Tuesday Feb. 10 , 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Tour #1 DAIRY

Tuesday’s dairy tour will feature two stops at local dairies, one a large modern facility and a second traditional, established mid-sized dairy. Elkhorn Dairy is a large-herd operation north of Visalia featuring a state-of-the-art carousel milking parlor that handles 3,300 cows three times a day. The modern facility is also in the process of installing solar panels, giving tour attendees a first-hand look at the commercial application of solar power in the agriculture industry. The tour will also stop a few miles down the road at the long-time dairy family’s original milking facility where three new stalls have been added to the 30-year-old dairy.

Tour #2 AGRIBUSINESS

Tuesday’s agribusiness tour will follow the citrus harvest from growing, packing and juicing in three separate stops. The tour will make a visit to citrus groves in the Lindsay area to see navel orange harvest in action and then follow the fruit to the packinghouse at Sierra Citrus to see fruit being washed, sized, graded and packed for shipment to market. The tour also includes a visit to California Citrus Produce Inc., a juice plant in Lindsay where oranges too ripe for fresh market are processed for juice. The facility also processes lemons and citrus peel.

Wednesday Feb. 11, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Tour #1 DAIRY

Wednesday’s dairy tour will feature a stop at Fletcher Dairy located just south of Tulare, as well as an additional dairy facility nearby. Fletcher Dairy, owned by brothers Rob and Ed Fletcher, milks 650 cows two times daily on a double 14 herringbone milking parlor. Visitors will also get a look at the commercial dairy’s nutrient management system, to learn more about Fletcher’s strategies for feeding and nutrition.

Tour #2 WATER/NURSERY

Wednesday’s agribusiness tour provides a unique opportunity to visit the heart of the surface water system that feeds the Tulare County farming region with a stop at Terminus Dam. Terminus Dam is the local snow melt release point for surface water from Kaweah Lake, providing for flood control, irrigation and recreation. The Terminus Dam water master will provide a local water history of the region as well as information about water use from resources at the Dam. The second stop will feature a visit to Monrovia Nursery’s 400-acre greenhouse and nursery facility in Visalia. Monrovia is one of the world’s largest producers of container grown plants with more than 2,000 different varieties. The company has introduced hundreds of patented plants, which are shipped to independent garden centers nationwide from nurseries in Visalia and Venice Hills, Calif., as well as Oregon, Ohio, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Thursday, Feb. 12 , 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Tour #1 DAIRY

Thursday’s dairy tour will feature two stops at local dairies, one a large modern facility and a second traditional, established mid-sized dairy. Elkhorn Dairy is a large-herd operation north of Visalia featuring a state-of-the-art carousel milking parlor that handles 3,300 cows three times a day. The modern facility is also in the process of installing solar panels, giving tour attendees a first-hand look at the commercial application of solar power in the agriculture industry. The tour will also stop a few miles down the road at the long-time dairy family’s original milking facility where three new stalls have been added to the 30-year-old dairy.

Tour #2 AGRIBUSINESS

Thursday’s agribusiness tour will follow the citrus harvest from growing, packing and juicing in three separate stops. The tour will make a visit to citrus groves in the Lindsay area to see navel orange harvest in action and then follow the fruit to the packinghouse at Sierra Citrus to see fruit being washed, sized, graded and packed for shipment to market. The tour also includes a visit to California Citrus Produce Inc., a juice plant in Lindsay where oranges too ripe for fresh market are processed for juice. The facility also processes lemons and citrus peel.

All tours leave the Heritage Complex at 10:00 a.m. and cost $30 per person, per tour. Space for all tours must be reserved in advance. For more information go to worldagexpo.com. World Ag Expo reserves the right to make substitutions and/or changes to the schedule. No cameras or video cameras are allowed at any of the tour sites.