Cold temperatures have slowed cotton planting. Warmer weather would enable farmers to resume planting.
A pesky insect is causing trouble for farmers in Sonoma County.
About a thousand acres of farmland in Sonoma County will be added to the European Grapevine Moth quarantine after three of the insects were found west of Calistoga. Inspectors say it will be May or June before they know the extent of the infestation of the insect.
The insect spreads when infested plants or farm equipment are moved. The quarantine will be designed to restrict such artificial movement of the European Grapevine Moth.
Valley dairy farmers are seeing a better market for milk.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture says farmers will earn about 8-cents more per gallon for milk on May first. The average on-farm price for a gallon of milk will increase to $1.33. But it will still cost farmers more to produce the milk than what they earn in return.
Prices for butter, cheese and powdered milk all increased during the month, which pushed the milk price higher. However, analysts say demand for cheese has dropped in recent days, providing an uncertain outlook for the volatile milk price next month.
