Don Curlee
Agriculture
Those who say California is not as rich in traditions as perhaps Virginia or the New England states apparently haven’t talked to many farmers in the Golden State.
True, the Pilgrims landed on the East Coast before Father Junipero Serra and his followers began building California worship centers. But the padres planted grapes, grain, tree crops and vegetables as well as missions.
California farmers have been producing agricultural crops in abundance ever since.While the Forty-Niners hoped the gold they sought would make them rich quicker than they could plant and harvest a typical vegetable crop. They helped to discover the width and breadth of the state’s richness in soil, water and climate.
Later on, California’s rolling plains and flat valley expanses were perfect grazing land for the vast cattle empire of Henry Miller, once the owner of the largest cattle herd in the country. Even Texans were impressed, and still should be.
Chinese workers helped reshape flood plains and waterways, some in the complex and peat-rich Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. They were a key in the development of rich fruit production areas, especially in the Sacramento Valley and along the river’s lower reaches.
The agricultural tradition enjoyed a rebirth as Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl in the ’20s forced thousands to seek a living, if not their fortunes, in the great Central Valley. Cotton, practically unknown as a major California crop in those days, soon found itself on a path toward royalty.
Wise legislators and politicians bolstered the agricultural tradition by developing an enviable water distribution system. It allocated naturally occurring supplies to productive areas. Railroad barons laid the groundwork for transporting crops from the Golden State to population centers in the East, and for bringing manufactured goods from the East to California’s growing population. Visionaries in the fruit industry helped develop a refrigeration system (known simply as ice) to provide cool environments for tasty fruit to ride the rails to well-established Eastern markets.
These historical vignettes often escape newcomers who sometimes have trouble looking back beyond the freeways, Hollywood, Disneyland, the Golden Gate Bridge or the Queen Mary at permanent anchor.
Agricultural traditions have led to great processing facilities. They underlie the development of perhaps the world’s greatest wine empire, closely related to even longer traditions in Europe.The integrated strength of a great state is firmly rooted in deep agricultural traditions.
Who knew that citrus and subtropicals such as avocados would thrive in the California sun until enterprising farmer-investors and dedicated researchers gave them a chance?
As productive as the great plains states have been, their climates would not have allowed Luther Burbank to develop the unending array of fruit varieties, some still to be developed to their commercial potential.California’s economic development and its population have grown up around rich agricultural traditions. Even late bloomers such as the electronics industry are supported by rich and sturdy agricultural roots.
Most farmers in the state can feel the depth and breadth of the agricultural underpinning, even those who have arrived recently. One of California’s richest traditions is agriculture. Preserving and enhancing it is well worth whatever it takes.
Don Curlee is a freelance writer who specializes in agricultural issues.
Write to him at Don Curlee-Public Relations, 457 Armstrong Ave., Clovis, CA 93612.
WASHINGTON, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited a community garden in Baltimore to announce 10 grants to support 155 People's Gardens in neighborhoods from Maryland to Hawaii, continuing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) efforts to combat malnutrition while supporting local and regional food systems. These sustainable community gardens will give residents direct access to fresh fruits and vegetables in underserved neighborhoods. A lack of access to fresh and nutritious food fuels obesity and domestic food insecurity—a condition where households experience limited or uncertain access to adequate food.
