California farming - California

Rally whets Valley water fight - Fresno Bee

18.04.09

But the rally Friday was intended for a much broader audience, and it caught the attention of major media outlets.

Among those who took note: Los Angeles resident Waltona Manion, who drove to attend Friday's march and rally. Manion said she read about the region's water troubles on the Internet and wanted to see how it was affecting San Joaquin Valley residents.

"People in L.A. think that the drought is about cutting down on watering your lawn. People don't realize that this is a crisis," Manion said. "A major rain storm won't solve this issue. There needs to be a change in the conveyance system in California."

The large turnout pleased organizers, who have been working for several years on raising awareness about the state's troubled water-delivery system. After all the empty water bottles were tossed and portable toilets trucked away, many were hoping their work had paid off.

"We were looking for something to unite us, and we did," said Mario Santoyo, a member of the California Latino Water Coalition and an event organizer. "And we are hoping we can continue to move together on this issue."

Source: Fresno Bee, CA

Unemployment in California farming towns?

Sep 16, 2007 by slew | Posted in Immigration

I once heard the Unemployment in California Farming town, like Fresno is higher than some of our more Urban centers. Is that still an accurate picture? Why is there a higher unemployment rate in California farm areas when we need more farm workers, while we have extremely lower unemployment in the city. How does various immigrants figure into this. I remember legal South Eastern Asians having a hard time with employments in these cities. Poverty level is highest in these areas of California, last I checked. My knowledge of this area is a bit old, so anyone who can update me on whats going on in the central valley would be appreciated.
Thanks DAR. I thought picking seasons had something to do with a high unemployment., but I wasn't sure.

My understanding is that it is pretty high. The citrus freeze lead to major funding for those illegally here and unemployed as well as for those legally here. However, you have to look at the numbers carefully, because one way agribusiness makes us subsidize their slave wages to their labor is by the fact that their seasonal employees are 'unemployed' for seasons of each year, and collect benefits, as do their kids, of course. So unemployment doesn't necessarily mean it is not counting people fully employed under agribusiness's seasonal definitions. It just means agribusiness's pay scale doesn't support its workers, who are necessarily seasonal.

DAR | Sep 16, 2007

What are some pros and cons of Northern California small farming? ?

Dec 23, 2008 by skycat | Posted in Renting & Real Estate

I am thinking of a U Pick business on 10 to 20 acres in a rural area outside a good size city or town. Haven't been up there in over 20 years. Any suggestions of nice areas. Thanks.
Thanks everybody.

You will have trouble obtaining liability insurance for the business, and the cost may be very prohibitive of the business. You will also only succeed if you are near a large city, with lots of other U-pick farms.

Brentwood is an example. They have 30 or so farms like this, and their main income comes from the chefs of San Francisco coming in once a week to obtain produce. They will not drive the hour for only one farm, but they will for a selection.

Frog Hollow does well, but it is not U-pick, just organic and they deliver. Their main income comes from NYC restaurants.

Landlord | Dec 23, 2008

Why is farming difficult in Mountain region and Desert Region of california?

May 25, 2008 by  | Posted in Agriculture

Why is farming difficult in Mountain region and Desert Region of california? ( Lack of water? Rocky Soil? And So on)
Name some website that talk about it. thanks, i need these for geography project.

Poor soil and lack of rainfall. Irrigation is expensive and would drain the water table so even if you could have good soil, the irrigation problems would kill any agricultural project.

The weather is bad as well. Mountains get snow and deserts are extreme with their climate (very cold to very hot).

Sara | May 26, 2008