Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics

This study explores the marketplace potential for organic almonds, hay, and winegrapes produced in California. Data was drawn from interviews with producers or processors of each crop and from statistics published by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

After several years of informal and formal negotiations, South Korea and the United States reached an agreement to move towards free trade in April 2007. Currently, both countries await congressional approval before the agreement can be implemented. This study explains the substance of the agricultural parts of the agreement and considers its agricultural implications.

California’s nursery and floral industry is the largest of all the states in the U.S. with sales totaling about $3.086 billion in 2001. When floral and nursery product sales are combined, the industry ranks second among all California agricultural products. It accounts for 10.6 percent of total California agricultural output. A regional economic model was used to trace the direct, indirect, and induced effects of California nursery and floral production and lawn and garden retailing through the California economy. Overall, nursery and floral production and lawn and garden retailing contributed more than $10.3 billion in output in California in 2001 and were responsible for almost 169,000 jobs. Total value added attributed to California nursery and floral production and lawn and garden retailing was $8 billion, while the labor income impact exceeded $4.9 billion.

This book represents a comprehensive revision and update of the influential 1997 publication California Agriculture: Issues and Challenges. The new book features twelve chapters written by leading experts in their respective fields on the major topics and issues important to California’s agriculture and natural resource sectors. Key topics addressed in the book include the profile of California agriculture and its economic importance, both domestic and international marketing of California’s agricultural production, agricultural policy issues relevant to California, water allocation and related issues, farm labor issues, environmental issues, organic agriculture, science and technology, and the agricultural-urban interface. The book provides a key resource on California’s agriculture and natural resources for the years to come. The chapters and contributing authors are as follows:

Chapter 1: The Evolution of California Agriculture, 1850 - 2000, by Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode

Chapter 2: Cross Sections of a Diverse Agriculture: Profiles of California's Agricultural Production Regions and Principal Commodities, by Warren E. Johnston

Chapter 3: The Measure of California Agriculture & Its Importance in the State's Economy, by Daniel Sumner, Jose E. Bervejillo and Nicolai V. Kuminoff

Chapter 4: Marketing California's Agricultural Production, by Hoy F. Carman, Roberta Cook and Richard Sexton

Chapter 5: International Trade and the Road Ahead for California Agriculture, by Tiffany Arthur, Colin Carter, and Alix Peterson Zwane

Chapter 6: Commodity Policy and California Agriculture, by Daniel A. Sumner and Henrich Brunke

Chapter 7: Water Infrastructure and Water Allocation in California, by Richard Howitt and Dave Sunding

Chapter 8: Hired Workers on California Farms, by Philip Martin and Bert Mason

Chapter 9: Environmental Issues in California Agriculture, by Sean B. Cash and David Zilberman

Chapter 10: Organic Agricultural Production in California, by Karen Klonsky

Chapter 11: Science and Technology, by Julian M. Alston and David Zilberman

Chapter 12: California's Edge Problem: Urban Impacts on Agriculture, by Alvin D. Sokolow

Organic vegetable farms on the Central Coast region of California are generally intensive operations. That is, two and sometimes three crops may be harvested off the same acreage each year. Many approaches exist for growing and marketing organic vegetables. This publication describes the range of soil management practices, pest management, crop rotations, cover crops, and harvest and packing methods currently used by organic growers on the Central Coast of California. Marketing options and state and federal regulations governing organic commodities are also discussed. A general sequence of operations, equipment requirements, resource use, costs, yield and return ranges are presented for thirteen vegetable crops and two cover crops. The vegetables included are cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, garlic, lettuce (leaf and romaine), onions (red and yellow), snap peas, snow peas, bell peppers (green and red), sweet corn, and winter squash (large and small varieties). Barley and vetch are the two cover crops detailed.