Food And Farm News
12-3-2025
Autumn rains hasten persimmon harvest
California’s persimmon harvest accelerated last month as crews worked to pick fruit ahead of mid-November rainstorms. Persimmons withstand rain better than some fruits, but after multiple storms, “the fruit gets riper and breaks down faster,” Yuba County farmer Steven Springer said. The Golden State grows most of the nation’s persimmons, though at roughly 3,000 bearing acres in California, the crop’s footprint is smaller than other relatively niche fruits such as pomegranates and kiwifruits. Production is concentrated in the San Joaquin Valley, with some acreage in the Sacramento Valley and in central and southern coastal areas. In 2022, California’s persimmon crop was valued at $35 million. “It’s a growing commodity,” said Dillon Luallen, sales representative at Sierra Sun Fruit Marketing in Fresno County. “It’s relatively easy to farm, and it seems like consumption of persimmons has been going up year after year.”
New Clean Water Act rule provides clarity for farms
A new rule by the Trump administration is expected to narrow the scope of federal oversight on the nation’s wetlands and other waterways. The proposed rule clarifies what “waters of the United States” means and carries out directives from a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling about how the Clean Water Act applies to working farmland. It aims to ensure that only relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water—such as streams, oceans, rivers and lakes—and wetlands that are connected to and indistinguishable from such water bodies are federally regulated. Farm advocates say the rule could save farmers time and money by reducing permitting requirements for activities on their land. “The Supreme Court clearly ruled several years ago that the government overreached in its interpretation of what fell under federal guidelines,” American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said, adding that the new rule “protects critical water sources while respecting the efforts of farmers to protect the natural resources they’ve been entrusted with.”
Specialty crop growers face more risks and fewer tools
For specialty crop farmers, 2025 has offered little relief from mounting financial pressures. Markets that once promised stable margins are now defined by volatility, with production expenses outpacing price gains and exports at risk under global trade uncertainties. Despite contributing more than $75 billion in farm-gate value—over a third of all U.S. crop sales—growers of specialty crops such as fruits, nuts and vegetables have fewer risk-management and safety-net options to help weather these challenges. The result is a widening gap between cost and revenue that threatens profitability across much of the farm economy. The diversity that defines the sector also amplifies its vulnerability. Each crop relies on distinct production systems, marketing channels and labor demands, making it difficult to design one-size-fits-all safety nets or risk-management tools.
On the record: Rhodesia Ransom talks serving the Central Valley
California Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, D-Tracy, spoke with Ag Alert® about representing Central Valley constituents in Sacramento, engaging with farmers in her district and her observations following her first year in the Assembly. “Some industries are really hurting. Cherries had a bad year. Folks aren’t purchasing winegrapes as much as they were. Farmers and the agricultural industry are facing very real challenges,” said Ransom, whose district encompasses much of San Joaquin County and part of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. She is among a handful of state lawmakers who reincarnated an unofficial Central Valley Caucus. “It’s a bipartisan group of legislators who decided we are going to work together regardless of our political differences to make sure the Central Valley and the ag and rural communities have a voice,” Ransom said. “That way, we have a little bit more power than we would have individually.”
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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