Word: fresno
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...annual returns of about 10%. The demand has pushed the price per acre in Napa Valley's premium vineyards to between $200,000 and $300,000, up from between $125,000 and $180,000 in 2002, according to Tony Correia, president of Correia-Xavier Inc., a property appraiser in Fresno, Calif. Flush boomers are fueling demand, but their kids are guzzling wine at twice the rate of previous generations. So, by 2010, the U.S. will be drinking 3.8 billion bottles annually, making it the largest wine consumer in the world, predicts Silicon Valley Bank...
Last year, Cornucopia issued its first organic dairy industry "report card," grading about 70 producers and brands on a scale of one to five "cows." High marks went to small organic milk-producing operations like the family farm Organic Pastures, near Fresno, Calif., which has donated money to Cornucopia and supplies milk to Whole Foods. Organic Pastures received a "five cow," or "outstanding," rating. Large brands like Whole Foods' private-label 365 organic milk got ratings of "good," but with "questionable long-term commitment to organics." Cornucopia says it later upgraded Whole Foods' rating to a four-cow, or "excellent...
...voles first survived because of the season's mild temperatures, then flourished thanks to large litters and a fleeting, 21-day gestation cycle. But in rural Spain, suggests Luque, people "prefer more elaborate theories." Says Ariano Medina, a beet farmer in the village of Fresno el Viejo, echoing a rumor common in these parts, "These aren't the moles we've had all our lives. I heard that scientists working for the government created them to feed endangered birds of prey...
...regional government has promised to eradicate the plague in five weeks by burning fields, distributing poison, and clearing nests. But earlier this week a German biologist hired to assist with the endeavor told El País newspaper that he had doubts about the plan. In Fresno el Viejo, where selected fields were burned in early August, the impact was minimal, says Medina: "The voles just went to other fields." Silvia Clemente, Councilwoman for the region of Castilla-León, announced on Wednesday that there had been a 58% reduction in voles in towns where active treatment with poison...
Growers across the region are angry about what they consider an inadequate government response, and agricultural unions are threatening collective action. In the meantime, some farmers are taking matters into their own hands. One potato field just outside of Fresno is dotted with poison-filled red plastic tubes. Medina, who fears the environmental and health risks of the chemicals, instead puts out buckets of water each night. "Voles are stupid animals," he says. "Plus they're not very good swimmers. They fall...