California
Higher prices for ketchup and spaghetti sauce? California’s drought is hurting tomato farmers
Irrespective of when you’re whipping up a cacciatore, amatriciana or a selfmade pizza, you’re going to want one factor: tomatoes.
However whereas a lot of the tomatoes consumed within the U.S. — recent, canned, and in any other case — come from California, components like the continued drought, rising gasoline costs, and a altering local weather are making the fruit more durable and dearer to develop. And that’s prompting some California farmers to think about elevating different, hardier crops that require much less irrigation.
“On our finish the largest difficulty we’ve got is the water state of affairs,” stated Bruce Rominger, who alongside together with his brother Rick runs Rominger Brothers Farms in Winters, Calif. a couple of half hour drive west of Davis. Rominger produces bulk tomatoes to be mechanically picked, canned, and changed into merchandise like paste and ketchup, a separate market from complete, recent tomatoes, that are normally hand-picked.
Rominger stated his location in Yolo County is normally water-rich, not like the place many tomatoes are grown in California additional south alongside the I-5 hall. However the drought has meant his and different farms had been allotted no water this yr from Clear Lake and Indian Valley Reservoir in Lake County.
Bruce Rominger, proprietor of Rominger Brothers Farms, exhibits cowl crops that he simply planted consisting of peas, beans, oats and vetch on Oct. 21, 2022 in Winters, Calif. California-grown tomatoes that provide a lot of the U.S. have gotten more and more costly and troublesome to develop due to a altering local weather and financial components.
As a substitute he’s needed to depend on pumping groundwater, an costly, electricity-intensive course of that isn’t a viable long-term answer, both economically or environmentally.
“I usually plant round 800 acres of tomatoes a yr,” on the smaller finish of a mean grower, Rominger stated. He received’t be capable to plant that subsequent yr “until we get important rainfall” since he can’t depend on irrigation, Rominger added. A couple of third of his land was fallow this previous season due to water shortage.
On Rominger’s land and elsewhere within the state, drought has already taken a punishing toll on different crops as nicely. Greater than half of
California’s rice fields have been left barren
this season for need of water.
Nevertheless it isn’t simply the drought that’s hurting producers like Rominger and elevating the value of tomatoes.
“Our hotter spells are hotter and so they go for longer durations,” stated Mike Montna, president and CEO of the California Tomato Growers Affiliation. “It’s having an impression on the yields that growers can get,” he added.
Apart from the warmth there are additionally uncommon chilly snaps to deal with. Rominger stated he misplaced 55 acres to frost in April, one thing that’s by no means occurred to him in his many years of farming. Unseasonable September rains then minimize into greater than 100 acres of his crop.
A tractor tills the fields after tomato harvest at Rominger Brothers Farm on Oct. 21, 2022 in Winters, Calif. Water shortage and excessive climate imply farmers plant fewer acres and revel in decrease output from the fields that do produce.
Andri Tambunan, Freelance / Particular to The Chronicle
Water shortage and excessive climate imply farmers plant fewer acres and revel in decrease output from the fields that do produce. And that, in fact, raises costs.
Montna pointed to January figures from the U.S. Division of Agriculture estimating California’s fields would produce about 12 million tons this yr of tomatoes grown for processing. That quantity was revised right down to 11.7 million in Could, after which once more to 10.5 million tons in August, Montna stated.
Farmers like Rominger have been getting increased buy costs from firms that course of and might their tomatoes, as large patrons like Campbell Soup, Conagra, and Del Monte Meals upped their charges this yr.
“In 2021 the value was $84.50 a ton,” Montna stated “This yr it was $105 per ton” for the season that runs from July into October.
However a lot of that income enhance is being eaten up by rising inflation and stubbornly excessive gasoline prices, so farmers aren’t essentially reaping extra income. Rominger’s farm largely broke even on the tomatoes it produced throughout the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he stated, as increased sale costs helped compensate for his smaller yield.
Bruce Rominger says the Rominger Brothers Farms largely broke even on the tomatoes it produced throughout the 2021 and 2022 seasons as increased sale costs helped compensate for his smaller yield.
“We really feel the inflation like everyone else,” he stated. Costs for the whole lot from tractor components to gasoline have shot up, whereas fertilizer has roughly doubled in value, Rominger stated.
Federal Reserve figures
affirm that fertilizer costs have risen greater than 100% prior to now 24 months.
“When prices go up and yields go down, then that’s one other whammy in your backside line,” he stated.
Labor has additionally gotten dearer.
Rominger stated he pays most of his staff above minimal wage, primarily to function equipment, since a lot of his tomato harvesting is mechanized. However planting may be manual-labor-intensive, and he opted to purchase a $300,000 automated transplanter to in the end save on prices.
The United Farm Employees Madera workplace couldn’t be reached for remark about labor situations and pay in California tomato fields.
Lots of the issues going through tomato growers aren’t distinctive to their crop. However since tomatoes are a perishable product that need to be picked rapidly at peak ripeness and processed quickly thereafter, the farmers are extra weak to altering situations.
Rominger stated he must make laborious selections sooner or later about whether or not to favor his different crops, which embrace sunflowers, wheat, corn and nuts, if these patterns maintain.
Rominger stated he must make laborious selections sooner or later about whether or not to favor his different crops, which embrace sunflowers, wheat, corn and nuts.
“The cropping patterns will change over time if the climate modifications,” he stated, though it’s “laborious to make an abrupt determination when you could have some huge cash invested in tools,” to not point out the close by canning infrastructure.
All of this hasn’t led to main worth spikes for customers but. However total client costs for processed vegatables and fruits, akin to canned tomatoes, are anticipated to rise by round 10% to 11% this yr in comparison with final in response to the USDA, as growers and processors take care of increased prices.
Sharon Ardiana, proprietor of Gialina restaurant in San Francisco’s Glen Park neighborhood, stated in a message that the Bianco DiNapoli model of California grown canned tomatoes she makes use of have thus far risen solely barely in worth.
Contemporary tomatoes have gone up by about $5 per case, she stated, however that has grow to be a traditional year-over-year change.
“I get them straight from the farm” in Watsonville, Ardiana stated of the recent tomatoes. “However costs for the whole lot have positively elevated!”
Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle employees author. E-mail: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice
Caitlyn Jenner considers another run to become California governor
Caitlyn Jenner, the gold-medal Olympian-turned reality TV personality, is considering another run for Governor of California. This time, she says, if she were to go up against Vice President Kamala Harris, she would “destroy her.”
SAN FRANCISCO – Caitlyn Jenner, the gold-medal Olympian-turned reality TV personality, is considering another run for Governor of California. This time, she says, if she were to go up against Vice President Kamala Harris, she would “destroy her.”
Jenner, who publicly came out as transgender nearly 10 years ago, made a foray into politics when she ran as a Republican during the recall election that attempted to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. Jenner only received one percent of the vote and was not considered a serious candidate.
Jenner posted this week on social media that she’s having conversations with “many people” and hopes to have an announcement soon about whether she will run.
Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 4th annual Womens March LA: Women Rising at Pershing Square on January 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
She has also posted in Trumpian-style all caps: “MAKE CA GREAT AGAIN!”
As for VP Harris, she has not indicated any future plans for when she leaves office. However, a recent poll suggests Harris would have a sizable advantage should she decide to run in 2026. At that point, Newsom cannot run again because of term limits.
If Jenner decides to run and wins, it would mark the nation and state’s first transgender governor.
California
Northern California 6-year-old, parents hailed as heroes for saving woman who crashed into canal
LIVE OAK — A six-year-old and her parents are being called heroes by a Northern California community for jumping into a canal to save a 75-year-old woman who drove off the road.
It happened on Larkin Road near Paseo Avenue in the Sutter County community of Live Oak on Monday.
“I just about lost her, but I didn’t,” said Terry Carpenter, husband of the woman who was rescued. “We got more chances.”
Terry said his wife of 33 years, Robin Carpenter, is the love of his life and soulmate. He is grateful he has been granted more time to spend with her after she survived her car crashing off a two-lane road and overturning into a canal.
“She’s doing really well,” Terry said. “No broken bones, praise the Lord.”
It is what some call a miracle that could have had a much different outcome without a family of good Samaritans.
“Her lips were purple,” said Ashley Martin, who helped rescue the woman. “There wasn’t a breath at all. I was scared.”
Martin and her husband, Cyle Johnson, are being hailed heroes by the Live Oak community for jumping into the canal, cutting Robin out of her seat belt and pulling her head above water until first responders arrived.
“She was literally submerged underwater,” Martin said. “She had a back brace on. Apparently, she just had back surgery. So, I grabbed her brace from down below and I flipped her upward just in a quick motion to get her out of that water.”
The couple said the real hero was their six-year-old daughter, Cayleigh Johnson.
“It was scary,” Cayleigh said. “So the car was going like this, and it just went boom, right into the ditch.”
Cayleigh was playing outside and screamed for her parents who were inside the house near the canal.
I spoke with Robin from her hospital bed over the phone who told us she is in a lot of pain but grateful.
“The thing I can remember is I started falling asleep and then I was going over the bump and I went into the ditch and that’s all I remember,” Robin said.
It was a split-second decision for a family who firefighters said helped save a stranger’s life.
“It’s pretty unique that someone would jump in and help somebody that they don’t even know,” said Battalion Chief for Sutter County Fire Richard Epperson.
Robin is hopeful that she will be released from the hospital on Wednesday in time to be home for Thanksgiving.
“She gets Thanksgiving and Christmas now with her family and grandkids,” Martin said.
Terry and Robin are looking forward to eventually meeting the family who helped save Robin’s life. The family expressed the same feelings about meeting the woman they helped when she is out of the hospital.
“I can’t wait for my baby to get home,” Terry said.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom may exclude Tesla and other automakers from an electric vehicle (EV) rebate program if the incoming Trump administration scraps a federal tax credit for electric car purchases.
Newsom proposed creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which was phased out in 2023 after funding more than 594,000 vehicles and saving more than 456 million gallons of fuel, the governor’s office said in a news release on Monday.
“Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong – zero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future – we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”
The proposed rebates would be funded with money from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is funded by polluters under the state’s cap-and-trade program, the governor’s office said. Officials did not say how much the program would cost or save consumers.
NEBRASKA AG LAUNCHES ASSAULT AGAINST CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRIC VEHICLE PUSH
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday proposed creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program if the incoming Trump administration scraps a federal tax credit for electric car purchases. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, File / Getty Images)
They would also include changes to promote innovation and competition in the zero-emission vehicles market – changes that could prevent automakers like Tesla from qualifying for the rebates.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who relocated Tesla’s corporate headquarters from California to Texas in 2021, responded to the possibility of having Tesla EVs left out of the program.
Tesla and other automakers may not qualify for the proposed tax credits, according to the governor’s office. (Getty Images, File / Getty Images)
“Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns.
BENTLEY PUSHES BACK ALL-EV LINEUP TIMELINE TO 2035
Those buying or leasing Tesla vehicles accounted for about 42% of the state’s rebates, The Associated Press reported, citing data from the California Air Resources Board.
Newsom’s office told Fox Business Digital that the proposal is intended to foster market competition, and any potential market cap is subject to negotiation with the state Legislature.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 338.59 | -13.97 | -3.96% |
“Under a potential market cap, and depending on what the cap is, there’s a possibility that Tesla and other automakers could be excluded,” the governor’s office said. “But that’s again subject to negotiations with the legislature.”
Newsom’s office noted that such market caps have been part of rebate programs since George W. Bush’s administration in 2005.
Newsom has pushed Californians to replace gas-powered vehicles with zero-emission vehicles. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Federal tax credits for EVs are currently worth up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles. President-elect Trump has previously vowed to end the credit.
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California has surpassed 2 million zero-emission vehicles sold, according to the governor’s office. The state, however, could face a $2 billion budget deficit next year, Reuters reported, citing a non-partisan legislative estimate released last week.
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