agriculture

CARSON CITY — In the fourth session of the Carson River Coalition’s Watershed Wednesdays’ forum, speakers will tackle one of the big issues facing rural and urban communities alike: Climate Change.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development is pleased to announce Jim Park has been selected to serve as the Acting State Director in Nevada.

RENO — With much of the State of Nevada listed as in extreme drought, Nevadans are facing forecasts for a mild winter, with little precipitation since the rainy season started. With these designations, southern Nevadans are facing a mild and dry winter and northern Nevadans are looking at an uncertain forecast. All could face water restrictions, crop or pasture loss and, with exceptional drought, water shortage emergencies.

Nevada is moving to a new COVID-19 vaccination strategy that will allow the state to distribute doses to essential workers and priority segments of the population in tandem.

It was an eventful year around the Carson City region notwithstanding the limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's some notable stories that were not pandemic related that happened in 2020.

Every winter, Carson Valley becomes a nesting ground for bald eagles, golden eagles, falcons, hawks, owls and other wildlife as they congregate to the region. Carson Valley’s expansive open space and cattle ranches provide habitat for the wintering birds of prey.

Clint Koble, Executive Director of the Department of Agriculture's Nevada Rural Development Council in the Obama administration, will be the featured speaker at next Monday's Democratic tele-luncheon. The topic of his presentation will be “Rebuilding Rural America” — a set of policy proposals he developed based on a lifetime in public life and on his own experience as a product of rural America, having been born and raised on a farm in North Dakota.

Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is underway within the state of Nevada, including our local communities in the north. Those who are first up to receive the vaccine include health care personnel and long term care facilities as a part of the first phase of Tier 1 distribution.

The first batch of initial COVID-19 vaccines has reached Carson City, and was received by Carson Tahoe Health Tuesday morning.

On Friday, the Greenhouse Project held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new outdoor classroom which will be used to host both students from Carson High School as well as community classes on gardening and agriculture.

Gov. Steve Sisolak is urging Nevadans to have hope but continue to follow coronavirus health and safety protocols with the state’s first allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine set to arrive as early as the middle of December.

In the last year, the number of students at the University of Nevada, Reno experiencing food insecurity increased from 22 percent to 24 percent. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as lacking consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.

Food insecurity is a systemic problem magnified by the economic effects of COVID-19.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, about one in 10 Washoe County residents were unable to acquire enough food to "live an active, healthy life," according to Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization. On top of that, nearly half of all Washoe County School District students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

Carson High School's NJROTC Drill and Color Guard team competed in their first ever ‘virtual’ drill competition hosted by University of North Carolina ROTC program. The various teams’ performances were captured on video and sent to the University for judging.

On Monday, Girl Scouts from Troops 1951 and 35 gathered to plant 15 trees at Carson’s historic Lone Mountain Cemetery.

CARSON CITY — Western Nevada College and the University of Nevada Reno Extension are among recent federal grant recipients to receive financial packages to make distance learning upgrades and aid in the expansion of educational services in 14 rural counties.

The Carson City School District’s Nutrition Services is pleased to announce it has been approved for the U.S. Department of Agriculture waiver to provide free lunch and breakfast for all children 18 and under through the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year (June 2021).

Ron Wood Family Resource Center has received an emergency grant through Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) NV CARES Community Food Response Project to deliver emergency food once per month for individuals in need.

We will be delivering food in Carson City from September – December 2020.

If you are a senior, disabled or a family without transportation and are in need of food, please call for information on setting an appointment for your delivery.

No Eligibility – Appointments are required.

Call Ron Wood Family Resource Center – 884-2269

A bill signed into law last week allows the state to extend — for as long as a year at a time — waivers that make it easier for Nevadans to access additional food benefits.

The first USDA Business and Industry CARES Act loan, intended to protect America’s small farms and businesses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, went to an aquaculture farm in Iowa and was brokered by Carson City-based Greater Commercial Lending (GCL). These CARES Act loans provide working capital to help rural businesses prevent, prepare for or respond to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

CARSON CITY — The U.S. Agriculture Department has extending the free school meal program to millions of children nationwide. The program allows families in need to pick up free food from any convenient school campus, even if their child is not enrolled there.

Due to increased horse activity on U.S Highway 50 and Alternate U.S. 395, Nevada Department of Agriculture and Nevada Department of Transportation officials urge motorists to use extreme caution when driving in the Virginia Range area.

Northern Nevada Development Authority and Visit Carson Valley’s cooperative partnership to promote Carson Valley as a film location is not only creating awareness, it is driving results.

Northern Nevada Development Authority, Adams Hub of Northern Nevada, and Carson City Downtown Business Association announced Thursday a joint promotion program focused on downtown Carson City businesses.

LAKE TAHOE — A new control tool for aquatic invasive plants that clog waterways, reduce water clarity and provide cover for other invasive species at Lake Tahoe continues to show impressive results in its third year of testing. The tool is a light array mounted under a working barge, which trolls through the marina dousing the plants on the lake bottom with ultraviolet-C light.

CARSON CITY — Girl Scouts of the Sierra Nevada and Girl Scouts of the USA announced Monday there are 24 new badges designed to help girls practice ambitious leadership in the crucial areas of automotive engineering, STEM career exploration, entrepreneurship, and civics, many of which remain male-dominated.

The Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee unanimously approved more than $800,000 of emergency funding on Tuesday for a federal program that could provide nearly $300 in meal assistance to each Nevada child who missed out on their free and reduced priced lunches as a result of school closures.

SPARKS, Nev. — The Nevada Department of Agriculture Animal Disease Laboratory has confirmed seven positive rabies cases in bats in Clark and Washoe Counties. Rabies is most commonly found in bats, and bat activity tends to peak between the months of May and October throughout Nevada.

The Nevada Department of Agriculture announced 13 organizations will be awarded Community Food Response relief funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

On Tuesday, the Carson City Greenhouse Project broke ground on a new outdoor classroom at the Carson High School site, which will allow the Greenhouse Project's dream of continuing agriculture education to students year round in the Carson City community.

Farming and ranching is all around in Northern Nevada, and some of those who are doing it may even be your neighbors.

Donna and Bill Murphy-Sharp have been “micro-farming” on their one acre property in Eastlake, Washoe Valley for many years, and became certified producers of produce in the area in 2011.