U.S. farmers leave fields fallow as COVID-19 wrecks crop prospects [Reuters]
… Farmers routinely make changes to their acreage intentions as the calendar advances, substituting in different crops if the weather mucks up their original plans. But leaving the ground bare is new territory for U.S. farmers who typically plant fencerow to fencerow, trying to squeeze profit out of every available acre. … The coronavirus pandemic caused many farmers to give up on their corn crop before it was even in the ground. … Cotton plantings also were sharply lower, with farmers dropping seedings by 10.9% from their March intentions of 13.703 million acres.
From cocoa to coffee and sugar, soft commodities stage simultaneous rally [Wall Street Journal]
The raw ingredients for goods including chocolate and clothes have rebounded after their pandemic-fueled declines, lifted by supply constraints and investors’ bets that a recovering economy will boost consumer demand. Cocoa, coffee and other soft commodities trading on the Intercontinental Exchange have bounced back from their lows earlier this year and now number among the world’s best-performing major assets. … Cotton and sugar futures have also surged in recent months and are up 10% and 19%, respectively, since May 1.
Coronavirus strikes indoor mushroom farms [Los Angeles Times]
… Employees at Ostrom Mushroom Farms in Sunnyside, Wash., started falling ill in April, and the company has reported that roughly 30 out of its 300 workers have since tested positive. … Outbreaks struck at least half a dozen other mushroom facilities in Tennessee, Colorado and Pennsylvania, sickening scores of workers. … Bruce Knobeloch, vice president for marketing and product development at Monterey Mushrooms Inc., which owns the Tennessee facility, said that shutting down plants — as the meat industry has done in response to mass infections — would be unwarranted.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-08-11/coronavirus-farm-worker-mushrooms
Billboards tying meat and pandemic pop up across LA [City News Service]
Animal rights advocates have put up 19 billboards across Los Angeles that connect the eating of animals to pandemics, and pay tribute to an activist killed in Canada earlier this summer while giving comfort to pigs on the way to slaughter. … The campaign was organized by LA Animal Save and The Animal Alliance. Both groups are trying to make the connection between the COVID-19 pandemic and what they see as the harmful effects of meat eating and the factory farm industry, even as the pandemic itself has forced them to curtail some of their regular activities.
https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/billboards-tying-meat-pandemic-pop-across-la
With no Bay Area festivals, what are artisan food vendors to do? [Bay Area News Group]
… Hundreds of fairs and festivals have been canceled this year because of the COVID-19 risks of large-scale gatherings. … Among the hard-hit groups are the food artisans who make their living on the festival circuit. With many estimating sales down by 50 percent to 90 percent, they’re relying on customers to remember them from previous events, taking out loans and pivoting madly to new business models.
Opinion: Property tax ‘split roll’ a grave threat to California agriculture [Bakersfield Californian]
California property owners have benefitted from Proposition 13 for so long, it’s hard to remember the time before it when property taxes shot up unpredictably year after year, forcing seniors from their homes, blowing up family budgets and crushing businesses. That ugly past could be in California’s future if the Proposition 15 “split roll” initiative passes this November. Defeating it must be the highest priority for the agriculture industry and everyone who cares about farming and ranching in California.
