Focus on Agriculture

SOLEDAD — Locals and visitors alike drove last Sunday to pick up barbecued chicken, buy arts and crafts, listen to music and cheer on participants of the grape stomp at the 59th annual Soledad Mission Fiesta. This year’s grape stomp competitors included eight students from...

The Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office is investigating an incident of possible exposure of farmworkers to pesticides.

The San Luis Obispo County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures has announced the release of the 2016 production statistics for the local agricultural industry. The total gross crop value for 2016 was $914,724,000.

The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) will host a Family Farm Day on Saturday, June 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1700 Old Stage Road near Salinas.

Mann Packing of Salinas is voluntarily recalling minimally processed vegetable products because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The Castroville Artichoke Food & Wine Festival will return to the Monterey County Fair and Event Center for two full days of cooking demonstrations, activities, exhibits and entertainment.

Wine grape harvest is just around the corner in the Paso Robles wine country.

The Rancho Cielo Youth Campus was the site of a groundbreaking ceremony for the Ted Taylor Agricultural Center on April 8.

South County organic farmer Israel Morales Sr. of JV Farms Organic in Soledad will receive the Organic Farmer of the Year Award at the Organic Trade Association’s Leadership Awards set for Sept. 11 at the Belvedere Hotel in Baltimore, Md.

On March 29, the members of Watsonville Rotary and guests gathered at the Watsonville Elks Lodge for the first in a series of special monthly meetings.