Ken Doty
Santa Barbara County avocado and citrus grower

The year-end is fast approaching and is always a good time to reflect upon both the past and coming year. Here in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, we started out with flooding rains, moved on through a mild summer, and we are presently going through a marginally cold period.

Most avocado and lemon growers escaped major weather-related damage this year, although mudslides and tree losses occurred due to the heavy rains.

The 2004-05 California Hass avocado crop totaled 288 million pounds. Because the industry over estimated the domestic crop and then shorted the market, prices were surprisingly strong.

Current estimates for 2005-06 are in the 500-million-pound range, the biggest domestic crop since 1993. Moving this much larger volume, at acceptable prices, will be a challenge.

On the lemon front, last year was mostly average in volume and return. The coming crop seems to be a bit larger. CALGA, the recently formed California Arizona Lemon Growers Association, hopes to have some beneficial effect upon pricing and industry information.

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George Tibbitts
Colusa County rice grower

The 2005 California rice crop is all in the warehouses now. Our fields are in various forms of over-wintering mode, all of which provide habitat for numerous wildlife species, particularly waterfowl.

Looking back at the 2005 crop year, the contrast to 2004 is remarkable. In 2004 the crop was marked by record acreage in California (600,000 acres), and also by perfect growing weather throughout the season. That resulted in very high yields.

Of course, the combination of high acreage and yield led to record production for the year, which unfortunately also led to a perceived glut of rice that put substantial downward pressure on prices for the 2004 California rice crop.

In 2005, the sting of low prices from 2004 led to a reduction in acreage. In addition, Mother Nature decided to make up for her benevolence the previous year and really punished us with a miserable, cold, wet spring.

Late rains kept even more acreage out of production, and what was planted was hindered by the long string of cool days well into June. After that, we endured an exceptionally hot summer that also took its toll on the crop. The net result was, naturally, greatly reduced yields (perhaps 20 percent or more lower than the year before).

And so the teeter-totter has gone the other way. Lower acreage in 2005 and low yields led to greatly reduced rice production in California for the year, and the price has strengthened considerably.

Now the question now is: Will high prices now lead to a surge in acreage once again in 2006? The answer will depend on many factors, such as what type of winter we have (how much rainfall and therefore water availability next year?), and what the prospects are for other commodities at planting time?

Hopefully, the teeter-totter will balance somewhere in the middle and we won't have to ride it all the way down again.

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Mike Bartley
Lassen County beef cattle producer

Most of this fall has been spent wrapping up from the summer. We weaned all the calves the first weekend of October and preg checked all the cows. We had about a 91 percent conception rate, which we were happy with. We always hope for better, but since it was our first year to artificially inseminate the whole herd, we were satisfied. We have been A.I.ing (artificially inseminating) the replacement heifers and the registered cows for a lot of years, but only started A.I.ing the main herd this year.

We started ripping two fields to be laser leveled in the spring, however, the wet weather overtook us before we could finish. After back grounding the calves, we shipped the steers to the sale and hit a good market.

We also have shipped some cows to the valley to pasture and will ship the replacement heifers this week. I have two young Angus cows that I am going to flush once or twice this winter, depending on the response we get. After that we will settle into feeding and winter chores. Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year.

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Pat Borrelli
Merced County alfalfa/cotton/green bean grower

Hah! We are finally finished for the season and it was a season that seamed to last for ever. Because of the weather the crops didn't mature as quickly as usual. As a result bean harvest was later than in the past. We all just held our breath for the delay of rain.

God graced us with that blessing. Harvest is finished. All the crops are in and it was a great year. But, it is a vicious cycle because we no sooner got the crops out of the field and had to start work for next year.

We have the cotton beds in, the new alfalfa is planted, the oats are planted and wheat is in too. The ground work is finished and we are waiting for a big rain and cold weather--too cold to even get in the shop so we can rest.

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Lori Souza Cardoza
Tulare County dairy operator

Tulare County dairy country is very dry and in much need of some rain. Production is holding steady and the state has not seen any significant weather changes to hinder it. Feed costs are staying up above average and next year seems to be about the same outlook with maybe a few commodities coming down in price.

The demand for good quality alfalfa hay is high and we anxiously await the next crop coming from the most southern part of our state. The environmental climate is a bit quiet and there seems to be a growing interest in manure management. It is my opinion that this will continue to be the topic of discussion and research as we face increased environmental regulation.

Happy Holidays to all and--don't forget to bake with real butter and consume lots of hot chocolate made with MILK, not water!

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Jim Rietkerk
San Bernardino County nursery grower

In the last board meeting with Riverside County Farm Bureau, all the commodities were very positive. Prices were up a little here, a little there. Hay people were doing well; dairy people were doing well; turf people were doing well.

In my business, I find the gross up. Margins are always a little tighter. Our major concern for this winter is the doubling of fuel prices and how that will come into play.

Markets are good. Crops are growing well. But those are the issues--the increasing costs on everybody. I think that goes into play all through agriculture--increasing costs and costs from regulations. Those are issues we face all the time and we face in our areas.

Because our peak market is from January to June, we've been very busy this fall building inventory, building product, putting as much product into our greenhouses as humanly possible to be ready for and optimistic about a good spring season. All indications are that it will be a good one. The fuel cost may defray what you earn, but the only way to have a good season is to be prepared for a good season.