Food And Farm News
1-21-2026
Fall rains reduced California rice yields
Rainstorms impacted California’s rice crop this past fall by delaying harvest, increasing losses and reducing grain quality. Growers initially anticipated a high-yielding crop, but the final numbers are expected to show average production in 2025, according to University of California Cooperative Extension rice specialist Bruce Linquist. “Yields early on looked very good, and there was a lot of optimism,” Linquist said. “But as the season progressed and you got later and later harvests, the yields started to drop, and you had pretty low quality and overall low head rice.” George Tibbitts, who farms in Colusa County, said October rains made it difficult for farm equipment to navigate his rice fields. “This year for us has been the toughest one I can remember for getting things done during fall harvest,” he said.
Lettuce virus cases creep back up in Salinas Valley
After two years of lower levels of impatiens necrotic spot virus in the Salinas Valley, researchers have recorded a higher number of cases during the 2025 season. “I think we’ve been dodging the bullet the past few years, but it looks like whatever guardrails that existed are breaking down,” said Richard Smith, a retired University of California Cooperative Extension vegetable crops adviser who has studied INSV extensively. In 2022, the virus led to substantial yield losses in the Salinas Valley, causing a nationwide shortage of lettuce and record-high prices. Mark Mason, manager of Huntington Farms in Soledad, said his 2025 harvest of more than 4,000 acres of head, romaine and leaf lettuce was decent despite INSV showing up late in the season. “We caught the symptoms at the end of the harvest,” Mason said. “We had some fields that were clean and some that were 40% losses.”
Alfalfa growers face rising costs and lower returns
Rising input costs and low prices have left U.S. alfalfa growers struggling. Since 2023, most farmers have grown the crop at a loss, according to an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The organization pointed out that despite alfalfa’s status as the fourth most valuable field crop in the nation, generating more than $8 billion in farmgate value last year, it is not included in most farm safety-net programs such as the Trump administration’s Farmer Bridge Assistant Program, which was created to soften economic losses for farmers impacted by international trade policies. AFBF economist Daniel Munch said trade conflicts, especially with China, were partly to blame for low alfalfa prices as U.S. growers have seen a reduction in export markets. As of the most recent Census of Agriculture in 2022, California led the nation in alfalfa production.
Farm groups sound alarm about economic challenges
Dozens of agricultural organizations expressed concern about the dire economic conditions U.S. farmers face in a letter last week to Congress. “America’s farmers, ranchers, and growers are facing extreme economic pressures that threaten the long-term viability of the U.S. agriculture sector,” the groups said in the Jan. 15 letter, which was addressed to majority and minority leaders in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. “An alarming number of farmers are financially underwater, farm bankruptcies continue to climb, and many farmers may have difficulty securing financing to grow their next crop.” Signatories of the letter, which was organized by the American Farm Bureau Federation, include groups representing California-grown crops such as pistachios, avocados, citrus, walnuts and table grapes.
For more information about any story in Food and Farm News, contact the California Farm Bureau Marketing/Communications Division at 916-561-5550 or email news@cfbf.com. Connect with us on Facebook, X, or Instagram: @CAFarmBureau.
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