Agriculture

Quality of Life

How fear of Trump’s immigration blitz is changing life in California farm towns

Nigel Duara

Tax receipts are down almost 30% in one California farm town, where immigrants are afraid to go out and some longtime workers are weighing self-deportation.
Science & Technology

Study reveals source of rain is major factor behind drought risks for farmers

City News Service

Published in Nature Sustainability, the research traces atmospheric moisture back to its source. Moisture from the ocean can travel long distances through storms and other large weather events.
Environment

State expands citrus greening quarantine to Camp Pendleton, southern Orange County

City News Service

This was San Diego's first multi-jurisdictional quarantine, spanning from southern Orange County to northern San Diego County, in the San Onofre and Agra areas, including the northwest part of Camp Pendleton.
Environment

California’s last beet sugar plant is closing. Can Imperial County keep the industry alive?

Kori Suzuki

The closure of the Spreckels Sugar factory will shutter a $243 million industry and hundreds of jobs in a county with the highest unemployment rate in the state.
Education

High school students join Salk Institute labs for summer internships

Katie Anastas

High Tech High Mesa graduate Kelly Semtner spent the summer studying how plants and fungi exchange nutrients.
Economy

California wine industry torn on Trump tariffs

Levi Sumagaysay

American wine industry stakeholders have different opinions about the potential fallout from tariffs on European wine, with California likely feeling the biggest impact.
Economy

California avocado growers say Mexican imports have helped their sales

Amy Taxin

Consumption of avocados has boomed in the United States in the past two decades, and much of the demand has been met with rising imports from Mexico. California growers say these imports have wound up helping, not hurting, their crop.
Environment

A partnership with fungus could make plants less reliant on fertilizer

Thomas Fudge

Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a way to make soil fungus work harder, delivering more nutrients to plants.
Environment

Even in wet years, wells are still dry. Why replenishing California’s groundwater is painfully slow

Alastair Bland

The governor vowed to clear the way for more groundwater recharge. Has it worked? “We’re still tinkering around with small numbers,” one expert says.
Health

Lakeside egg farm tries to keep prices reasonable amid bird flu outbreak

Melissa Mae

Hilliker’s Ranch Fresh Eggs in Lakeside is able to keep prices reasonable with their one egg product a day limit as the national egg shortage continues.