Farm Beat: Port of Oakland has news for Stanislaus

The Port of Oakland, an important place to food and beverage producers in and near Stanislaus County, had two announcements of note this week.

One had to do with the exports it handles, bound for consumers the world over. The other is a new project at Jack London Square that will celebrate local food.

The port reported that cargo volume for February dropped 37 percent from the same month in 2014, the result of a West Coast port labor dispute. A tentative agreement has since been reached.

“Cargo is moving and the backlog is shrinking,” Maritime Director John Driscoll said in a news release. “With capacity again available in our marine terminals, volumes should begin building soon.”

The port’s No. 1 export category by volume is wood pulp. No. 2 is fruits and nuts, big products from our area. No. 3 is beverages, including boatloads of our wine. We also export plenty of dairy products, mainly in powdered form.

The port mostly is a vast array of terminals that load and unload rail and truck containers. Close to downtown Oakland is the cozier Jack London Square, a waterfront tourist attraction named for the San Francisco-born author. The port announced plans for the Water Street Public Market, a 32,000-square-foot complex for food purveyors set to open in fall 2016 at the square’s south end. It will offer “fresh, sustainable foods” from Bay Area and Central Valley producers, said Pamela Kershaw, the port’s director of commercial real estate, in a news release.

“I love the project’s connection with the Port of Oakland’s role as a major agricultural exporter for the region and the state, with fresh food products from the surrounding area and Central Valley serving as a staple to our maritime business,” she said.

The tenants have not been announced.

Several vendors from the Modesto area already sell goods at Bay Area farmers markets, including one at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, which also sits on the water.

Jack London Square has one distinction: You can get there directly on an Amtrak train from Modesto. It’s on the San Joaquin route, which heads north from Bakersfield and turns west in Stockton toward the Bay Area.

ELSEWHERE ON THE FARM BEAT: The 20th annual Ag Aware Luncheon, set for April 16, will raise money for FFA programs at Modesto high schools.

The Modesto Chamber of Commerce puts on the event, expected to draw about 500 people to the Agriculture Center for Education Pavilion on the Modesto Junior College West Campus.

The guest speaker will be Louie Brown, chairman of the California FFA Foundation board. FFA, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, is closely tied to agricultural education programs across the nation.

The luncheon will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The $25 tickets can be ordered at (209) 577-5757.

▪ People interested in promoting local food can take part in an April 10 workshop near Modesto on how to write grant applications to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The organizers invite farmers, ranchers, food companies and other interested people to take part. It is mainly about funding sources such as the Farmers Market and Local Food Promotion Program, but the skills could apply to USDA programs in general.

The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Harvest Hall at the Stanislaus County Agricultural Center, 3800 Cornucopia Way, off Crows Landing Road. The $10 fee includes lunch. Registration and other information is at www.ucanr.edu/sites/localfoodpromo.

The USDA is cosponsoring the event with the University of California.

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Farm Beat: Port of Oakland has news for Stanislaus."