California Agricultural Issues Lab
of the University of California
Modern Farmer / June 7, 2021
Droughts in California have been part of agriculture for a very long time…California is a wonderful place for many crops and that has not changed at all.
AIC DIrector Dan Sumner
Sumner presented data and projections for the long term future of California Agriculture to seed industry professionals at the UC Davis Seed Central Oniline Event on December 10.
The Impact of Wildfires on California Agriculture
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
State Capitol, Room 4202
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) State Organic Program (SOP) oversees organic agricultural production, milk and dairy food processing, meat and poultry processing, and retail organic production activities. All organic producers, handlers, and processors must complete the organic registration before the first sale of organic products. The registration process collects information on commodity, location, sales value, acreage, and area. Registration by each operation must be annually renewed unless the registration is no longer
needed.This report uses the data provided by individual operations to provide number of growers, acreage, and farm gate sales revenue for the organic industry in California. Tables are constructed for each commodity, commodity group, county, region, and statewide using the CDFA organic registration data from 2013 to 2016. Registrations are aggregated by the year to which the submission applies.
ABC10 / April 29, 2020
Despite the ad Tyson Foods released over the weekend, saying the food supply chain in America is breaking, UC Davis Professor Daniel Sumner said we could expect to see some higher prices, but he doesn’t expect to see shelves being wiped out anytime soon.
“If you want to have some very specialized meat product, you may find that in short supply in your local market on the day you’re shopping, if you went back the next day, it may be there, but I don’t think anybody has to worry about the supply chain in America, we’re in pretty good shape,” Sumner said.
And he said the only way we will see a shortage is if people panic buy, just like they did with toilet paper.
“As we’ve learned in the past month or two, you could certainly create a shortage in the sense that consumers can altogether if we all ran out and decided to stock up every freezer space that we have with steaks and pork chops,” Summer said.
There is as much food as there has ever been in the fields, but it is not making it to grocery store shelves. Join us for a conversation with an expert panel of researchers, policymakers, and food distributors about how our food supply chain works, why it’s faltering during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether changes should be made to make it more resilient.
AIC Director Dan Sumner will be presenting.
Public Policy Institute of California / February 18, 2020
It is important to recognize that global markets and climates interact, and so what economists call “comparative advantage” remains crucial to economic success. Let’s say climate change makes table grapes more expensive to grow here or moves the season earlier. But if climate change affects Mexican growing conditions even more, climate change could cause grapes to become more profitable and therefore expand in California. The crucial issue looking forward is what will grow well in California compared to other places and compared to other crops.
Dan Sumner
Bakersfield.com / January 15, 2020
Daniel Sumner, an ag economist at UC Davis, said researchers across the state are busy studying the changing patterns of California’s Mediterranean climate.
“We don’t look at the average annual temperature,” he said. “It’s not that interesting.”
When it comes to the effect climate change could have on the Central Valley — California’s fruit basket — Sumner said researchers aren’t seeing changes in summertime high temperatures. Instead, they’re seeing increases in wintertime lows.
The warmer nights are a “big deal,” he said.
Not only do warmer nights limit the all-important chilling hours for some of the valley’s most valuable crops, it opens the door to damaging pests.
“Winter cold controls some pests.”
But the “big headline,” Sumner said, is this: “Winter snow might fall as rain. If that happens, we aren’t ever going to have enough reservoir space for it.”
Western FarmPress / April 12, 2019
“Each of these numbers has a story behind it that I think is interesting,”
the UC’s Sumner says
Bakersfield.com / March 29, 2019
“Everybody I know in agriculture says, ‘Yes, the climate’s changing and
AIC DIrector Dan Sumner
adaptation to that climate change is crucial.’ So that’s not controversial.”