Food & Farm News

Audio Actuality

Wine business becoming more environmentally friendly

Sizing up the rural real estate market

Farm real estate values continue to increase, according to a federal government report. The average value of California farm real estate is $6,500 per acre, an increase of more than 8 percent from 2007. The same report places the average price of cropland at more than $9,900 per acre--almost 2 percent more than in 2007. Farmers renting land in California spent an average of $360 an acre--about $20 more than in 2007.

Dairy farmers get ready for winter

At this time of year dairy farmers are preparing for winter by stocking up on new corn silage and alfalfa hay as feed for dairy cows. Farmers say their production costs are about $2 per hundredweight higher than the price they earn for their milk right now. Farm prices for milk have been volatile this year and will drop again in October. Dairy producers who grow hay themselves say yields are good, which might help them cope with expected lower earnings for their milk.

Wine business gets greener

Wine growers, vintners and distributors all are making their sectors of the business more environmentally friendly. That's the finding of the 10th annual wine executives survey conducted by the director of wine studies at the University of California, Davis, Graduate School of Management. The steady trend continues even though production costs have soared, which tightens available capital. Plans are for wine to be distributed in lighter containers as research provides substitutes for glass.

Family farms permanently preserved for agriculture

Two family farms near Livingston in Merced County have been permanently set aside for farming in a combined local and state effort. The Central Valley Farmland Trust will hold the easements keeping the land in farming, producing almonds, sweet potatoes and blueberries. From 1992 to 2006 more than 9,000 acres of farmland were taken out of food production in Merced County. Preserving these farms will assure continued food production and maintain open space.

Top