Focus on Agriculture

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...

For decades in the Salinas Valley, the short-handle hoe, known as “El Cortito,” was used for weeding and thinning rows of crops that kept farmworkers stooped over for long hours each day. Workers were only able to stand and stretch when they reached the...

SALINAS VALLEY — Monterey County Board of Supervisors will host a special ceremony on Tuesday, June 10, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a landmark legal case that arose out of the Salinas Valley and outlawed the use of “El Cortito,” or the short-handled...

SALINAS VALLEY — The 81st annual Salinas Valley Fair brought thousands of fairgoers to King City’s Salinas Valley Fairgrounds from May 15 to 18, delivering on its promise of “The Berry Best Fair.” With a theme honoring the region’s rich agricultural heritage, this year’s...

GREENFIELD — For the first time ever, Lavender Creek, a family-owned wellness brand and working lavender farm near Greenfield in South Monterey County, is opening its fragrant fields to the public this summer.  Beginning Saturday, May 24, and running through the end of June, guests...

SALINAS — Fanciful Company Inc. and D’Arrigo Bros Co. of California, located in Salinas, have paid $17,000 in lost wages to a farmworker to resolve a California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) unfair labor practices complaint. The complaint alleged “that the companies fired the worker...

SALINAS VALLEY — Salinas Valley Fairgrounds in King City were buzzing last month as the annual Fair Kick-Off event drew more than 600 guests and set an enthusiastic tone for the upcoming 81st Salinas Valley Fair, scheduled for May 15-18. Organized by the Salinas Valley...

KING CITY — Salinas Valley Fair Heritage Foundation has announced Valeria Beltran, a junior at Gonzales High School, as the recipient of the 2025 Heritage Foundation Scholarship. As this year’s winner, Beltran will raise the official Heritage Animal, a hog she has named “Zero,” and...

MONTEREY COUNTY — Raley’s and Washington-based FirstFruits Farms donated 30,000 pounds of fresh apples on April 1 to the Food Bank for Monterey County. The contribution was made possible by Raley’s customers who purchased select apples during January and February as part of a give-back...

GREENFIELD — Scheid Family Wines has successfully obtained the Bee Friendly Farming Certification for its estate White Flower Vineyard, a prestigious designation that underscores the Greenfield winery’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. This certification, awarded by Pollinator Partnership, recognizes Scheid’s efforts to promote bee...