Growing California Avocados

The San Diego County Farm Bureau is hosting a Stormwater and El Niño Preparedness Workshop for San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group enrollees on November 13. The workshop can be attended in-person or online.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is a greater than 90% chance of a very strong El Niño season during the fall and winter of 2026-27. This could lead to a wetter-than-average winter, heavy precipitation that could lead to flooding and warmer coastal weather conditions. UC ANR has a number of resources available online.

The UC ANR's California Research and Innovation Roadmap is provided to new academics as part of their onboarding process and guides research, programming and investment across the state. The report relies on data from California producers — and California avocado growers are encouraged to participate.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service provides financial and technical assistance to growers implementing conservation practices. The deadline to apply for several of these programs is November 6.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it is launching an $8 billion Harvest Fuel Relief Program that will offer farmers one-time payments to provide relief from increasing fuel and input costs. Proportional support will be provided to producers using a uniform formula to cover a portion of modeled losses from the 2026 crop year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regenerative Pilot Program provides financial assistance to producers for adopting conservation systems that improve soil health, water quality and long-term farm resilience. Funding for the program was recently increased from $700 million to $1 billion for fiscal year 2027.

The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources program is hosting a free session designed to help attendees address the challenges of climate change and build healthier soils, conserve resources and strengthen the resilience of their operations.

The Supplemental Disaster Relief Program provides payments to agricultural producers who suffered eligible crop losses due to natural disasters in 2023 and 2024. The process involves two stages. The deadline for both stages has been extended to August 12.

The California Avocado Society’s last avocado grower seminar of the year is entitled, “GEM vs. Hass.” The seminar will take place in person August 18 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the San Diego Farm Bureau Office located at 420 South Broadway in Escondido.