Food And Farm News
October 28, 2026
Four generations of farming yield a new craft venture
The seeds of Far West Cider Co. first sprouted thousands of miles away from the Chinchiolo family's apple orchards in San Joaquin County. Intrigued by the idea of hard cider, company founder and home brewing enthusiast Adam Chinchiolo mixed up a batch while living in Australia. Then came a few years of state-side planning, training and experimentation to yield a new enterprise for the century-old, largely organic Lucky You Orchards. The company is a true family effort for the Chinchiolos, some of whom taste-tested plenty of hard cider fermented in Adam's garage during the research and development stage. "I think there was some trial and error, but as he refined his cider-making skills, it's gotten a lot better," said patriarch Steve Chinchiolo, who noted he was a fan of the concept from the start, as it allowed the farm to incorporate a value-added product to its core business—growing apples. The hard cider business made its first commercial sale a decade ago, building its brand around apples and other fruit grown by the fourth-generation family farm.
Expert talks illegal cannabis impacts on agriculture
Although California legalized recreational cannabis in 2016, illegal cultivation continues. State officials have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to address the problem. Dan Sumner, a University of California agricultural economist and co-author of "Can Legal Weed Win?: The Blunt Realities of Cannabis Economics," said a major reason for the continued prevalence of illegal cannabis cultivation is that growers seek to avoid the regulatory costs that are borne by agricultural producers, especially in California. "The problem for a grower switching from illegal to legal is that this involves a group of people who have been operating a business without government licenses, without necessarily paying minimum wage, without having a porta-potty on the farm that met state regulations, without having pesticide-use inspectors come," Sumner told Ag Alert® in an interview. "If I went down the list of regulations that farmers must comply with ... there are a lot of them, and they're costly."
New Calrose rice variety has better milling quality
The California Cooperative Rice Research Foundation released the better-milling M-212 Calrose medium-grain rice variety this season to replace M-211, which has some agronomic challenges. At the same time, the foundation plans to retire the 23-year-old M-206 Calrose variety. The goal is to limit the number of Calrose varieties grown in the state to five to minimize variability at mills, where medium-grain loads are frequently commingled. Calrose is the most widely grown type in the state and occupies more than 95% of rice acres. Having too many varieties with variations may complicate milling and processing, said Dustin Harrell, director of the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs. "We don't want to introduce a lot of variability into the end product," Harrell said. "We're very focused on the quality of our Calrose market because we've earned notoriety around the world for our good product."
In case you missed it:
Ag program aims to upskill farmworkers
A program launched two years ago in California aims to teach farmworkers new skills. The Agricultural Technology and Education Collaborative, or AgTEC, program is offered at six colleges in the Central Valley. So far, the program has seen more than 800 enrolled students and about 150 graduates spread across the participating colleges. The program, launched in late 2024, aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive amid agriculture's evolving technologies and needs. While it's open to students of all backgrounds, it's particularly oriented towards farmworkers interested in expanding their agricultural skills. Karen Aceves, AgTEC's regional director, said the program can help fill a need in the changing world of agriculture while retaining workers already in the industry. "We don't know where our industry is going," Aceves said. "We need someone who's adaptable and can adapt to those changes."
For more information about any story in Food and Farm News, contact the California Farm Bureau Marketing/Communications Division at 916-561-5550 or email news@cfbf.com. Connect with us on Facebook, X, or Instagram: @CAFarmBureau.
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