relatively little relief. The national average cropland rent slipped only $1 this year to $160 per acre and remains 15 percent above its 2020 level. Land values also vary dramatically by region. Rhode Island recorded the country’s highest average farm real estate value at $23,600 per acre, followed by New Jersey at $17,000 and Massachusetts at $15,200. New Mexico was at the opposite end of the spectrum at $735 per acre. Some of the biggest increases since 2020, however, have occurred in the central Plains. Farm real estate values See 'Farmland Value' Page 4
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his year feels to be moving at warp speed. While a year can always feel like that in any given period, it seems that I’ve blinked and we are through mid-August. This also means the state legislative year will be wrapping soon. The last day to pass bills in this legislative session is August 31. The Governor then has until the end of September to sign or veto. We remain watchful of bills such as AB 2646 regarding agriculture wages. We will provide a recap of bill status on this, and other bills, in our September edition of Farm News. Looking forward to the rest of the year with a focus in various areas of agriculture education, we have several programs starting back up or newly launching. For the second year, TK-4th grade teachers can sign up for our classroom program titled CultivatED. Each presentation is taught by our own Cassandra Valdez with a focus for each grade. More information, including how to contact the office to enroll, can be found on page 19.
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026
MCFB will be launching our newest program on September 9. Through efforts made by our Scholarship & Education Fund and a gracious donation by Merced County Office of Education, MCFB will provide a tour to local agricultural instructors. This opportunity will allow both our ag teachers and industry partners to create new connections that can be used inside and outside of the classroom. We hope that material shared during the day can be translated back to the classroom, providing students with real world information to better understand our everyday. Participating speakers include Kirby Manufacturing, Northern Merced Hulling Association and Atwater Veterinary Center. We greatly appreciate their support in making this endeavor successful. Last up on our major educational
programs is our CE Courses. If you have attended our courses held at our office in the past, please take note when signing up as our courses will now be held at the UCCE Classroom. Earlier this year we were offered the opportunity to take over the courses that Mr. Larry Burrows of the UCCE and Ag Commissioner have provided over the years. Nothing in this setting will change aside from MCFB taking the lead in planning and programming. UCCE and Ag Commissioner will remain as partners in the program. Courses will continue to be offered in spring and fall with each session lasting five (5) weeks. Detailed information,
including how to enroll in the courses, can be found on page 24 of our Farm News. This past month I’ve carved at time to call on our members. I fully realize this may not be the best time to catch you for a full conversation or lengthy email return, but it’s a simple way that we can check in and let you know we’re still here. If it gives me the opportunity to chat for a few minutes on various bills, challenges or the work we are doing, I welcome the opportunity. I plan to continue this practice so you may soon be on the list. Here’s to a great conversation or venting session – whatever may lay ahead.
Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
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ello to all our friends and supporters of Farm Bureau. As I write this article, we have started receiving almonds and for us the harvest is on. The Board of Directors voted to go dark in July so overall it has been a quiet month from the board. I wanted to take advantage of our quiet month and highlight the Young Farmers and Ranchers. The Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee is a program for people involved in agriculture between the ages of 18 and 35 involved in production, banking, business, and many other areas of the industry. YF&R provides opportunities to develop leadership skills through involvement in Farm Bureau at the county, state, and national levels.
YF&R members are a vital part of the organization. Each member’s efforts help California Farm Bureau to effectively represent the diversity of farmers and ranchers across the state. I have personally gotten to know the Chair of their Executive Board, Sariah Avila, and the Vice Chair Pierce Hanning. They have about 15- 20 active members. Pierce also serves on the state board for the YF&R. They have been very active attending Farm Bureau board meetings and giving reports on their events and activities. They also attend Farm Bureau’s Annual Meeting and participate in many events. They have done an outstanding job of growing the membership and
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I am excited for the direction they are heading. If you know of anyone in this age group that is looking to get involved in an agricultural organization, please have them reach out to our staff to get more information. In recent months I have been writing about the upcoming elections and our role in that process. At our August meeting the board will host our first of 2 debates with the candidates from the Congressional District 13: Congressman Adam Gray and Kevin Lincoln. Our second debate of the evening will feature Assembly District 27 candidates Brian Pacheco and Mike Murphy. These debates will be held in closed session during the board meeting and for the board only.
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If any member of the board has a question, they would like to have asked during the debate, please contact Breanne so that she can finalize the debate questions. These are important decisions that our board must make and our endorsements of candidates carry significant weight in our communities. I can assure you that we will do our due diligence to reach the best endorsements as we go forward in this current election process. Another board issue that is on my mind is potential open board positions. As we approach the second half of the calendar year we are assembling our annual nominating committee. I mention this only to ask if there are MCFB members out there who may be interested in participating on the board, to reach out to one of our board members or contact Breanne to ask questions and gauge your interest. I believe you will find the board positions challenging yet rewarding and a way to contribute to protecting ag and celebrate ag. I am not sure how many positions we will have open this year but if you are interested, it’s not too early to reach out to us and if now is not the right time in your life, maybe you would consider participating at a later time. I wish all of you a healthy and happy harvest.
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have jumped 76 percent in Kansas, 65 percent in Nebraska, and 61 percent in South Dakota. Limited land availability, strong agricultural returns earlier in the decade, and longerterm productivity gains have helped support those increases. Agriculture is also competing with buyers who value rural property for reasons other than farming. “Commercial and residential development, renewable energy projects, outside investments, recreation, rural residential demand are all competing for that same land access, which is more likely to take land out of agriculture in the longer term,” Munch said. Those competing uses can support land prices even when farm income alone
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026 might not justify higher valuations. Development, renewable energy, investment, recreation, and rural residential demand can all put additional pressure on a finite supply of agricultural acreage. The result is an increasingly different farmland economy depending on which side of ownership a producer occupies. Established landowners benefit from growing equity, while tenants and beginning farmers encounter higher barriers to accessing the same acreage. With farmland apparently settling at a substantially higher cost base than before 2020, affordability, and ultimately who can obtain the land needed to farm, may become a bigger issue than whether values continue setting records.
Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
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Merced College Prepares the Next Generation of Ag Leaders
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By: Ag Net West
or students considering a career in agriculture, food processing, agricultural technology or industrial technology, Merced College is building an educational model designed to put students directly into the middle of the industry. Cody Jacobsen, Dean of Agriculture and Industrial Technology at Merced College, joined “The Ag Meter” Nick Papagni to discuss the college’s record enrollment, expanding agricultural programs, new technology, industry partnerships and ambitious plans for the future. Jacobsen said the momentum at Merced College is significant, with nearly all of the more than 150 agriculture and industrial technology classes offered for the upcoming semester at maximum capacity. Overall enrollment is also expected to reach a record level of more than 22,000 students. A 22,000-Square-Foot Food Processing Facility One of the college’s most impressive projects is a new 22,000-square-foot food processing facility. The complex will include a meat processing laboratory, tree nut processing laboratory, fresh-market fruit and vegetable facilities, and a nutrition facility for research, development and product development. A year-round retail farm market will connect the various components while serving students and the public. Students will also train on advanced equipment
including optical sorters, X-ray systems, metal detection, autonomous packaging systems and autonomous palletizers— technology they might otherwise have to wait until an internship or their first job to experience. The college is also using competency-based education, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of important skills before advancing. Employers, according to Jacobsen, are already reporting that Merced College graduates are among their top employees because they bring practical experience, communication skills and workplace reliability with them. Students Get Their Boots—and Their Hands— Dirty Merced College’s agricultural education extends well beyond the classroom. The college is redeveloping its farm with industry partners and has established a 10-acre almond block with the Almond Board of California. Duarte Nursery donated four almond varieties, while Sunridge and Dave Wilson Nursery are among the partners supporting the college’s fouracre stone fruit block. The farm also includes table grapes and approximately 35 acres of row crops where students can gain firsthand experience working with soil, crops, irrigation and farm equipment. Pacific Farm Management has also brought crews onto the farm to work with students, teaching them
practical skills such as proper planting and irrigation-line layout. Jacobsen emphasized that these are skills students cannot fully learn from a textbook or PowerPoint— they need to work alongside experienced professionals in the field. Agriculture Meets Drones, Robotics and Automation Jacobsen said today’s agriculture students need both traditional farming skills and technological expertise. Merced College continues to teach students how to operate tractors and perform conventional farm tasks, but it has also developed an agricultural technology program featuring drone operations and automation. One pilot project involved 15 acres of winter wheat. Students planted one field using a drone while another field was planted using a traditional grain drill, giving them experience with both approaches. Jacobsen said students are also showing strong interest in robotics and automated equipment. His goal is to ensure graduates can work on a technologically advanced farm while still being capable of operating in a more traditional agricultural environment. FFA Students Have a Direct Pipeline Agricultural education and FFA are major components of Merced College’s student pipeline. Jacobsen estimates that more than 90% of the college’s agriculture students come from agriculture education and FFA programs. Merced College works
closely with high schools throughout California and hosts two state FFA judging finals—the most of any California community college. The campus also hosts California Welding State Finals, the Small Animal Contest and 14 other contests, bringing students from throughout the state onto the campus multiple times each year. The college is also developing a summer cohort program that will allow high school agriculture students to visit campus and tour agricultural businesses throughout the Central Valley with a college instructor. Industry Partnerships Drive the Programs Jacobsen said Merced College wants industry involved directly in agricultural education. The college signed a memorandum of understanding with the Almond Board of California and has hosted several industry events. Toro, whose irrigation equipment is used throughout the college farm, is also planning an industry event. Duarte Nursery, Sunridge, Dave Wilson Nursery and other partners have contributed to the college’s permanent-crop development. The goal is to bring those companies onto campus for demonstration days and direct student training. For employers struggling to find qualified workers, this industry-college connection could become increasingly important. See 'Merced College' Page 6
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Training Workers for Food Processing The Central Valley has numerous food processors, but Jacobsen said many employers tell him they do not have enough employees. Merced College is responding by training students for the entire foodprocessing value chain. The new innovation center will allow students to develop and test products and experiment with packaging such as pillow pouches, stand-up bags and resealable bags. Students can receive consumer feedback and learn what works—and what does not. Jacobsen also stressed that today’s agricultural products must be marketed effectively. Quality remains essential, but businesses must also understand branding, packaging and consumer preferences in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Merced College Looks Toward a Bachelor’s Degree
The college isn’t stopping with associate-level programs. Merced College is developing an advanced food processing and agricultural technology degree with the goal of offering an applied bachelor’s degree on campus by 2028. Jacobsen said the vision is an agriculture technology and food systems bachelor’s degree that combines advanced education with practical workforce skills. The college is working with partners including Fresno State and UC Merced as it develops the program. The strategy reflects Jacobsen’s belief that agricultural education must stay ahead of industry. Training students on outdated equipment would leave graduates unprepared, he said. Merced College therefore wants students working with current technology and equipment that reflects the realities of modern agriculture. Preparing California Agriculture for the Future Jacobsen also addressed
the challenges facing California farmers and agricultural businesses. He acknowledged that regulations, laws and equipment requirements can make farming increasingly difficult and expensive. In some situations, growers may face equipment investments costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. His answer is education— of students, the public and policymakers. Jacobsen believes California needs to better understand agriculture and remain proactive rather than reactive when developing policies affecting the industry. Losing touch with agriculture, he warned, could create serious consequences for the state’s food-producing economy. Merced College also welcomes elected officials and policymakers to campus so they can see firsthand how public investments in agricultural education and facilities benefit students and the regional, state and national economies. An Opportunity for
Students, Parents and Employers Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Jacobsen’s conversation with The Ag Meter is that a career in agriculture no longer requires every student to follow the traditional path of becoming a farmer. Students can pursue farming, food processing, agricultural technology, drones, robotics, automation, product development, packaging and numerous other careers connected to agriculture. And they can do it through an affordable community college pathway, potentially gaining specialized skills while avoiding significant student debt. Jacobsen said some students can spend one or two years at community college and move into careers with potential annual earnings exceeding $100,000. For employers, Merced College is developing a pipeline of students who understand both the technical and practical sides of the industry.
emerging threats like New World screwworm (NWS). U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott represented U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin at the event. “The United States has the strongest food and agriculture system in the world,” said Secretary Rollins. “This new agreement builds upon the National Farm Security Action Plan in partnership with DHS. The MOU further aligns our animal health mission with
DHS’s border, security, and inspection authorities, so we are better positioned to detect, assess, and respond to agricultural threats like New World screwworm. Together, we can move faster and more effectively to better support and protect America’s animals, people, and agricultural resources.” “Safeguarding American agriculture from threats abroad starts at our border,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. “Proud to work alongside Secretary Rollins as we
fight to protect our farmers, ranchers, and livestock.” Key Elements of the MOU: Unified Threat Detection: The MOU leverages advanced technologies, including unmanned aircraft systems and artificial intelligence, to enhance screening, detection, and interdiction at and between ports of entry and within border enforcement zones. This approach improves the ability to identify and
Secretary Rollins Announces New MOU Between USDA and DHS
By: US Department of Agriculture
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n Aug. 10, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins hosted an event at Moore Air Base in Texas to announce a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reinforcing a whole-ofgovernment commitment to protect the nation’s food, agriculture, and veterinary systems from
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Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
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to develop advanced screening, detection, and mitigation technologies for NWS and other emerging threats. Federal, state, tribal, and local partners, as well as industry stakeholders, helped shape the MOU. Their expertise and operational experience were essential in crafting practical, fieldready guidance for real-world response scenarios. USDA and DHS will continue to refine response tools, strengthen coordination, and support joint planning efforts. The agencies will periodically review and update the MOU to ensure alignment with evolving preparedness activities and industry practices. This MOU will continue
to help both departments combat the estimated 800,000 head of cattle are smuggled each year from Central America into Mexico, representing roughly $320 million in illicit trade. Smuggled livestock often bypass sanitary inspection and traceability systems, allowing potentially diseased or unmonitored animals to move undetected across borders. This illegal action jeopardizes regional biosecurity and threatens the substantial progress made in eradicating New World screwworm. USDA will work closely with Mexico to ensure that only fully documented and legally compliant cattle enter approved U.S. ports of entry, tightening adherence to USDA import requirements and NWS safeguards.
makes its home in numerous other fruits. Glassy-winged sharpshooters are not a risk to .S. Sens. Alex humans or animals. Padilla’s and Adam California Senate Schiff’s request for Democrats and 12 U.S. $32 million in emergency House members who funding from the U.S. requested the money Department of Agriculture received a letter on July to combat California’s 22 from the USDA Under growing glassy-winged Secretary for Marketing and sharpshooter problem has Regulatory Programs, Dudley Hoskins, that said the California Department of Food and Agriculture and From small farms to large commercial county agricultural operations, the INSURICA Agriculture Experts have grown up in agricultural commissioners would be supported communities. with existing We’ve designed insurance programs to provide broad and flexible federal funds. The coverage for both your personal and additional funds business needs. that were requested Tom Murphy | 209.353.2700 | tmurphy@INSURICA.com | INSURICA.com would have gone toward tracing,
surveying and trapping response programs for the next three years. The majority of the pest detections have been of immature life stages of the invasive pest, such as egg masses. But recently, more adult insects have been found throughout the state, according to CDFA. The agency said it is not clear yet if all new detections are connected to the Costco incidents. “We will continue to carefully monitor the glassy-winged sharpshooter detections in California and evaluate if additional resources, such as emergency funding, are needed to supplement the current funds and resources that (USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection
continued from page 6 respond to NWS and other high-consequence animal and plant pests and diseases. Enhanced Coordination and Information Sharing: USDA and DHS will share actionable biosurveillance and information in real-time, supporting faster and more effective responses—from frontline inspections to information exchange. This ensures both agencies can safeguard livestock, wildlife, and companion animals more effectively. Strengthened Partnership: By formalizing roles and expanding joint capabilities, the MOU improves how USDA and DHS work together during highconsequence events,
supporting stronger, more unified national biosecurity. The agreement underscores USDA’s commitment to collaboration, leveraging DHS’s enforcement and security strengths alongside USDA’s deep technical expertise. Operational Readiness: The MOU establishes clear protocols for coordinated response actions, joint training, and capacity building. It outlines responsibilities for both departments, ensuring preparedness for incidents that threaten the nation’s food and agriculture sectors. Research and Development Collaboration: The partnership expands existing research collaborations, including with DHS Centers of Excellence,
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USDA Denies $32M Request For California Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Battle
By: Lizzie Kane, Sacramento Bee
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been rejected. Glassy-winged sharpshooters were found on grapevines and ornamental plants sold at Costco stores in Sacramento County and dozens of other counties throughout the state earlier this summer. Thousands of plants were sold and are still unaccounted for. The pests can spread Pierce’s disease, which kills grapevines and
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continued from page 7 Service) is providing,” Hoskins wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Sacramento Bee. “... USDA remains committed to mitigating this destructive insect through our strong cooperative efforts.” The state agriculture agency said it is currently working with $15 million in federal funds, an amount that “cannot support urban eradication when new infestations are detected.” The leaf-hopping insect destroyed more than 1,000 acres of grapevines in Northern California from 1994 to 2008, causing $30 million in damage, according to California’s agriculture department. Pierce’s disease, in a year when it infects grapevines, can cost California grape growers tens of millions of dollars. With wine consumption at historic lows, the wine industry is already facing significant challenges. Some grape growers and winemakers are closing because they can’t afford to be in business anymore. The wine and grape industries are billion-dollar enterprises in California. The state produces 99% of all table grapes and around 80% of all wine in the U.S., according to industry groups. The wine industry supports more than 422,000 jobs statewide, generating about $73 billion in annual economic activity, according to CDFA. Lawmakers said in their USDA funding request that if unaddressed, the glassy-winged sharpshooter could cost the state $104 million annually. Hundreds of millions of combined public and private dollars have been spent on the pest control programs
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026 since their inception. Yet, since 1999, when the pest control programs started, state funding has trended downward, state figures show. While those dollars declined or remained flat, the state agriculture industry’s worth grew and pest control and prevention costs went up. Concurrently, industry and federal investment in the programs increased. USDA responded to a request for comment with a copy of the letter Hoskins sent to Padilla. In a joint statement issued Wednesday evening, Sens. Padilla and Schiff said, “While we appreciate USDA’s past collaboration to mitigate these risks, our farmers and California’s wine industry need additional federal resources. We will continue pushing USDA to work with us to deliver needed support and keep fighting to protect California’s agricultural industries.” As the wine and grape industries and some of their allies see limited success in begging for additional support from state and federal agencies, CDFA emailed the agriculture community Monday saying that glassy-winged sharpshooters have been found in “several additional counties,” including Santa Clara, Stanislaus and Santa Barbara, according to a copy of the email obtained by The Bee. Fourteen adult pests have been found in 10 counties, with Stanislaus County joining that tally this week, according to a Wednesday CDFA call to update wine and grape professionals on glassy-winged sharpshooter infestations. This year’s hotter temperatures have led to ideal breeding conditions for the destructive pests. Sacramento County
declared a new glassy-winged sharpshooter infestation after finding 20 adults in Folsom, said Michelle Pham, a manager in the state agriculture department’s Pierce’s Disease Control Program, on the Wednesday call. Containment efforts such as trapping and visual surveys are underway, Pham said, with the new problem area near an infestation in El Dorado Hills that began in 2024. In Shasta County, three adult glassy-winged sharpshooters were found in the same location in North Redding in a threeweek period earlier this summer, said John Ingram, the county’s agricultural commissioner. “I haven’t been an ag commissioner for that long, but I’ve been with the department for 18 years, and nothing of this magnitude has happened,” Ingram said. “It is an onslaught on grape growers.” CDFA
is continuing to gather information as a part of its ongoing investigation into the two Costco shipment incidents, including by subpoenaing the retailer and the trucking companies involved, staff members said on the Wednesday call. Wine and agriculture industry associations are asking legislative leaders for $35 million in emergency funds for the state agriculture department in the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget. The dollar amount of the request keeps rising as more pests are found in the state. That emergency funding would help address the fallout from the Costco incidents and ongoing glassy-winged sharpshooter eradication efforts in five counties that had infestations prior to the latest outbreaks. Money would filter down to county agricultural commissioners and staff who are the boots on the ground See 'GWSS' Page 9
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continued from page 8 for pest containment efforts. The industry groups will hear by the end of the month, when the legislative session ends, if their funding request is approved. CDFA has not made a request to Gov. Gavin Newsom or the Legislature for additional glassy-winged sharpshooter prevention funding, the agency said in a previous statement to The Bee this week. The state agency said it is still awaiting a decision from USDA on its $8.2 million one-time funding request for the Costco incidents. CDFA’s Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter Board announced Tuesday it has committed an additional $820,000 to the ongoing emergency response. That money comes from industry assessment fees paid to the state. “California’s winegrape industry is facing some of the hardest economic times
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in a generation, but we recognize what is at stake if this destructive pest becomes established in Northern California,” said Trey Irwin, the Pierce’s disease board chair in a news release. “Putting $820,000 from the Board’s limited reserves toward this effort is a major commitment for our industry and shows how seriously we’re taking this threat.” A 2026 report from the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association and the state agriculture department warned that the state pest prevention system is “under increasing strain” and, as a result, “falling behind growing threats.” The report identified more than $90 million in “immediate onetime funding needs” and $25 million in annual investments to strengthen the pest control programs. These dollars, the report said, do not account for the long-term investment required to maintain the system’s effectiveness.
The association said the state spends 10 to 15 times more on emergency funding than it would if it systematically invested in pest control programs. The presence of invasive insects is rising overall as growing season lengths and temperatures shift due to climate change. Josh Polich has seen firsthand the destruction that Pierce’s disease causes. A couple of decades ago, the Kern County farm manager and pest control board member and advisor pulled out about 400 acres of table grapes due to a Pierce’s disease outbreak. He said many other farmers in the area did the same and replanted with citrus groves. Keeping the table grapes wasn’t worth the risk of spreading the disease, he said. He still farms about 3,000 acres of table grapes and has seen an increased glassy-winged sharpshooter presence, both in agricultural and municipal areas. The pest is moving north to places
where it has not previously been present, he said. Polich and other board members from his pest control district met with members of Congress, including Padilla and Schiff, in Washington early this year — before the Costco incidents — to discuss the escalating glassy-winged sharpshooter problem. His grou noted the pest’s increasing presence as the growing number of abandoned vineyards and improperly fallowed fields have become prime destinations for the bug. “This program used to work, and then they started pulling funding from it and trapping and overwintering sprays didn’t happen,” said Polich, who spoke in his capacity as a member of the Consolidated Table Grape Pest and Disease Control Board. “By not putting funding into a problem that is blowing up and continues to rise … it is just going to get worse.”
three animal entries each. The annual competitions provide FFA and 4-H members an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, animal care, and showmanship at the state level. Grant Williamson competed in both the rabbit and goat divisions, earning several outstanding awards and recognition throughout the fair. Williamson was named Outstanding Rabbit Exhibitor and Outstanding Goat Exhibitor and earned Reserve Champion Single Fryer in the rabbit show. His combined accomplishments also qualified him to
compete for the prestigious Premier FFA Exhibitor title, recognizing his overall success and achievement as an exhibitor at the California State Fair. Dylan Cardey represented Atwater FFA in the rabbit competition on July 22, exhibiting his Californian rabbits against approximately 50 entries in the Californian breed show. Cardey’s senior doe, Nina, earned Best Fur in Show, competing against rabbits from all breeds entered in the competition. Nina also placed second in her individual class, finishing directly behind the rabbit that ultimately earned Best
in Show honors. Cardey’s accomplishments continued his successful involvement in rabbit production and exhibition through the Atwater FFA program. “We are extremely proud of Grant and Dylan and the continued commitment they have demonstrated to their agricultural projects,” said Atwater High School Agriculture Department instructor Shelby Fishman. “Their success at the California State Fair reflects years of hard work, responsibility, and dedication. Accomplishments like these
Atwater FFA Graduates Earn Top Honors at 2026 California State Fair By: Atwater FFA
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wo Atwater High School Agriculture Program and FFA graduates, Grant Williamson and Dylan Cardey, joined nearly 1,500 4-H and FFA members from throughout California in exhibiting livestock and small animals at the 2026 California State Fair in late July and early August. Youth exhibitors representing California’s 58 counties showcased beef cattle, sheep, swine, dairy cattle, goats, poultry, rabbits, and cavies, with exhibitors averaging two to
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continued from page 9 are also made possible through the tremendous support our FFA members receive from their families, local businesses, agricultural industry partners, and the Atwater community. We are very fortunate to have a community that believes in
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026 our students and continues to invest in the opportunities and experiences that agricultural education and FFA provide.” The California State Fair has a rich agricultural tradition dating back to 1854, when it was originally known as the California State Agricultural Fair. Today, its youth livestock and
small animal competitions continue to highlight California agriculture while recognizing the hard work, responsibility, knowledge, and animal husbandry skills developed by 4-H and FFA members. Exhibitors are also required to complete Quality Assurance and Ethics Awareness training, reinforcing the importance
of responsible animal care, ethical practices, and proper livestock management. Williamson and Cardey’s accomplishments reflect their continued dedication to agricultural education and the skills developed through their involvement in the Atwater High School Agriculture Program and Atwater FFA.
Ninth Circuit Sides with Reclamation in Fight Over California Water Contract Conversions By: Margaret Attridge, Courthouse News Service
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Ninth Circuit panel granted a win to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Monday, confirming a lower court’s finding the conversion of water service contracts from the California Central Valley Project doesn’t require a new environmental review. A three-judge panel unanimously held the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act required the bureau to change a contract if requested by a water user, and does not necessitate the agency undertake environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act or Endangered Species Act before converting each water service contract. “Reclamation was not required to conduct contractspecific environmental review or initiate consultation before converting those contracts because § 4011(a) creates a mandatory duty to convert water service contracts upon request and prohibits Reclamation from considering the environmental effects of
the contract conversion or exercising discretion to benefit protected species when converting contracts,” U.S. Circuit Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Joe Biden appointee, wrote for the court. The panel focused on two subsections of the water infrastructure act, the first directing the bureau to convert contracts upon request, and the second placing conditions on converted contracts. Sanchez wrote that, read together, the sections require the bureau to convert water service contracts upon request and bar the bureau from altering the terms of the contracts except with respect to payment. “Because Reclamation lacks discretion to alleviate environmental harms as part of WIIN Act conversion, NEPA and the ESA do not require that Reclamation undertake contract-specific environmental review and consultation with the services in the course of WIIN Act conversions,” the judge said. Sanchez noted the ruling is limited and does not advocate that water deliveries under the converted contracts
are no longer subject to environmental review. The panel was rounded out by U.S. Circuit Judges Kim Wardlaw, a Bill Clinton appointee, and Daniel Bress, a Donald Trump appointee. In a statement to Courthouse News, John Buse of the Center for Biological
Diversity, representing the plaintiffs, called the ruling “unfortunate.” “The court is merely playing a semantics game by not calling the permanent conversions of federal water contracts ‘renewals,’” See 'Water Contract' Page 11
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continued from page 10 he said. “At the end of the day, locking in water deliveries to Big Ag has a huge environmental cost. We need to consider how that will change the Delta and the imperiled fish who need freshwater flows to survive.” Representatives for the defendants did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The WIIN Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2106 to, among other things, help address the historic drought in California at the time. The
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statute allowed water service contractors to convert their contracts into repayment contracts, prepaying on a contract for a set amount of time for an agreed-upon amount of water. By converting contracts with prepayment for construction costs, the law would finance several water projects to promote storage and supply, flood control, desalination and water recycling to make the state better able to cope with droughts. Between 2020 and 2021, the bureau converted 67 water service contracts into repayment contracts, with
another 16 contracts proposed for conversion, Sanchez noted in his ruling. The Center for Biological Diversity and others sued in 2020, arguing the converted water contracts lock in federal water deliveries to large agricultural water users with no consideration of the environmental consequences. According to the environmental organizations, the Central Valley Project, which includes 20 reservoirs, about 500 miles of canals and aqueducts and two pumping plants, has caused widespread environmental damage by reducing freshwater flows in the San Francisco Bay Delta,
blocking salmon migration and killing wildlife with toxic runoff from irrigated farmland. Last June, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston, a Joe Biden appointee, adopted the bureau’s interpretation the statute requires contract conversion upon request by farmers and other water users that obtain water from the Central Valley Project and the bureau is stripped of discretion to modify any contractual right other than those related to the financial terms specifically addressed in the statute.
declined 16.4%, the largest month-over-month drop on record, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, market research firm NielsenIQ reported that from July 18 to Aug. 8, sales of iceberg lettuce fell 25.4% and prepacked salads dipped 34.2%. During summer, Mexico typically ships a small amount of lettuce to the U.S. market. The vast majority is supplied by farmers on California’s Central Coast, who in the weeks following the outbreak suffered most of the economic consequences as demand plummeted for leafy greens. Growers in the Salinas Valley and beyond said they were left with little choice but to destroy about a third of their lettuce crops that were ready to harvest. “Anything that was planted for open market sales is getting run back into the ground,” said Kelly, who grows vegetables throughout the valley for the region’s
shippers, which supply fresh produce to major retailers. Since mid-July, he said, the collapse in lettuce sales had erased Boutonnet Farms’ entire profit margin for the year. “It’s across the board, throughout the industry,” said Tony Alameda of Top Flavor Farms and Sabor Farms, who grows vegetables in Monterey and San Benito counties. In 2024, California lettuce sales totaled about $3.7 billion, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Dick Peixoto, owner of Watsonville-based Lakeside Organic Gardens in Santa Cruz County, said it was frustrating to see sales vanish despite his farm being nowhere near the suspected source of the outbreak. “We have as much relationship to Taylor Farms’ bagged salads as we do to Oscar Mayer wieners,” the vegetable grower said. Nonetheless, Peixoto spent
the past few weeks laying off harvest crews and plowing under his lettuce. “There’s no other option,” he said. Broad impacts It isn’t only leafy greens that consumers are avoiding. Dave Puglia, president and CEO of the Western Growers Association, said the scope of fresh produce affected by the outbreak’s fallout was “broader than one might think,” possibly due to early news coverage speculating about types of produce linked to past cyclospora outbreaks. “A lot of that speculation landed on fresh berries, which are completely disassociated from this outbreak but suffering the same volume of sales declines as every other category impacted,” Puglia said. According to NielsenIQ, from July 14 to Aug. 1, sales of strawberries dropped 14.7%, blackberries 16.4%
Cyclospora Fallout Hits Caliofrnia Farmers
By: Ag Alert, California Farm Bureau
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alifornia lettuce was not implicated in a sprawling cyclospora outbreak that sickened thousands of people and made frequent headlines this summer. But farmers in the state are shouldering much of the economic pain as wary consumers ditch lettuce and other fresh produce. “It’s been really bad,” said Ryan Kelly, vice president and general manager of Salinas-based Boutonnet Farms in Monterey County. On July 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified shredded iceberg lettuce from a Taylor Farms facility in Mexico as a possible source of the outbreak. The product was pulled from stores and restaurants after the company initiated a recall. But for many consumers, doubts about the safety of fresh produce persisted. Last month, lettuce prices
See 'Cyclospora' Page 14
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ast May, I conducted a quick evaluation of three robotic precision sprayers as part of the Morning Star ag technology field day in Fresno County. This type of field day provides valuable opportunities for growers, PCAs, and UC Cooperative Extension advisors such as myself to be able to see new equipment in action. Commercially available and full size units from Ecorobotix, Verdant, and Niqo participated and were operated during the field day in a commercial processing tomato field. In addition to the sprayers, robotic cultivators from Farm Wise and Zurama also were working the field. The Weed Spider robot cultivator from New Zealand was also there but could not be demonstrated due to software issues. Precision sprayers and precision cultivators work through a system of cameras, plant recognition software, and computer-controlled actuators. Once they have been “trained” to recognize the crop, they have the ability to remove weeds within
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026
the crop row, and thus offer the opportunity to reduce hand weeding costs. I have evaluated robotic cultivators for many years in tomatoes for both crop safety and weed control, but have never conducted a trial with precision sprayers. Thus, when Morning Star gave me the opportunity to work with these companies, I jumped at the chance. During field days, precision sprayers have the disadvantage of not being able to use herbicides in the spray tank. Most herbicides are very safe to people and pets, but even low risk category IV materials have restricted entry intervals, and it would be unreasonable to ask field day attendees to wear PPE. Instead, blue dye is often added to water so that the targeting abilities can be demonstrated. Unfortunately, this doesn’t provide good information on weed control and crop safety. For this reason, I set up a replicated trial and ran the sprayers the day before the field day, using the OMRI approved contact herbicide Suppress, which is capric + caprylic acid. Suppress works quickly
by burning leaf tissue, in to the untreated plots; at 4 a similar way that straight days after spraying, weed vinegar can be used to kill control declined slightly to 70 small weeds in sidewalk – 78% as some of the larger cracks, but has no residual weeds were not killed by activity. the treatment and resprouted The site was an organic (Figure 1). Crop injury processing tomato field that was minimal – about 5.7% had been transplanted two of the tomato plants were weeks prior and had not been mistakenly sprayed. Because cultivated. Bed configuration they were only spraying the was 2 rows on an 80-inch center 2 feet of the bet, all bed with subsurface drip three sprayers used less than irrigation. Based on plant 10 gallons per acre. counts, there were about 1 While expensive, to 2 weeds per square foot, precision sprayers are mostly nightshade, at the time improving rapidly and of application. The precision provide additional weed sprayers were run at 2 mph control options that were using Suppress at 6% v/v and simply unavailable 20 years included Biolink acidifier and ago, especially in organic spreader-sticker surfactant. I production systems. The collected data on how well results from this trial location the sprayers hit the target suggest two passes may weeds as well as off-target be needed in processing hits to the tomatoes. tomatoes to achieve >90% This was a challenging weed control, but this can be field for these machines, with done quickly and with good high weed pressure, variable crop safety. Additionally, all crop size and stand, and three offer the potential to plants that were moving with make precision applications the wind. Nonetheless, all of fertilizers and fungicides, three performed well. At 24 further increasing their onhours, weed control ranged farm useability and ROI. from 83 to 92% as compared Processing Tomato Precision Sprayer Trial 2026 UTC Verdant Nico Ecorobotix 0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
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1.00
1.20
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Weeds per square ft 7-May
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All three precision sprayers significantly reduced the number of weeds in the planted zone as compared to the untreated plots in this organic processing tomato field near Firebaugh, CA.
Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
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Merced FFA Ranked As A National Chapter
By: Alexandra Carlson, Merced FFA Reporter
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erced High School’s FFA program has recently been recognized as a nationally ranked ThreeStar FFA Chapter! Out of the 5,9591 FFA Chapters throughout the National, only 475 received this honor. That is less than 4.9% being recognized. This is an outstanding achievement that reflects the hard work, dedication, and commitment of its students and advisors. Our chapter will be formally recognized at the National FFA Convention in October, where top FFA chapters from across the country will be honored for their
By: Drake Fifield, Los Banos FFA Reporter
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he Los Banos FFA officer team spent multiple days this summer preparing, planning, and recruiting for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year. The newly elected officer team consists of Ariana Flores, President; Gavin Lewis, Vice President; Gianna Polini, Secretary; Ethan Pacheco, Treasurer; Drake Fifield, Reporter; and Andrew Goins, Sentinel. The officer retreat was held on July 27-28, newly elected officers took their annual officer photos at the Bird Ranch. After pictures, the officers began their planning session where they mapped out the entire school year from the monthly meetings to the program of
accomplishments. The application process began in early 2026, when Merced High School’s FFA chapter applied for the California State Competition. To advance to the national level, chapters must demonstrate excellence in areas such as leadership, student involvement, community service, agricultural education, and overall chapter development. Merced High School’s FFA chapter had to place within the top 10 percent of FFA chapters in California in order to qualify for national recognition. Our chapter was able to meet all the requirements and advanced to the national evaluation process. At the national level,
FFA chapters are awarded a rating of One, Two, or Three Stars, with Three Stars representing the highest level of recognition. This award establishes Merced High School’s FFA program as one of the strongest and most successful programs in the nation! This recognition is a huge honor for Merced High School and the entire FFA community. It
activities, and designed the annual themed shirts which students can purchase on the Los Banos High School student store along with other Los Banos FFA apparel. The shirts represent this year’s theme: “All in for Agriculture.” Moving on to day two of the retreat, officers spent a day full of making memories, enjoying the moments, and strengthening their bonds as a team at the Mount Hermon ropes course. Throughout the retreat, they strengthened important skills like leadership, teamwork, and communication. These skills will be extremely important in the upcoming year during meetings, activities, and banquets. The retreat would not have been possible without the FFA advisors Mr. Bretz, Mrs. Souza, Mr.
McCullough, Mr. Hill, Mrs. Falaschi, Mr. Borelli, and the new student teacher Mrs. Mattingly. Following the officer retreat, the team spent two days and multiple hours recruiting new FFA members from every grade at Tiger Prowl. Officers had a great time meeting new people and informing them about the opportunities and experiences that the FFA organization has to offer.
highlights the dedication of the students who participate in FFA, the support of their advisors, families, school, and community, and the program’s commitment to developing future leaders through agricultural education and hands-on experiences. So thank you to everyone who has been involved with our chapter!
The 2026-2027 chapter officers with advisor Mrs. Kuhr at banquet.
All In For Agriculture The officers hope to see all FFA members at the first meeting of the year on Monday, August 17. The beginning of the year barbecue and cornhole activities will begin at 6:00 p.m. in front of the MPB, followed by the meeting at 7:00 p.m. inside the MPB. Los Banos FFA is ready to go “All in for Agriculture” and make the 2026-2027 school year one to remember!
Andrew Goins, Drake Fifield, Gavin Lewis, Ariana Flores, Gianna Polini, Ethan Pacheco
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Cyclospora
continued from page 11 and raspberries 28.1%, while fresh produce sales on the whole declined 9.9% from July 18 to Aug. 8. Fresh berry production is also concentrated on California’s Central Coast. Farmers said the downturn in produce sales will have far-reaching impacts. Each year, the Salinas Valley’s roughly seven-month-long vegetable season attracts tens of thousands of workers to not only harvest crops but work in processing, trucking and other ancillary services. “It’s going to be very painful for the Salinas Valley farming community,” Kelly said. “It has a lot of implications if it continues.” His farm already had orders for October canceled, he said, and he suspected the fallout could last even longer. Meanwhile, Puglia said time was running out for farmers in Southern California and Arizona, where vegetable production shifts during winter, to make planting decisions, purchase seeds and secure work crews to prepare their fields. “When the market is this disrupted, it’s very difficult to plan your acreage,” he said. “We just don’t know what demand is going to look like by the time those vegetables are ready to harvest.” Food safety Farmers said the crisis in consumer confidence caused by the cyclospora outbreak was the most severe they had experienced since a 2006 E. coli outbreak that was linked to California-grown spinach. The event prompted growers and shippers in the state to form the California Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement. The voluntary
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026 agreement, which covers virtually all of the state’s commercial production, established rigorous food safety rules, traceback and recall protocols, and mandatory government audits for participating farms and handlers. Other fresh produce commodity groups have established similar food safety standards, which are continuously updated. “The preponderance of the produce supply is very safe,” said Trevor Suslow, a food safety consultant and emeritus professor at the University of California Cooperative Extension. But despite producers’ efforts, Suslow said, consumers can still struggle to navigate food-borne outbreaks. “It’s very difficult for individuals to really know how they might be exposed,” he said. “It’s easier to just say, ‘Well, I’m not going to take a chance. I’m not going to buy any of it.’” According to experts, the benefits of eating fresh produce far outweigh the risks. Suslow said characteristics specific to cyclospora make the parasite hard to detect and kill—factors that may have stymied investigators this summer and worsened confusion among consumers. As of this week, an FDA investigation into the source of the outbreak remained ongoing. “It hasn’t been possible to have that smoking gun moment,” said Suslow, who has
consulted on food safety for Taylor Farms—among other produce companies—and last month visited the farms and processing facility in Mexico implicated in the outbreak. He said it was possible— even likely—the cyclospora outbreak did not come from fresh produce at all and instead stemmed from cyclospora endemic to the U.S. that survived wastewater treatment. Regardless of the actual source, Suslow said, when a produce category is rightly or wrongly implicated, “That consumer confidence can take years to recover.” Puglia said that while the food safety standards farms adhere to are posted publicly, the cyclospora outbreak showed “there is a need to open the doors wider and give consumers greater visibility into the food safety practices and standards we have developed.” San Joaquin County farmer Federico Toledo sells lettuce at the Davis Farmers Market in Yolo County, which reported increased demand for leafy greens as shoppers avoided large retailers. Farmers markets The shift in consumer behavior hasn’t harmed everyone. Sales of frozen and canned products increased
as some shoppers opted for processed alternatives, according to NielsenIQ. Others have sought vendors that offer a shorter, more local and more transparent supply chain. “Farmers markets are experiencing their glory right now,” said Randii MacNear, who manages seven markets in Yolo, Sacramento and Placer counties. MacNear said demand for lettuce was booming, with customers reserving orders in advance and showing up to markets at the crack of dawn. “You can’t keep it on the stand,” she said. Federico Toledo, owner of Lodi-based Toledo Farms, said lettuce was mostly out of season in San Joaquin County, but he was coaxing a few plants along in the shade of a tree to supply marketgoers who told him they had become skeptical of storebought produce. “They’re looking for it,” Toledo said of his locally grown leafy greens. While no food is completely free of risk, MacNear said it makes a difference to people who shop at her markets when they can hear directly from a farmer. “They know who grew their food,” she said. “It’s all right there in front of you.”
Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
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California Regulators Pass Rules Limiting What Replacement Tires Drivers Can Purchase
By: Louis Casiano, Fox Business
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alifornia regulators on Monday approved new rules that will restrict which replacement tires can be sold across the state in an effort to meet energy-efficiency standards. The new regulations, unanimously adopted by the California Energy Commission (CEC), will phase out tires that fail to meet these standards — a move that could restrict a large portion of the tires currently available to drivers. "This ultimately is about protecting consumers," said David Hochschild, Chairman of the California Energy Commission, as reported
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by KCRA-TV. "I see this as sheltering the public from higher costs in the long run." Fox News Digital has reached out to several tire manufacturers, including Goodyear,Michelin, and Bridgestone. The new rules target rolling resistance: the amount of energy it takes for a tire to roll down a road. Lower rolling resistance allows vehicles to consume less gasoline or electricity. While factory-installed tires on new vehicles typically feature low rolling resistance, drivers often replace them with cheaper, less efficient tires. The new rules aim to ensure that replacement tires maintain energy efficiency levels
similar to those of original factory tires. The first phase of the program begins in 2029, targeting the most inefficient replacement tires on the market. The allowable rolling-resistance threshold drops even further starting in 2033. According to the CEC, California drivers could save $79 in fuel or electricity costs over four months during Phase 1, and about $153 over seven months during Phase 2. The CEC estimates that Phase 2 rules will add an average of about $6.50 to the cost of each tire, the New York Post reported. "These regulations are a tool within our authority that can save money for
every Californian," said Commissioner Nancy Skinner. Goodyear voiced concerns over the mandate, arguing that it would pass additional costs onto consumers. Representatives noted that around 70% of tires currently sold in the state would be eliminated by 2033. Several categories are excluded from the new rules, including snow tires, used and retreaded tires, deep-tread off-road tires, motorcycle tires, and tires sold for emergency vehicles. The regulations stem from Assembly Bill 844, a 2003 California law requiring the commission to set state tireefficiency standards.
Obituary: Roger William Wood Dec. 12, 1940 - Aug. 5, 2026
oger was born in Merced, California but he called Atwater home throughout his entire life with the exception of his college years and time spent serving in the military. It was the community where he grew up, built lasting memories, and remained deeply rooted. Roger leaves behind his wife of 47 years, ChiChi. His 4 children: Daryl Wood (Audra); Andrea Hillyard (Tim); Amy Vann (Steven); and Alan Kamykowski (Kristin). His 12 grandchildren: Alec Wood (Kelsey), Megan Bowen (Joe), Shannon Hillyard, Daniel Vann, Alison Grosbeier, Joseph
Kamykowski, Brett Hillyard, Clay Hillyard, Joshua Vann, Mathew Kamykowski, Haven Kamykowski, Syd Kamykowski. His 5 great grandchildren: Mason and Erin Bowen, Jolene Wood and Ryder Riddle, and Maxine Grosbeier. Celebration of Life on Wednesday, August 26 at 10:00 am at Atwater Community Center. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to local Atwater organizations that were near to Roger’s heart such as the Atwater Historical Society, New Beginnings for Merced County Animals, Atwater Rotary Club and the Atwater Ag Boosters.
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Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026
High-Speed Rail Stalling Merced Town Hall On Station Plans? 'Doesn't Make Any Sense"
By: Erik Galicia, The Fresno agency to explain the plan to Bee residents directly.
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erced officials and activists say the California HighSpeed Rail Authority has so far failed to face residents and fully explain its plans to build its Merced station in a rural space outside city limits rather than downtown as planned. The state agency revealed the idea in January and says it could save $1 billion for the project. Speaking during Wednesday’s rail board meeting, Merced County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo said his constituents “don’t believe it” and that he’s continuously asked the
“We can’t get you guys to come and explain this, but you can go to Fresno and speak at Fresno," Pedrozo said. “You have to go through Merced to get to Fresno. It doesn’t make any sense to me.” Pedrozo was not alone in his frustration at Wednesday’s meeting, which came two days after rail authority CEO Ian Choudri spoke in Fresno at a Rotary Club luncheon. Others said the rail authority still has not provided a clear picture of its Merced plans and criticized the agency for pursuing ideas that require changes to state law rather than sticking
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with the project’s previous promises. A 2022 state law called SB 198 defines the rail’s Central Valley segment as 171-mile, dual-track line between Bakersfield and downtown Merced. State legislators would have to amend the law for the rail authority to instead build the Merced station off Highway 99 and Mission Avenue — a location that would also shorten the Central Valley segment. The idea came after the rail authority last August published various, alternative build-out scenarios that did not include Merced at all in the project’s initial phase. Merced officials and advocates have not missed a
rail board meeting since . “Merced County and the city have continued to be a willing partner, but at what cost?” Pedrozo said Wednesday. ‘Groundhog day’ for Merced at rail board During his public comment at the rail board, Pedrozo said it was like “groundhog day” asking the state agency to send someone to Merced. “It’s like we’re just continuing to beat our heads against the wall and expect you guys to do something,” he said. "Please come to our community and explain what is going on.” See 'HSR' Page 17
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Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
HSR
continued from page 16 Merced Deputy City Manager Frank Quintero followed. He said the city would like the rail authority to participate in an “open house” in Merced next month or early October. Quintero said, currently, local officials are “standing alone” trying to explain the rail authority’s plans to
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residents. “Our desire is not to be an impediment or create delays in your process, but to move and come to terms and find solutions,” he said. Henry Perea, a rail board member from Fresno, said he would work on setting up a Merced meeting. CA rail authority criticized for plans to change law Blanca Ojeda, a Merced
advocate with the nonprofit Faith in the Valley, blasted the rail authority for its attempt to change the area’s station location. “This is not simply a change in location,” Ojeda said during public comment. “It is a change in the vision, the economic opportunity and the level of investment Merced was promised.” She added SB 198 clearly mandates that Merced’s
high-speed rail station be built downtown and have connections to the Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak Gold Runner train services. “When did it become acceptable to design a project around changing the law instead of following the law that already exists?” Ojeda said. “Where is the accountability to the people of the Central Valley?”
laboratory for generations of students. “This is a resource. Not for Cal Poly alone, but for agriculture as an industry and California as a whole,” retired plant sciences professor David Headrick told New Times. Headrick taught at Cal Poly for 29 years, specializing in insect pest management and biological control. He said what makes the land special is a combination of what grows there, the soil, and where it sits. Cal Poly’s 2035 Master Plan acknowledges the area as prime farmland. Class 1 land represents some of the highest-quality agricultural soil—topsoil that develops on a geological timeline of about 1 inch every 1,000 years. Once developed, Headrick said, that resource can’t simply be regenerated. “Once you build on it, you never get it back,” he wrote in an Aug. 10 post on his California Insect Science website. Cal Poly is one of four California State University campuses with agricultural programs, alongside Chico State, Fresno State, and Cal Poly Pomona. Headrick said what distinguishes the San
Luis Obispo campus is that students can walk from the academic core to working agricultural fields in about 10 minutes. At other campuses, accessing farmland can require transportation that cuts into lab time. Headrick spent nearly three decades making that walk with his students. Cal Poly agriculture alumna Danilu Jelderks remembers experiencing the same progression from the student side. “From the time I started at Cal Poly, I was 18, all the way till I graduated, I worked on the farmlands there at school,” she said. Students learned about agriculture in class and then went outside to practice it. As freshmen, Jelderks said, they picked up sprinkler pipe and laid it in the fields. By senior year, they were driving tractors while younger students loaded the trailers. “We got to do everything,” she said, “from planting the crops, to taking care of them, fertilizing them, watering them, and then all the way to harvest.” The experience carried directly into her career. Jelderks now owns a consulting firm specializing
in agricultural water quality compliance, and her first job after graduation was as an agronomist. “When I showed up for my first day at work as an agronomist, I had already been taught how to drive tractors and plant the crops and irrigate,” she said. “It’s different than learning in a textbook.” The current proposal revives a development proposal that Headrick and other members of Cal Poly’s agricultural community thought had been settled a decade ago. In 2015, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong’s administration considered building on agricultural land near the western entrance to campus, including placing a hotel near the lemon orchard at Highway 1 and Highland Drive. “The pushback from students, alums, and industry partners was swift, loud and sustained,” Headrick recalled. The development did not move forward. Cal Poly subsequently developed its Master Plan 2035, finalized in 2020, which was intended to guide campus development through 2035. The plan
A plan to develop Cal Poly’s west campus puts agricultural land at risk By: Chole Hodge, News Times
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or generations of Cal Poly agriculture students, some of the university's most important classrooms haven't had walls. Their classrooms are the lemon groves and crop fields stretching along the western edge of campus, where students can walk out of a lecture and, within minutes, find themselves laying irrigation pipe, planting crops, driving tractors, studying pests, or harvesting what they grew. Now, some of that land could become something very different. Cal Poly is exploring a mixed-use development on agricultural land near Highland Drive that could bring housing, a hotel and conference center, senior living, restaurants, retail, and other amenities to what the university is calling the West Campus District. The concept is preliminary, and Cal Poly told New Times that no decisions have been made. But the land being considered for development isn’t vacant or unused. It includes Class 1 prime farmland that has served as a hands-on
See 'Cal Poly' Page 18
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Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026
Cal Poly
That “bustling neighborhood” could include housing for students, faculty, staff, and alumni; senior living; research and development space for agtech companies; a hotel and conference center; retail and dining; child care and elder care; and parks and trails. Development is estimated to cost more than $880 million, according to the presentation. Cal Poly argues those uses could create new learn by doing opportunities, with students living alongside researchers and industry partners, and ag-tech companies working near the university’s agricultural and research operations. School spokesperson Keegan Koberl told New Times that the university has spent the past year discussing possibilities with students, alumni, and others across the campus community, with additional conversations planned. “At this time, no decisions have been made,” Koberl said.
He also said any eventual proposal would preserve the university’s agricultural teaching capacity. “There would be no net loss of agricultural land used for student learning—in fact, the university would provide more agricultural land than it does today,” Koberl said. The university did not specify where that additional agricultural land would be located, whether it would also be prime farmland, or how much of the existing fields and orchards near Highland Drive could be developed. Koberl said Cal Poly does not anticipate making any final decisions before fall 2026 at the earliest. The proposal also wouldn’t go through San Luis Obispo County’s normal land-use permitting process. “The county does not have land-use or permitting authority over Cal Poly’s proposal because the project is proposed on land owned by the state of California,” county Planning and Building Deputy Director Mark LaRue
told New Times. If the project fell within the county’s jurisdiction, LaRue said, individual plans would need to be evaluated in depth to determine the appropriate processing path, “including CEQA applicability.” But the county could still comment and work with Cal Poly as the concept develops. For Jelderks, what stands to be lost is less abstract. The fields gave her the chance to make mistakes, operate equipment, manage crops, and learn the physical work of agriculture before an employer depended on her to know how to do it. “Without the farmland being there, it would have been so hard to excel in our careers after school,” she said. “Everybody that I talked to now, as colleagues, they had similar experiences at Cal Poly, and it was just really impactful during our time there.”
data procedures amid growing concerns among .S. Senate Democrats farmers, grain merchants asked the Department and investors about marketmoving data produced by the of Agriculture late agency. on Wednesday to explain In July, the USDA what caused the agency to reported a nearly 500% jump vastly overstate beef export in weekly U.S. beef export sales last month and what sales before revising the role department staff losses figure down by 90% a week played in the mistake. later, calling it "an isolated Six senators, led by Amy processing issue." Klobuchar, a Democrat The beef export sales from Minnesota and ranking error was the latest of a member of the Senate series of questionable USDA Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, sent a reports amid c oncerns about letter to USDA Deputy Under data quality after staffing Secretary Michelle Bekkering losses during the Trump seeking details about USDA's administration's reshaping of
the federal government. Last summer, analysts voiced concerns about agency data integrity after the USDA delayed a report and excluded findings that pointed to tariffs as a reason for a forecasted increase in the agricultural trade d eficit. And early this year, industry economists and farmers raised questions about the accuracy of USDA reports after the agency issued massive unexpected revisions to U.S. corn acreage. These revisions prompted USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, which releases acreage estimates, to
launch an internal review. Traders and analysts had cast doubt on the beef export data because it included sales to some countries that were several times larger than those countries had ever purchased from the United States. The data error came as consumers grappled with soaring beef prices and as meat packers have shuttered beef plants amid the smallest U.S. cattle herd in decades. The lawmakers sought information about what caused the error and measures being taken to
continued from page 17 identified approximately 250 acres of prime farmland that were explicitly excluded from further development— the current land included. “So here we are 10 years later,” Headrick said, “and he is doing the same thing.” This time, the university is framing development of the area as an expansion of the same “learn by doing” philosophy the existing fields support. A May 12 Cal Poly presentation describes the West Campus District as a new gateway to campus and a “transformative vision” for a community built around agriculture, research, industry, and housing. “The site’s current role as a living classroom—home to lemon groves and active fields—is not just history, but an opportunity to create a bustling neighborhood, interwoven with industry partnerships and activation,” the presentation states.
Senate Democrats question USDA about data errors, staff losses
By:Karl Plume, Reuters
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See 'Data Errors' Page 19
Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
Data Errors
being used to shape federal tariff policies and assess continued from page 18 progress on trade deals, and prevent reporting problems to detail staff losses since in the future, according to the President Donald Trump letter dated August 19, which returned to the White House. was reviewed by Reuters. The lawmakers said that They also asked the USDA questions about the reliability to explain how its d ata is of USDA data are not new,
Page 19 but that problems with data errors can have broader ripple effects. "When issues like this arise, it can c ause downstream market impacts at all levels of the cattle industry, as well as consumers," the senators
wrote. "An erosion of trust in this data would not only undermine domestic markets but could also lead to further damage in U.S. relationships with our trading partners."
an “adjustment factor” to the program that allows employers to adjust the hourly wage to account for the cost of housing. Cholera said it still sounds like the H2A worker is losing out. “Well, the DOL may say, ‘We’re not eliminating it, we’re just reducing your pay to account for it,’” Cholera said. “Respectfully, that doesn’t make any sense. I mean, if you’re reducing someone’s pay to account for something, that thing isn’t free.” One of the complaints about the H2A program is that it was too costly for most farmers. In fact, many agricultural groups have been in support of
the changes, saying, in part, that it helps lower labor costs during a time of severe labor shortages. But Cholera said statistics show a steady increase in the number of employers using guest worker labor, not a decline. According to the American Farm Bureau, H-2A positions have grown by more than 25% since fiscal year 2021, rising from 317,619 to 398,258 in fiscal year 2025. Cholera also said the notion that not having enough workers is a threat to the nation’s food supply is exaggerated. “There’s no reason why they needed to accelerate a drop in wages in order to address a food
Legal Challenge of New Wage Rule for Foreign Guest Farmworkers in Hands of Fresno Judge By:Karl Plume, Reuters
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U.S. District Court judge is expected to issue a ruling soon in a legal effort by the United Farm Workers to rescind the Department of Labor’s new wage rates for foreign guest workers in agriculture. The union argues the new interim final rule significantly lowers the wages for workers in the H2A program, a strategy that allows U.S. agricultural employers to temporarily hire workers from another country when no domestic workers can be found. As part of the program, farmers are required to pay H2A workers an hourly wage that does not adversely affect the wages of domestic workers. Use of the program has grown in the last five years as farmers say they can’t find enough workers nationwide. At the same time, agriculture industry leaders have called for a less cumbersome and less costly guest worker program. In response, the U.S. Department of Labor revised the wage rules in October 2025, along with other parts of the program, including the requirement to provide housing.
In March, lawyers for the UFW sought a preliminary injunction against the new wage rules but were denied. A motion for summary judgment was filed in July, and arguments from the union and the DOL were heard Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sheriff. Union lawyer Kuntal Cholera, of Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, D.C., said the changes have drastically reduced the wages of H2A workers and triggered lower wages for non-H2A farmworkers. He said the DOL’s new rules classify most farmworkers as low skilled, placing them in the bottom tier of the salary scale. But that doesn’t come close to reflecting the market rate salary for farmworkers overall, a key factor in ensuring H2A workers’ wages don’t adversely effect those of other farmworkers. Cholera also criticized the changes in the requirement that farmers must provide housing for guest workers. Although DOL officials said they have not eliminated the housing requirement, it has changed. Patrick Keating, trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, said the government added
See 'Wage Rule' Page 20
MERCED COUNTY FARM BUREAU
CultivatED AGRICULTURE EDUCATION PROGRAM
In Classroom Presentations
Grades TK - 4th
Free for schools in Merced County
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Wage Rule
continued from page 19 crisis or a labor shortage,” he said. “There’s no reason why farm establishments couldn’t just hire more labor at approximate market rates. We would submit that would probably make it easier to solve the labor crisis, not harder.” The judge asked
H
ere in Mariposa County, wildfire is always a top concern. It is part of the reality of living, ranching and doing business in the foothills. Residents have watched fires consume our landscape, threaten our communities, destroy homes, force evacuations and devastate grazing lands. We remember the Detwiler Fire, the Ferguson Fire and the Oak Fire vividly. We know what happens when dry grass and heavy brush meet hot summer temperatures and wind. That is why it is so difficult to understand why California would pursue policies that threaten one of the most practical tools we have for reducing vegetation: livestock grazing. The expiration of the goat-herder provisions established under California SB 143 threatens the economics of targeted goat grazing at exactly the wrong time. California should be putting more goats on the landscape, not making it financially impossible to
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026 the government’s attorney why there wasn’t any data in the interim final rule (IFR) showing evidence of a labor shortage. “There have been zero releases at the border by the government over a couple of months, but I’m not seeing any citations to evidence that whatever was done at the border had any effect on labor in agricultural,”
Sheriff said. Keating said an exact number is difficult to come by, given that many agriculture workers are not legal residents. “I do think that the IFR contains a fair amount of evidence to suggest that given that there’s an increase in H2A certification requests, and given that there’s a generalized decrease in
illegal immigration, that it would then logically follow that there is also a decrease in labor,” Keating said. “Otherwise, why would farmers that typically rely on unregulated labor then turn to H2A?” The judge said at the close of the nearly two-hour hearing in Fresno that he would issue his decision as “expeditiously” as possible.
keep them there. Few counties understand wildfire risk better than Mariposa. The 2017 Detwiler Fire burned 81,826 acres in Mariposa County and destroyed 134 structures. The Ferguson Fire followed in 2018, burning 96,831 acres, and the 2022 Oak Fire burned nearly 19,000 acres. These aren't numbers on a government spreadsheet to us, they represent our neighbors, ranches, homes, livestock, businesses and communities. Every one of these fires reminds us that wildfire prevention cannot begin when the smoke is already in the air. It must begin months and years beforehand through responsible land management. That means maintaining defensible space, creating fuel breaks, thinning vegetation, using prescribed fire where appropriate, and grazing livestock. There is no single solution to wildfire, we need every reasonable tool available. Ranchers have been
managing vegetation with livestock for generations, goats are particularly useful because they readily consume many types of brush, weeds and vegetation that other
livestock passes over. They can be moved strategically and can work terrain where tractors, mowers and other mechanical equipment may See 'Grazing Wildfires' Page 22
Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
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exploitation. But fair labor policy must also recognize continued from page 20 the reality of the occupation. Range herding is not a be difficult or expensive to conventional eight-hour-aoperate. day job. Herders frequently In the foothills, that live near the animals in matters, we have steep their care. They monitor hillsides, rocky ground, livestock, move animals, oak woodland, brush and provide water, watch for areas with limited access to illnesses and predators and equipment. A goat doesn't keep herds within designated need a road to get to the brush, and a goat doesn't need grazing areas. California has recognized that distinction diesel fuel to eat it. for sheepherders, it should Unfortunately, while recognize it for goat herders one branch of government as well. recognizes the value of This issue is part of a grazing, another creates much larger problem facing regulations that could make California agriculture, it unaffordable. California SB 143 temporarily provided farmers and ranchers are continually being asked to qualifying goat herders absorb higher costs. Labor with an alternative monthly goes up, fuel goes up, minimum-wage structure insurance goes up, equipment like the one used for sheepherders. That provision goes up, feed goes up, transportation goes up, and expired July 1, 2026. regulatory compliance goes California's own up. Farmers and ranchers Department of Industrial cannot simply add all those Relations reported in expenses to the price of March that the alternative the commodity being sold. minimum monthly wage Eventually, the math stops for range goat herders was mathing. scheduled to expire and that When that happens, stakeholders agreed sheep and goat herders should have farmers don't magically find another source of money. the same minimum monthly They reduce production, wage because the workers stop hiring, sell livestock, and their duties are similar leave California or go out and frequently overlap. That conclusion should have ended of business. The same economic reality applies to the debate. If the work is markedly the targeted-grazing contractors. If the cost of employing same, why should California goat herders becomes create dramatically different unreasonable, grazing labor costs depending upon companies will have to whether the animal being dramatically increase what herded is a sheep or a goat? they charge landowners, It makes no practical sense, utilities and government but the state of California agencies. Eventually those rarely does. customers will say no, and Farm Bureau believes when the goats leave, the agricultural employees brush keeps growing. should be treated fairly. Here in Mariposa County, Herders perform difficult CAL FIRE is currently and valuable work. They pursuing fuel-reduction deserve fair compensation, appropriate living conditions work near the community of Mariposa using methods and protection from
Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026 including mastication and prescribed burning. Those are important tools and Farm Bureau supports responsible fuel reduction, and grazing belongs in that toolbox too. The worst thing California can do is eliminate an option because Sacramento has made the labor costs economically impossible. Every acre responsibly grazed before fire season is an acre where vegetation can potentially be reduced before it becomes fuel. California policymakers sometimes seem to forget that agriculture is not the enemy of environmental stewardship. Farmers and ranchers manage millions of acres of open space. They maintain water systems, fences and roads. They manage grasslands and livestock. They understand vegetation, weather and the land because their livelihoods depend upon it.
In rural counties like Mariposa, agriculture is also an important partner in wildfire resilience. Instead of placing another regulatory obstacle in front of grazing operations, California should be asking a different question: How do we make it easier to put livestock to work reducing hazardous vegetation? The Legislature should restore a workable alternative monthly wage structure for qualifying goat herders, maintain strong worker protections and ensure that sheep and goat herders performing substantially similar jobs are treated equitably. This isn't about choosing ranchers over workers. It is about developing labor policy that allows both to survive. A regulation that makes a job economically impossible doesn't protect that job, it eliminates it.
Merced County Farm News • August 21, 2026
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Merced County Farm News •August 21, 2026