The Californian from Salinas, California • 12

0 Monday, September 2008 Lake levels Nacimiento 123,823 af Pet. full 33 1 San Antonio I 195,425 af Jw Pet full 58 f'l As of Sept 19 AGRICULTURE EDITOR: Katharine Ball PHONE: 754-4282 MX: 754-4293 E-MAIL: kballthecalifornian.corn www.thecalifomian.com Korsgaard ships frozen foods T- i r-i i Blue Ribbon's plant manager reverses a trend By ROBERT WALCH For The Salinas Califorman WATSONV1LLE During the past couple of decades, WatsonviUe has seen many frozen food processing facilities depart, but Salinas resident Alex Korsgaard, said he's happy to be part of an effort that has reversed that trend. Korsgaard is plant manager of Blue Ribbon Frozen Foods LLC, a startup that began operations this summer. It's ing spinach now, but will turn to Brussels sprouts soon, he said. Agriculture Digest Compiled fro staff reports IN BRIEF Ag Against Hunger fundraiser is Oct.

11 Ag Against Hunger is -holding "Ag Artists Feeding the Hungry," a silent art auction and fundraiser, Saturday, Oct. 11, at Gallery i fine art, 685 Cannery Suite 113, Monterey. This event features appetizers by Chef Kevin Hincks from Cantinetta Luca in Carmel and wine tasting from local ies. 1 The silent art auction, featuring works donated by local and international artists, is the highlight of the event. A $20 suggested dona- tion, includes "Life in Light," a coffee-table book featuring the collection 1 and life story of artist Harold Hitchcock (retail value $60).

All donations benefit Ag Against Hunger, which collects fresh produce for distribution at food banks locally and throughout the state. Information: www.agagain sthunger.org. Cutting horse event slated for Paso Robles For the second year in a row, cutting horse competitors will participate in the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association's single largest annual event, the -PCCHA Golden Hills Auto Center Futurity in -Paso The event will draw more than 600 horse-and-rider teams from a dozen states and Canada, who will be competing for nearly $1 million in prize money during the show's run Oct 22 through Nov. 2 at the Paso Robles Event Center at 2198 Riverside Blvd. See AG, Page 5B it V.

in liTWTiwrifiifi.ir-rimT ri nr-in-nnwniiiiTT' i ibi RICHARD GREENTHE SALINAS CALIFORMAN Alex Korsgaard works with a load of fresh-cut spinach at Blue Ribbon Foods in WatsonviUe on Tuesday. in frozen food." Korsgaard's involvement in the start-up process began with the "blue-print" phase more than a year ago. With a big grin, he said it took many long days and weekends to get the plant up and running by the mid-' die of July, but it was worth throughout the seasons. With plenty of unused floor space in the building, Korsgaard said it would be fairly easy to add additional processing lines if the market demanded a greater output Hoping to create a niche In the frozen spinach market, Blue Ribbon is a co- Located in a building on Airport Boulevard owned by Naturipe Berry Grow-, ers, Blue Ribbon had to install its own production line. Korsgaard said he acquired the necessary know-how for1, the, job working for Mike Cleugh in Cleugh, a longtime fami- i ly encouraged the youthful Korsgaard to pursue a food science degree at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis vObispo, telling him food businesses do well during Cleugh also offered Korsgaard summer employ- ment during his college years.

"While at Cal I began working in Salinas during the summers running night shifts in the packing shed," Korsgaard said. "This was a satellite location processing strawberries." Doing everything from driving a forklift and loading trucks to quality control, he learned the busi- all the effort ALEX AGE; 37 OCCUPATION: Plant manager, Blue Ribbon Frozen Foods LLC, WatsonviUe. WORK: Cleugh's Frozen Food, 1998-2007. Blue Ribbon Frozen Foods, 2007-present. EDUCATION: Graduated in 1998 from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, with a degree in food science.

PERSONAL: Lives in -Salinas with wife, Danielle, and 7-year-old son. 'I feel good that we are packer that ships its prod- now producing something uct in 900-pound, bulk ness from the ground up. Upon graduation; Korsgaard became superintendent of production at Cleugh's Salinas plant and eventually moved up to plant manager. Although he began by working with strawberries, bell peppers, and Brussels sprouts in the frozen food business, Korsgaard switched to spinach when he moved to Blue Ribbon. Explaining his decision to take this new position, Korsgaard pointed to the newly assembled production line.

"This was a nice match," he said. "I seized the opportunity to get in on the ground floor and see a new venture grow, while my employers needed someone with experience containers for businesses that people are going to that use it as an ingredient in something else. The spinach eventually will be included in a wide range of products from pizza to various types of dips. "We'll never be as big as Birdseye or Green Giant, but I think there is definitely a place for a company like this," Korsgaard said. eat," he said.

Initially, Blue Ribbon will employ just under 20 peo-, pie. Although spinach is the immediate focus of the operation, Brussels sprouts will replace the leafy green later this falL By operating year-round, Korsgaard said he hopes the plant will be able to keep most, if not all, of the line staff busy Today SALINAS RAINFALL VALLEY FORECAST ALLERGY REPORT NATIONAL CONDITIONS FOR MONDAY Shown are noon positions of weather systems. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -Os rC37 10s 20 TSSg 40 TO5 60s 70s i Areas of low clouds early SUNRISE 6:55 a.m. SUNSET 6.051 OJO" 0.24" 15.34" of p.m.

Sunday 0.02 Compiled by Burnett Martsock; Salinas weather watch far The Salinas Califorman Since July I 'Last season to date season to date season today; otherwise, mostly sunny. Clear tonight. Plenty of sunshine tomorrow and Wednesday. Partly sunny Winds: WNW 7-14 mph Tree pollen: Grass pollen: Weedpolkm: fe Mod Salinas Allergy Clinic: mvwsalinasallergyclimacom. MOON PHASES '1 'ikif v'-' UV'6, High Thehiglwthe i AccuWeatherram UV Index" number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.

Shown is the highest value of the day Today's HighsTonight's Lows: i) i' J. MftntrcJif 4-day Salinas forecast: TorontOuJtvrwfc REGIONAL TEMPERATURES Tuesday isqb Sunday an FranciS' Hi to Prep City Manna Sunday in Prep 67 58 pc 0.00 74 56 pc 0.00 73 54 pc 0.00 7453 Mostly sunny 0 San Fran. San Jose Santa Cruz Seaside Sunday Hi tp Prep 70 55c0D0 65 58pc0u0 68 SfipcOOO 71' 5b pc 0.00 70 S4 pc 0 00 j7Wi? J. i ArrC'Atlantai 2 )rr. -J Monterey City Big Sur Carmel Vly.

Gonzales Hollister King City tOffkland 7649 74 52 pc 0 00 72 47pc 000 72 53 pc 0.00 76 76 51 pc 0.00 Oakland -Pacific Qrv. Winds: NNE 6-12 mph 71 53 pc 0.00 Saunas Watsonntle 70 52 pc 0.00 ft' STATE TEMPERATURES Wednesday "'fv'f CT OH) C3 Showers Rftfn T-ftorrm Snow Flumes Ies Cold from A A A Statlorwry front Warm front SATELLITE VIEW OF THE COAST 'Plenty of sun- Winds: NNW 8-16 mph 50 Shown is Sunday's weather as of 6 p.m. Today HI Log 89 46 78 55 pc 86 55 87 51 73 65 pc 73 53 pc 75 51 pc 84 44 68 26 76 52 82 41 Sunday Hi Lo 80 61 pc 81 58 92 60 84 45 78 57 62 51 pc 83 56 pc 74 60 pc 77 64 pc 99 74 96 62 Sunday Hi 83 48 pc 73 55 pc 82 58 pc 81 65 71 64 pc 72 53 pc 71 50 pc 81 47 pc 65 28 71 55 pc 77 47 Today Mi I 80 61 pc 87 63 92 62 83 42 83 53 61 42 pc 85 58 78 62 pc 78 62 pc 99 72 97 69 City PasoRoble5 Redwood City Riverside Sacramento San Diego -Santa Baikara Santa Maria Santa Rosa Tahoe Valley Valleio Yosemite Valley i I A Half M6on Bay IA San-Jose I 8155.i fa City Anaheim Bakerefield Barstow Bishop Concord Eureka --Fresno Long Beach Los Angeles Needles Palm Springs Thursday 'Partly sunny Winds: NE 8-16 mph 52 NATIONAL TEMPERATURES Friday Santa Cruz 7549 7449 Boating Today's forecast for Monterey Say. Wind's: i Ms 1 u-i Partly sunny Winds: WSW 8-16 mph 52 Or Moss Landing 6254 r.S',frnillf I 6S50 Ai Hollister 8053 7450 Current weather online Sunday Today Sunday Today HI IS 111 City If 1 HI 1 Albuquerque 83 64 pc 82 58 pc Us Vegas 94 70 93 64 Anchorage 49 40 52 40 pc Little Roc 82 63 pc 86 62 pc Atlanta 75 61 pc 82 63 pc Louisville 87 b2 pc 85 60 Baltimore 82 49 pc 76 57 pc Miami 91 79 pc 88 78 Birmingham 83 62 pc 84 01 pc Milwaukee 70 60 pc 74 57 pc Boise 63 49 pc 70 44 Minneapolis 82 57 79 65 1 Boston 75 52 pc 63 47 sh Nashville 86 59 pc 85 59 Buffalo 67 55 sh 68 45 New Orleans 85 71 1 85 72 1 Charleston, W.Va. 85 52 pc 83 51 New York City 80 59 72 58 Chicago 80 58 pc 79 57 pc Oklahoma City 86 58 pc 84 62 pc Cincinnati 85 57 pc 83 55 Orlando 91 71 pc 88 73 1 Cleveland 77 53 pc 72 51 Philadelphia 82 54 pc 76 56 pc Columbus, Ohio 85 55 pc 79 53 PhoeniK 101 79 100 77 Dallas 90 68 pc 89 67 pc Pittsburgh 81 52 pc 76 53 Denver 77 51 pc 84 48 pc Portland, Ore, 63 55 sh 65 46 pc Detroit 75 58 pc 73 53 Rapid City 85 55 pc 82 52 Duluth i 64 46 pc 68 56 pc Reno 74 44 pc 79 43 Fairbanks 46 29 45 35 St.

Louis 78 60 pc 83 62 pc Fargo 84 54 pc 79 59 1 Salt Lake City 75 51 pc 72 48 pel Flagstaff 74 41 71 40 Seattle 1 64 54 61 45 pc I Hartford 80 42 pc 67 43 sh Spokane 54 48 sh 61 37 pel Honolulu 88 74 88 74 pc Tucson 97 69 93 f9 Houston 87 69 pc 88 68 82 56 pc 80 61 pctf Indianapolis 84 59 pc 82 56 Wichita 85 58 pc 86 63 pc Kansas City 79 60 pc 81 63 pc Yuma 102 73 pc 100 73 I 0' Manna Seaside c7o 7052 The Salinas Californian Web site oSaiinas AccuVcather com Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. 2008 Grove 950 '3 www.thecalifornian.corn The National Weather Service www.wrh.noaa.govhtml 7450 CifChualar 7950 Carmel WfctereyZ. 7648 Gonzales 8151 Carmel Valley Soledd (G167 8351 WORLD TEMPERATURES Greenfield Arroyo Seco 8552J 8148 VG17- It pays to do business with 'J American AgCredit literally! A n. tin do Big Sur 7450 King City 1 8650 nr 1,1,3 jr ui, i.ai i i ivi cuil pav fiik nil riiitinii Today HI Ls 84 77 72 50 56 38 57 43 69 45 68 50 89 77 84 64 78 54 77 70 65 49 58 46 53 44 Sunday Today City HJ HJ Amsterdam 66 46 pc 64 48 pc Athens 72 57 70 61 Auckland 62 46 pc 66 47 Berlin 62 47 sh 57 43 Bogota 66 48 67 42 pc Cairo 96 75 pc 97 DuDlin 64 45 pc 57 45 pc Geneva 57 44 pc 66 40 Ho Chi Minti 90 74 90 75 Hong Kong 94 81 pc 93 82 pc Jerusalem 82 61 90 63 London 67 46 pc 66 50 pc Madrid 80 59 72 58 Sunday HJ Lei 87 77 1 67 53 1 63 42 pc 66 43 pc 64 43s 70 51 84 75 87 61 pc 76 54 79 69 65 57 pc 64 54 pc 54 45 sh PC Cy Manila Mexico City Moscow Oslo Pans Rome San Juan, Seoul Sydney Tokyo Toronto Vancouver Warsaw San Ardo 8752 I companies are receiving $2.3 million, Ready to get your siiaici ii.t uii-i jiii: jt out rg irJiina uj iiiiu uui muvv. iow Contact our Salinas office today! i 'hta are iven in feek Tuesday I lis.

"I 5.52 p.m.,' 5.3 fs Ploa.nL 0.1 lM p.m. 3.2 (831) 424-1756 924 East Blanco Road www.agloanl.com 'L" Pmml Opportunity tender mmmmmmmiammm van. Prcp-precipitation; t-sunny; pc-partly cloudy; c-cloudy; r-rain; sh-showers; t-thunderstorms; sf-snow flurries; sn-snow; l-ice.