Maine Farmers meet with California Farm Bureau Members on California Agricultural Tour

A group of Maine Farmers escorted by Janet Spear recently returned from a tour in California.  California is the nation's most populous state and its largest agricultural producer.  Spear likes to include diversification in her tours to include agricultural, educational and cultural visits. 

Upon arrival they boarded the California Hornblower Yacht for a three hour dinner cruise on San Francisco Bay.  The evening was crisp and clear with spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the beautiful city sky line of San Francisco. 

Traveling thru out the tour in a comfortable motor coach some of the itinerary high lights included a private tour of the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone arranged by Mark Linder, who was employed by the California Farm Bureau for 23 years.  The institute works hand-in-glove with producers of California agricultural products in education and training of people interested in careers in the food, wine and hospitality industry.  After a delicious lunch at the CIA's restaurant the afternoon included tour of a local winery.

Agricultural visits in Petaluma included Petaluma Farms, a family owned poultry business that has developed special designer eggs for the San Francisco Bay Area Market.  Another visit in Peteluma included Neve Roses, a high end long stem rose family business.  

As the group traveled from Napa to Sonoma area they experienced a full day of farm visits arranged by Sonoma County Farm Bureau.  Sonoma Country is a wonderful mixture of agriculture (dairy, wine grapes, apples berries and poultry.  The day was topped off with dinner with local farmers in the area.

Other agricultural visits included Gourmet Mushrooms in Sebastopol, tour of the 90 acre headquarters of Blue Diamond Almonds in down town Sacramento.  California produces 100% of the commercial supply of almonds in the United States and 80% of the production worldwide.   

In addition to the many Ag visits, Spear arranged for a docent guided tour of the Charles Schultz Museum where the group saw Mr. Schultz's original artwork, over 7000 original strips in the Museum and learned about the art of cartooning and Mr. Schultz's role in the  development of "Snoopy". 

Another high light included a private tour and briefing by a university agricultural specialist of U.C. Davis which is one of the highest ranked schools of Veterinary Medicine in the nation.  While in Sacramento, the group had the pleasure of meeting with A. G. Kawamura, Commissioner of Agriculture which was a high light for Bob Spear as during Bob's tenure as Commissioner of Agriculture, he served on national committees with Kawamura.

The tour included driving through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains before arriving in Yosemite National Park.  A narrated tour of Yosemite Valley was indeed breath taking.

The final day the group leaves the mountains and heads toward the coast to Watsonville passing thru Gilroy, the garlic capitol of the world.  In Watsonville a visit of Gizdich Ranch, producers of a variety of fruit including strawberries, raspberries and apples which are processed, packaged and marketed directly to the consumer.  The farm's owner, Nita Gizdich is a former president of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and former National Direct Marketer of the Year.  After lunch on the farm, we toured the Santa Cruz Agricultural History Project. 

The group thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet with many California Farm Bureau members and learn more about marketing and growing practices on the west coast.  It was very interesting and educational for the Maine Farmers and they came back with a wealth of knowledge of how farming is practiced in another part of the country.