Category: Uncategorized

By Bob West

The up-and-down nature of California farmers’ challenges created particularly tough conditions in the early part of this summer after an up-and-down Spring, according to the latest data from Meister Media’s PURE Intel™ platform.

PURE Intel+ and PURE Intel+ PCA (patent pending) provide subscribers with tremendous insight into the California agriculture activity by aggregating farmers’ monthly pesticide use reports from all 58 counties and providing subscribers with the tools to analyze that data through a range of customizable filters.

The July data update provides the first look at numbers for the first half of 2022 vs. the previous years, and the data indicates a reduction in the number of growers applying restricted-use products (RUPs) this year, fewer total applications being made, and fewer total treated acres.

The number of growers reporting RUP applications in the first half of the year has steadily declined over the past five years (although the drop is much less significant when you look at data for an entire calendar year.

American Fruit Grower Editor Dave Eddy said the declining number of farms can be largely attributed to drought. “Smaller and medium-sized growers have been disappearing for years around the country because of economies of scale, but it’s been greatly accelerated in California by the drought,” says Eddy. “Water will flow to the growers who can most efficiently irrigate the most profitable crops, so smaller farms, especially those with less-than-optimal crops like canning tomatoes, are selling to their larger neighbors, who often farm crops like almonds. In other words, though this trend has been going on for a number of years, the drought has sent it into hyperdrive, and there’s every reason to believe it will continue, or more likely, accelerate, until the drought ends.”

Despite the drop in the number of growers reporting RUP applications, the total number of sites being treated across the state remains comparable to 2018 levels, which speaks to Eddy’s point about consolidation – many farm operations are simply expanding their operation and controlling more sites than ever.

Of greater concern to suppliers selling crop protection products to California’s farmers is the decline in the number of applications reported through the first half of the year. Farmers report making roughly 6% fewer applications in the first half of 2022 vs. the first half of 2021 after an 8% reduction from 2020 to 2021.

Increasing use of biopesticides, which are often not classified as RUPs and exempt from reporting, and reduced disease pressure during drier summers can account for some of this decline. But the big picture is obviously that farms have reduced pesticide applications in recent years as water issues, labor challenges, softening market conditions and other obstacles have reduced production.

The reduced application activity can be found throughout the state. Total treated acreage looks to be down through the first half of the year in six of the state’s top 10 ag counties.

PURE Intel enables users to view applications by the crop treated, and it’s not a surprise that year-over-year declines can be seen across most crops. Again, declines for January – June can be found in seven out of the top 10 crop groups.

California farmers applied more than than 2,850 different brands of control products to the state’s farms in the first six months of 2022, and PURE Intel+ shows us just how much of every brand is applied. Treated acreage looks to be down for all of the key categories of RUPS thus far in 2022, although insecticides, miticides and plant growth regulators have fared better than other product types thus far.

The PURE Intel data can be used to identify application activity and volume by specific brand, which provides insights such as which products are being used most often across the state. Here’s a summary of the five most widely applied brands (ranked by treated acreage) applied in the first half of 2022 for each of the key product categories.

Bob West is the Direct of Meister Media’s data business. For more information about this data or for more details about their PURE Intel+ and PURE Intel+ PCA business, contact him at 440-602-9129 or [email protected].

PURE Intel is a trademark of Meister Media Worldwide. PURE Intel+ PCA is patent pending.

By Bob West

Everyone involved in agriculture in California knows how challenging 2021 was for farmers and suppliers alike. Our first look at the PURE Intel+ data measuring pesticide applications to agricultural crops in California illustrates the degree to which everybody was challenged throughout the state. Final application data still needs to be collected, but, based on historical trends and the strong reporting to date, we project the following:

• California’s farmers made roughly 315,000 fewer applications of restricted-use pesticides (RUPs) in 2021 than they did in 2020;
• Approximately 750 fewer California farmers reported making any RUP applications in 2021 than did so in 2020, which equates to a 4% decrease;
• California farmers will ultimately report roughly 92 million treated acres of RUP applications in 2021 – a 10% drop from 2020 and 13% lower than treated acres reported in 2020.

Many factors challenged California farmers in 2020 from a lack of available water to softer almond prices to labor shortages to shipping delays. And nearly every part of the state’s agricultural industry felt the impact.

The chart below lists projected final treated acreage numbers for the 10 largest counties, and Monterey County is the only one of the 10 not showing a decrease from 2020. Furthermore, note that 2021 treated acreage numbers fall short of the average number of treated acres for the four previous years in eight of the 10 counties.

Not surprisingly, nearly every product category tracked in PURE Intel+ shows a year-over-year decline in treated acres with only miticides and special activity (mostly comprised of mating disrupters) showing growth vs. 2020.

Special products (ie., mating disrupters) and miticides were the only two product categories to show growth in treated acres from 2020 to 2021.The treated acreage data at the crop level tells the same story. The annual decline was most severe for cotton, whose treated acreage dropped considerably due to a dramatic decline in the number of planted acres of cotton over the past few years as water issues have become more pronounced. But the more significant drops could be found in the state’s top two crop categories: tree nuts and grapes. Farmers undoubtedly appreciated how little disease pressure they felt throughout last summer’s drought, but that silver lining doesn’t benefit industry suppliers.

PURE Intel+ data also includes application numbers for every active ingredient and brand applied in California. Monsanto’s Roundup Powermax was applied to more acres than any other brand yet again in 2021, and it wasn’t close as farmers in the Golden State applied Roundup Max to more than twice as many acres as they did any other brand. Intrepid and Microthiol Disperss held firm in second and third place, respectively, while Altacor climbed from sixth in 2020 to fourth in 2021.

PURE Intel+ is a product of Meister Media Worldwide, and it is a comprehensive database of every application of a restricted-use product made to all agricultural crops produced throughout California. PURE Intel+ is updated monthly to provide current and actionable market intelligence that will help drive your business forward. For more information about PURE Intel+ or to schedule a demo of the platform, contact Meister Media’s Bob West at 440-602-9129 or [email protected].

By Bob West

Our publication of preliminary August pesticide application data means farmers still have four months’ worth of applications remaining in 2021. However, the reality is that California’s farmers make roughly 85% of their annual pesticide applications in the first seven months of the year, so we have a clear picture of just how tough 2021 has been for pesticide suppliers (manufacturers and retailers alike) doing business in the Golden State.

Based on application data reported by PURE Intel+ thus far, California farmers will make 85 million to 88 million treated acres worth of applications of restricted use pesticides in 2021, which represents a drop of roughly 14 million to 17 million from 2020 levels and even more from the market’s high point in 2017. As we’ve reported previously, this year-over-year drop impacts nearly every crop group, every type of pesticide, and every county in the state to varying degrees.

The largest drop on a percentage basis can be found among cotton growers. Cotton isn’t a core California crop and acreage has been dropping for a number of years as water shortage grow more severe. (The preliminary number of planted acres of cotton in California this year is roughly 125,000 – down considerably from 325,000 in 2017.) But the drop in applications from 2020 to 2021 is far more significant than in previous years as much of this production has moved back out of the state. As a result, treated acres for the January to August 2021 timeframe are roughly 60% down compared to the average figure for the four previous years.

Meanwhile, tree nuts represent the crop group receiving the most treated acres of pesticides annually, so it’s no surprise that they account for the largest drop in total treated acres from last year. To be specific, applications to tree nut crops are down roughly 20% from 2020 and 15% from the four-year average as growers reduce acreage and make fewer applications.

PURE Intel+ is a comprehensive database of every pesticide application made to all agricultural crops produced throughout California. PURE Intel+ is updated monthly to provide current and actionable market intelligence that will help drive your business forward. For more information about PURE Intel+ or to schedule a demo, contact Meister Media’s Bob West at 440-602-9129 or [email protected].