Beverly Haase was pleased to receive the Vision 2020 Civic Pride Committee “Yard of the Month” award for March from Linda Nunes, committee member. She has lived in her home on Mallard for 10 years and only began removing the front yard and side yard grass two years ago with the help of her gardener, Arnaldo Salazar of Arnaldo Salazar Landscaping.

Mature White Birch trees, a fruitless pear, pink & yellow mature hibiscus were left to frame the xeriscape design and then the earth was mounded and surrounded with a mixture of fake boulders along with real river rock from a friend’s ranch to form a dry stream bed. A bridge over the “stream” was built by Arnaldo.

Decomposed granite with a barrier underneath covers the exposed areas and flagstone forms a small patio with inviting wooden bench to observe birds visiting a birdbath nearby. Large and small cacti specimens were obtained from a grower on Grand Avenue.

Bronze flax, purple Dutch Iris, pink & purple marguerites and lavender plants add bright touches of color.
Beverly says the landscaping has dramatically lowered her water bill to a minimum.

Otto & Sons Nursery has generously donated a $25 gift certificate to be enjoyed by the award recipient.

Welcome to the second February 2010 Ventura County Sheriff Farm Watch.
Uniting farmers, ranchers, supply houses, nurseries, oilfields and our entire agricultural community.
For our newest members, remember you will never get spammed. You can un-subscribe any time, just send us an email.
Congratulations Farm Watch members!
What a perfect Saturday morning to be writing our newsletter.
We just broke the 500 member mark.
Who would have ever thought 500 ranches farms, nurseries and such..?
500 different sets of crime fighting eyes, keeping Ag-crime abated in Ventura County and joining one another in an entire virtual rural community.
Be on the Lookout (B.O.L)
Ag Commissioner Henry Gonzales and his team of investigators, combined with the Farm Bureau, state and federal scientist are looking for a fugitive called the Asian Psyllid. This critter is trying to destroy our California's $1.2-billion Ag-industry.
Just as the Asian Psyllid silently prepares to strike local farmers, so does another element of well organized fugitives.
We have recently been contacted by CONTINUED »

Visalia, California - Nicholas Bozick of Mecca, California was unanimously re-elected to a fifth term as Chairman of the Board of Sunkist Growers following the citrus cooperative's 116th annual meeting in Visalia, California on February 17. Bozick is President of Richard Bagdasarian, Inc., a family run multi-commodity produce, growing packing and shipping business in the Coachella Valley. In addition to citrus, the company also handles table grapes and vegetables. He has served on the board of directors of both Sunkist and Fruit Growers Supply Company, a manufacturing and supply cooperative affiliate of Sunkist. Bozick is a former chairman of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, having served on that organization's executive committee for eight years and on the board for close to 20 years.

Re-elected Vice Chairmen for 2009 are Craig Armstrong of Palm Desert, California; Gerald Denni of Strathmore, California, and James Finch of Ojai, California.

Armstrong was elected to the Sunkist board CONTINUED »

Visalia, California - “Sunkist’s experience in managing through difficult times helped turn what could have been a very bad year, into a relatively good one,” Sunkist’s Board Chairman Nick Bozick told the growers and guests at Sunkist Growers 116th annual meeting in Visalia. He credited hard work, strategic planning, and discipline with rewarding Sunkist growers with some of the highest returns per acre generated in the industry this past year.

“The marketplace in which we operate today,” said Sunkist President and CEO Russ Hanlin “is far different than that of even a decade ago. However, despite the dramatic changes – the consolidation of buyers and the growing amount of competition – the challenges that citrus growers faced are very similar to those that prompted the creation of Sunkist in 1893. By consolidating marketing strength, we are able to secure the best returns possible. That was true in 1893 and it is true in 2010.

“Sunkist’s success, and the success we help CONTINUED »

Senator Feinstein has proposed a balanced amendment that would modify water pumping restrictions in California. These federal restrictions on water supply, imposed under the Endangered Species Act, have fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres of productive farmland and crippled agricultural communities. Senator Feinstein’s amendment does not suspend the Endangered Species Act, but provides temporary relief to these communities while long-term solutions to the state’s broken water system are being worked out. Her amendment promotes the co-equal goals of balancing ecosystem needs and water supply needs.

Senator Feinstein’s Amendment Will Create Thousands of New Jobs. Federal restrictions on water supply have fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres of productive farmlands and devastated agricultural communities. Senator Feinstein’s amendment has the potential to save more than one million acre-feet of water. For farmers within the Central Valley Project, who otherwise would get virtually no water, it would provide enough water to restore production on 288,000 acres of fresh fruits and vegetables. According to experts at the University of California, Davis, a conservative estimate of the farm labor jobs that this much new agricultural production would yield is 7,200 jobs. These workers would come from small, rural communities, many of which are suffering unemployment rates of nearly 40 percent.

How Much Water Are We Losing? The federal restrictions CONTINUED »

FRESNO, Calif. -- Farmers last week were celebrating a reprieve from water pumping restrictions in California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Five days later, it's over.

A federal judge Wednesday rejected an emergency request by water districts representing cities and San Joaquin Valley farmers to delay a new set of pumping restrictions in the delta.

U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger's ruling means... http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/photos/story/1009289.html

MIKE CHRISMAN looks out from his SUV as he drives through seemingly endless rows of walnut trees on his property near Visalia, in central California. “I have to be optimistic, I’m so tied to this land,” he says. His great-grandfather, after trying his luck in the Gold Rush, settled in Visalia in the 1850s, and the family has been there ever since. But as California’s secretary for natural resources—a job at the intersection of the environmental and farming lobbies, perennially at loggerheads over the state’s scarcest resource, water—Mr Chrisman also knows that optimism has become a minority view.

His land is in California’s Central Valley, a region that covers... http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1...

Over 400 ranchers, farmers, nurseries, packing/supply houses and oil field sites all watching out for one another...

Crooks strike at all Hours:
8 P.M Attempt Theft of Avocados - Foothill Rd @ N. Kimball Rd, Ventura - The foreman at the ranch reported that he found stacks of avocados freshly picked in piles, clearly ready for someone to come back and pick up. Deputies responded and investigated. Major Crimes Detective Ray Dominguez was notified of the attempt theft and we sent out our C.S.I to process the scene for evidence.

C.S.I is more than Television Show:
Sheriff Brooks and all of us at the Sheriff’s Department are real proud of our C.S.I Unit. They are highly skilled at solving the nearly unsolvable, from homicides to Ag-Theft. C.S.I responds to crime scenes 24 hours a day. Your responding deputies are trained to process the scenes for fingerprints, tire tracks and such and in addition we bring out C.S.I when we have DNA evidence (yes.. even in Ag Theft), remnant blood trails from crooks and other fragile evidence. These “behind-the-scenes” Sheriff’s Scientist have solved many rural crimes.

The Orange Theft Suspect Caught:
On 01/27/2010, Deputy Gabe Gonzales was driving on CONTINUED »