Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have created a searchable atlas that compiles regional research and efforts to deal with water scarcity and drought.
The map, called the Water Adaptation Techniques Atlas, was developed by the agency’s Southwest and California Climate Hubs and so far contains 183 case studies from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah.
The San Diego County Farm Bureau named Mary Matava as its 2022 Farmer of the Year. Matava, involved in the region’s agriculture industry for 45 years, was recognized for her achievement at an awards dinner September 7 at the Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo.
The Farmer of the Year award is presented to an active or retired farmer who has had a positive impact on the agriculture industry, is active in the community beyond agriculture, and has represented the agricultural industry publicly on behalf of farming interests.
Matava is a trained agronomist with 40 years of experience and a leading expert in soil assessment and amendments, green waste recycling, facility management, and avocado farming.
According to the Farm Bureau, Matava’s work involves “assessing the agronomic suitability of Southern California soils.” For the last 25 years, Matava’s company has manufactured organic soil amendments used by farmers throughout Southern California.
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation, soil management, and crop production.
Matava has spent much of her career studying local soils to determine what kind of nutrients are present and beneficial for crops while also finding more efficient ways to use water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board reports 20% of the methane emissions in California come from landfills. The Environmental Protection Agency cites methane from landfills as the third largest overall source of methane in the U.S.
Matava is the owner and operator of Agri Service, based in Oceanside, and employs 30 people. Agri Service operates compost facilities in Southern California, including the El Corazon Compost Facility in Oceanside.
A long stretch of hot, dry weather has left the Mississippi River so low that barge companies are reducing their loads just as Midwest farmers are preparing to harvest crops and send tons of corn and soybeans downriver to the Gulf of Mexico.
The transport restrictions are a headache for barge companies, but even more worrisome for thousands of farmers who have watched drought scorch their fields for much of the summer. Now they will face higher prices to transport what remains of their crops.
Farmer Bruce Peterson, who grows corn and soybeans in southeastern Minnesota, chuckled wryly that the dry weather had withered his family’s crop so extensively they won’t need to worry so much about the high cost of transporting the goods downriver.
“We haven’t had rain here for several weeks so our crop size is shrinking,” Peterson said. “Unfortunately, that has taken care of part of the issue.”
The San Diego County Farm Bureau named Mary Matava as its 2022 Farmer of the Year. Matava, involved in the region’s agriculture industry for 45 years, was recognized for her achievement at an awards dinner September 7 at the Bernardo Winery in Rancho Bernardo.
The Farmer of the Year award is presented to an active or retired farmer who has had a positive impact on the agriculture industry, is active in the community beyond agriculture, and has represented the agricultural industry publicly on behalf of farming interests.
Matava is a trained agronomist with 40 years of experience and a leading expert in soil assessment and amendments, green waste recycling, facility management, and avocado farming.
According to the Farm Bureau, Matava’s work involves “assessing the agronomic suitability of Southern California soils.” For the last 25 years, Matava’s company has manufactured organic soil amendments used by farmers throughout Southern California.
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation, soil management, and crop production.
Matava has spent much of her career studying local soils to determine what kind of nutrients are present and beneficial for crops while also finding more efficient ways to use water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board reports 20% of the methane emissions in California come from landfills. The Environmental Protection Agency cites methane from landfills as the third largest overall source of methane in the U.S.
Matava is the owner and operator of Agri Service, based in Oceanside, and employs 30 people. Agri Service operates compost facilities in Southern California, including the El Corazon Compost Facility in Oceanside.
Since 1995, the City of Oceanside has partnered with Agri Service, Inc. to develop an innovative public-private recycling program, reducing its landfill waste while creating beneficial soil amendments, and sharing the most up-to-date industry standards. Since its inception, the compost facility has processed over two million tons of green waste into high-quality soil amendments, mulch, and potting mixes while reducing methane emissions.
Agri Service also operates a compost facility in Otay Mesa, open to the public. Since it opened, Agri Service has processed more than 2.5 million tons of green waste products.
Matava uses her own compost products on her family’s avocado farm in South Morro Hills, where she grows six varieties of avocados.
Her focus for the future is continuing to find ways to mitigate the effects of climate change and pollution, while also producing high-quality farming products. She previously served as president of the San Diego County Farm Bureau and in a variety of roles on the Farm Bureau’s board of directors.
Matava is the second straight Farmer of the Year Winner from Oceanside. Strawberry farmer Neil Nagata, the 2021 Farmer of the Year, is also from Oceanside.
The San Diego County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization supporting the more than 5,700 farms within the county. The mission of the Farm Bureau is to foster San Diego agriculture through education, public relations, and public policy advocacy in order to promote the economic viability, sustainability, and community building of agriculture.
(Editor’s note: The City of Oceanside is one of the San Diego County Water Authority’s 24 member agencies that deliver water across the San Diego County region.)
California will spend about $300 million to prepare a vast groundwater and farming infrastructure system for the growing impacts of climate change.
California Department of Water Resources announced Tuesday that it has awarded $187 million to 32 groundwater sub-basins, which store water for future use that mainly flows from valuable snowmelt, through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Grant Program.
In the heart of San Carlos, at the corner property of Lake Adlon and Boulder Lake Ave., a vibrant community of gardeners have found comfort, camaraderie and purpose.
The San Carlos Community Garden (SCCG) has become more than just a patch of land in the heart of San Carlos; it has become a haven for those seeking to nurture both plants and relationships.
Tropical Storm Hilary arrived in San Diego on Aug. 20. It rained all day, dropping at least two inches in most places.
A new but little-known change in California law designating aquifers as “natural infrastructure” promises to unleash a flood of public funding for projects that increase the state’s supply of groundwater.
The change is buried in a sweeping state budget-related law, enacted in July, that also makes it easier for property owners and water managers to divert floodwater for storage underground.
The Colorado River is an artery that pumps millions of gallons of water to tens of millions of people in the Southwestern United States. And as much as the river divides and segments the land it runs through, it also connects.
A new but little-known change in California law designating aquifers as “natural infrastructure” promises to unleash a flood of public funding for projects that increase the state’s supply of groundwater.
The change is buried in a sweeping state budget-related law, enacted in July, that also makes it easier for property owners and water managers to divert floodwater for storage underground.
