Posts Tagged: agritourism

Nevada profs write the book on California ag

Two University of Nevada, Reno, professors have teamed up to produce a fact-filled, entertaining, practical guide to California agriculture, according to UNR's Nevada News. Geography professor Paul Starrs and art professor Peter Goin coauthored a Field Guide to California Agriculture, published by the University of California Press.

A paperback version of the 504-page book sells for $24.95 from UC Press; Amazon offers it for $16.47.

The authors say California has “the most dramatic modern agricultural landscape in the world."

“Believe us: we, too, try to share our love for the eccentricity and possibility of California. All those miles, all those conversations (routinely in Spanish, which we both speak with some fluency), have brought agriculture to life,” Starrs wrote in the preface.

Goin said he was particularly struck by the state's crop diversity.

"California has so many specialty crops partly because of the state’s ethnic diversity and global markets," Goin noted. "Think chili peppers, pomegranates, pistachios, prickly pear and pima cotton. It’s a visual and culinary feast.”

Why did Nevada professors write about California agriculture? Both love to travel and have roots in the state. Goin’s father worked as a seasonal farmworker in lemon groves while studying at UC Berkeley. Starrs is a resident of both Nevada and California and has spent time discovering the back roads of California, the story said.

Agritourism gets a plug on San Francisco TV

San Francisco consumers learned of educational and fun opportunities for agritourism from a clip on KGO-TV news yesterday about a trend that  boosts the bottom line for farmers involved in quaint agricultural industries.

The segment focused on an organic dairy in Petaluma, an apple U-pick operation in Sebastopol and a sustainable farm that offers over-night stays also in Sebastopol.

"People come from all over the world, although there are many people who just come from San Francisco or Sacramento; it's a short drive to us, it's an easy weekend," Christine Cole of Full House Farm told the reporter.

Penny Leff, the agritourism coordinator for the UC Small Farm Program, said the trend is good for visitors and the local economy.

"More agritourism businesses increase tourism to the county overall," Leff said. "If there are more things for people to do when they are visiting the community, they are more likely to stay overnight. And they are more likely to eat at restaurants in town. Generally there's a great spill over from agritourism businesses to community development."

The TV story also plugged the ANR publication Planning and Managing Agritourism and Nature Tourism Enterprises: A Handbook, and the Small Farm Program's online database of California agritourism operations, http://calagtour.org.

UC publication for farmers interested in agritourism.

UC farm advisor speaks up for local tourism

Maxwell Norton, a Merced County UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor and acting director of UCCE in Mariposa County, provided extensive information to a Merced Sun-Star reporter about efforts to encourage tourism in Merced County and educate visitors about local agricultural roots.

About a year ago, a group of agriculturists got together and starting brainstorming on ways to increase ag tourism, Norton told reporter Carol Reiter. The group formed "Country Ventures" and decided on two goals: To bring more visitor-related dollars into the county and to increase people's knowledge of agriculture.

"We decided it would be good to have an audio tour for Highway 140 from Merced to Mariposa," Norton was quoted. "The highway is so heavily used. That was the logical place to start."

The group prepared a series of recordings that visitors can listen to in their cars while driving the historic roadway that connects the valley floor to Yosemite National Park. MP3 files can be downloaded from the Country Ventures' website. In addition, the recordings are being compiled on CDs to be distributed at the California Visitor Center in Merced.

The recordings include information on:

• Points of historical interest, like the highest grave marker in California
• Types of agricultural crops being grown, including almonds, peaches, and pistachios
• History of local communities, such as Planada, which was laid out like Paris, France
• Signs of early Native American residents, like pictographs
• Wildlife and wildlife habitat, including vernal pools
• Geological features
• Gold Rush history

"Our target audience is people from other states and other countries," the article quoted Norton. "We want people to realize the San Joaquin Valley has a lot to offer in itself. It's not just a place to get through on your way to Yosemite."

Norton is one of two narrators on the audio recordings.

Maxwell Norton.

Ranches can increase income with agritourism

Cattle ranches may be able to boost the bottom line by inviting tourists onto their land for bird watching, hiking, photography or just getting an up-close look at California beef production.

This was the message shared by the director of UC Cooperative Extension in Sierra and Plumas counties, Holly George, at UCCE's annual Oakdale Livestock Forum, according to a story published today in the Modesto Bee.

"I would advise you to look at what you have and genuinely share that," George was quoted in the story.

As an example, George cited the annual Eagles and Agriculture event near Carson City, where raptors flock each year during winter calving season. Eagles and Agriculture -- which attracts photographers, birders and nature-lovers who wish to observe bald and golden eagles, hawks, falcons, owls and a variety of other bird and wildlife species -- demonstrates the potential for interaction between nature and agriculture.

Cattle farmer Judy Scheppmann, who runs 100 head of cattle on her 360-acre ranch near Farmington, opens her property to a horseback riding group and for garden club gatherings.

"(Ranching is) a way of life, and I would hope the young people could come and appreciate where their food is produced," she said.

An American bald eagle photographed by UC weed scientist Joseph DiTamaso.

City folk get a look at local ag

When 250 people climbed aboard buses for an annual tour of North Sacramento Valley agricultural operations this week, among them was Chico Enterprise reporter Heather Hacking to document the trip for the newspaper's readers who couldn't attend.

The tour's five stops included a Mediterranean food producer, a pistachio orchard, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s new rail shipment yard, a prune orchard and a walnut farm. At the latter two stops, UC Cooperative Extension researchers explained their work.

In photos accompanying the story, UCCE farm advisor Allan Fulton is shown discussing stress testing trees and farm advisor Richard Buchner is shown explaining the use of pheromones for coddling moth control.

Hacking noted she was aboard Bus 4, in which farm advisor Joe Connell manned the microphone and "chatted up the local farm scenery and answered questions from bus passengers."

A perhaps unfair but fun part of writing this blog is pointing out amusing errors that reporters make.

At a pistachio farm north of Chico, Hacking reported on growers John and Sue Roney's description of their operation.

"The pistachio trees are wind-pollinated and require one male bee for every 25 trees, John Roney told the groups of visitors," Hacking wrote.

Now that would be one busy bee! Actually, I'm pretty sure Roney said that 25 (female) pistachio trees require one male tree for pollination.

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