Kevin Merrill: As I drove along I-5, I thought if only more of our state legislators would wake up and work on saving and storing this water for years when
For California AG today, I m Mike Stephens, preemptive steps need to be taken to protect grapes. Michael Miller is the Director of Government Relations for the California Association of Wine Grape Growers. California Association of Wine Grape Growers began more than 40 years ago when a small group of wine grape growers concerned about establishing fair prices for grapes established the Wine Grape Bargaining Association. Until that time, wine grape growers didn t have a statewide organization to focus exclusively on issues affecting their livelihood like other specialty crops did. He explains how education can help prevent the spread of Pierce s Disease and the Spotted Lantern Fly.<p>There s a big effort at the Pierce s disease class of being sharpshooter board within CDF to do some work around educating the public because if we find it, it s going to look like a pile of mud, you know, on a semi truck, you know, some transportation corridor or maybe a train car is going to be some
For California AG today, I m Mike Stephens. Vineyard owners and wineries are realistic when it comes to 2022. We continue our conversation with Michael Miller, Director of Government Relations for the California Association of Wine Grape Growers. Wineries and growers face challenges every year, from insurance to unforeseen factors. Growers and wineries strive to produce an exceptional crop and product every year.<p>I don t think people are thinking about a perfect world in 22 vineyard owners. Winemakers are pretty realistic people, you know, they know that you re relying on Mother Nature to produce a product, and you re relying on the artistic nature of winemakers to produce a wonderful bottle of wine. There s a lot of innovation that s happening in the industry. There are a lot of challenges relative to fire. You mentioned fires earlier. A lot of people are having a hard time getting insurance for commercial coverage if you re in an area that is prone to wildfires. A lot of insu
For California AG today, I m Mike Stephens. The lack of water is a grave concern to wine grape growers. We continue speaking with Michael Miller, Director of Government Relations for the California Association of Wine Grape Growers. Water throughout the state is a very large concern for next year s crop.<p>The availability of water is going to be an incredible challenge. You start up at the Russian river, you know where they issued an emergency regulation dealing with contaminated water up there
For California AG today, I m Mike Stephens. There are big challenges to this year s wine grape harvest. We continue speaking with Michael Miller, Director of Government Relations for the California Association of Wine Grape Growers. He exposes the challenges and hurdles from labor to transportation and this year s wine grape harvest.<p><p>Speaker2: There are all kinds of issues around logistics and ag labor. You know, a lot of people are not working right now. They the availability of agricultural workers is just historic low. And I talked to some grocers that they ve never had such a hard time finding people to work harvest. And it s a real challenge because when the grape is ready to be picked, it s ready to be picked and you need to get through out there. You need to get the job done and the truck that s there to take the trailer to the winery. So if you ve got a shortage of truck drivers, you ve got a shortage of ag workers in the field. That s going to be a big challen