California braces for a deadly stalker of citrus [Los Angeles Times]
…A graft of pomelo — a symbol of good fortune and prosperity in many Asian cultures — was the likely source of the state's first documented case of huanglongbing, a citrus disease with no known cure, say researchers involved in the investigation. The suspected plant shoot, or budwood, was passed freely among San Gabriel Valley church friends who loved to garden and experiment with hybridization, according to residents. Until two weeks ago, California was the last major citrus-growing region in the world to avoid a scourge that has decimated groves in China, Brazil and Florida. The disease arrived the way experts had long predicted: in a tree in a Southern California yard. Now, agriculture officials are scrambling to slow the disease's march north and save a $2-billion industry based in the Central Valley….Some researchers immediately suspected the pomelo graft as the cause of the infection. There are strains of prized Chinese pomelo not available in the U.S. The fear had long been that a smuggled tree would carry the disease. "We may never know for sure it's the graft," said Ted Batkin, president of the Citrus Research Board. "But … we know from experience that this kind of graft is the most likely cause. Teams will trace it backward and forward. What tree did this budwood come from and where else might it have gone?"
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-citrus-disease-20120414,0,2096027.story
Organic farmers hope for boost with rivals' labels [Associated Press]
…Robert Burns, an organic farmer in eastern Connecticut, is candid in describing his business interest in state legislation requiring that genetically modified food be labeled. "If you're an organic producer now, you should get ready for an increase in sales," said the grower of lettuce, mung beans, red winter wheat berries and other vegetables. Consumer demand for labeling is rising and producers will have little choice but to comply, he said.
"Pink Slime" controversy stokes clash over U.S. agriculture [Reuters]
…The recent furor over so-called "pink slime" beef filler underscores how social media have given activists and consumers a powerful weapon to influence that process. Using tools such as Twitter and the threat of spending boycotts, consumers and activists pressured retailers to abandon Beef Products Inc's ammonia-treated lean, finely textured beef….Tech-savvy farmers have launched social media campaigns about farm life and trained their peers on how to tweet critical food bloggers. The agribusiness sector spent $123.8 million on lobbying efforts in 2011, up from $110.2 million in 2007, according to OpenSecrets.org….The Humane Society and other activists say their goal is to pull back the curtain on the nation's food supply. But what is behind that curtain is often a messy sight - particularly in the meat industry, where production methods can be less than appetizing….But amid this outrage, an unsettling realization is growing among the farm set: Some of these battles may already be lost. "We have to do a better job of communicating with the public and that includes listening to what they say," said Don Lipton, spokesman for the American Farm Bureau.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/16/usa-agriculture-clash-idUSL2E8FG0E820120416
Storms boost water deliveries for Valley's west side [Fresno Bee]
A series of storms in the last month has nearly doubled the meager Sierra snowpack, prompting federal leaders Friday to boost farm water delivery projections from 30% to 40% for the San Joaquin Valley's west side. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also announced increases for Northern California farmers, who will get 100% of their allotments, and east Valley farmers, who will get 45%. But the head of Westlands Water District said the increase for the Valley's west side would have been much bigger without environmental restrictions in Northern California.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/04/13/2799414/storms-boost-water-deliveries.html#storylink=misearch
Editorial: Preserving our California landscapes [San Francisco Chronicle]
Boots and Birkenstocks tread common ground when it comes to certain conservation issues, so it's not surprising that ranchers and major environmental organizations have joined forces to promote a vision of the West that is economically and environmentally sustainable. Their immediate target is to hold the line or even increase conservation funding in the 2012 Farm Bill, which Congress is deliberating now….California, the largest ag state, receives very little conservation funding….Conservation funding, matched with investments from the ranchers, is a long-term investment in agriculture and the ecosystem. There are few other tools to provide incentives to keep land as rangeland. Without adequate funding, our California landscapes will disappear.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/16/ED541O35KI.DTL
Editorial: Farm Bill must not subsidize Big Ag at the expense of children and the poor [San Jose Mercury News]
…Of the proposed $180 billion cuts in the House Farm Bill, $133 billion comes from the food stamp program….Cut the farm bill by eliminating subsidies for crops that are not needed or are contributing to health problems. (That would be corn, and corn.) Faced with the need to reduce health care costs, Congress should be nurturing more responsible agriculture operations that produce fruits and healthy vegetables and provide fresh foods for school lunch programs. That's how the small farms and even many large-scale operations in the South Bay and Monterey County operate. But they don't clamor for subsidies. They're not whiners. If conservatives argued to end all subsidies for business, we'd respect that as a coherent philosophy. But continuing to subsidize growers of food that's bad for us while cutting food aid for kids whose only healthy meal of the day may be a school lunch? That's not conservative. It's just mean.
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