Focus on Agriculture

CHUALAR — Monterey County has honored the last surviving Bracero of the 1963 Chualar train tragedy, recognizing his life story and the enduring legacy of Bracero workers during Bracero Worker History Recognition Week. During a special ceremony Sept. 16 at the Monterey County Board of...

GREENFIELD — The 2025 Greenfield Harvest Festival spanned over two days earlier this month, beginning with a lively kick-off parade that set the tone for a weekend filled with community celebration, fall fun and local talent. The Oct. 18 parade, organized by the Greenfield High...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County has received 750,000 procedure masks from the state specifically to protect agricultural workers in the area. The delivery arrived May 7 after the Monterey County Emergency Medical Services Agency Medical Operation Area Coordinator requested them to safeguard farmworkers in the...

SALINAS — As the decennial redistricting process wrapped up last month, the concern from The World’s Salad Bowl started to mount. Local politicians, regional business giants and other community leaders asked how a plan to pair the international agricultural hub with the Silicon Valley...

CASTROVILLE — The beloved Artichoke Festival, a cherished tradition in Monterey County for more than six decades, will not return this year. The festival’s board of directors announced its official closure after 65 years of celebrating the region’s rich agricultural heritage, artichoke royalty and community...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County health officials have been working with agricultural companies and have reiterated safety plans with the onset of the new growing season, with the goal of keeping ag workers safe and the food supply network stable. “With the start of the...

Cal State Monterey Bay had an exciting start to the semester with the first students entering our new mechatronic engineering program — which combines mechanical, electrical, software and systems engineering skills — and the project launch of our Edward “Ted” Taylor Science and Engineering...

CENTRAL COAST — Despite significant progress since the release of a landmark 2018 farmworker housing study quantifying critically overcrowded housing conditions for agricultural workers in the region, thousands more homes are needed to relieve severe overcrowding, unaffordable rents and ensure the stability of the...

CALIFORNIA — Grappling with higher costs and challenges related to water, labor, regulations and trade, some California farm leaders question whether the nation’s No. 1 agriculture state has reached a tipping point. California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass discussed the high cost of operating a...