From the editors: Weathering the perfect storm--together

July/August 2022 California Bountiful magazine

California farmers and ranchers produce an incomparable bounty of over 400 different items. Typically, more than a third of the nation's vegetables and two-thirds of its fruits and nuts originate here, along with dairy products, meats, flowers, forest products and more.

As usual, this issue of California Bountiful highlights some of the amazing people who exemplify the diversity of agriculture in the Golden State. There are truffle farmers who waited almost 10 years for their first crop, an orchard that produces the nation's first apples of each year, a cotton grower and a nursery that starts the seedlings that reforest wildlands. And that's just a few examples.

While we at California Bountiful focus on these positive stories, we also can't ignore that this summer, farmers and ranchers here are facing an unprecedented perfect storm of challenges. Among them: a third year of severe drought, steep water cuts, labor shortages, soaring prices on everything from seeds to fertilizer to fuel, and supply chain woes slowing delivery of goods to farmers and stranding farm exports. On top of this, a late-February freeze decimated many nut and vine crops.

With this in mind, we'd like to ask that you continue to seek out and buy California farm products whenever possible. Your purchases are vital to the farmers and their employees who are braving difficult times and providing for us as they always have.

We'd also like to thank you, our loyal readers, for subscribing to California Bountiful and contributing to our efforts to support California farmers and ranchers.

Together, may we do our part to keep the bounty thriving.