Fed evaluation: 3 more pesticides may harm salmon [Associated Press ]
A draft federal evaluation has found that three more common pesticides used on home lawns and agricultural crops jeopardize the survival of West Coast salmon… This one looked at the pre-emergent herbicides oryzalin, pendimenthalin and trifluralin. They are used to control weeds in lawns, on road shoulders, in orchards, vineyards, and farm fields growing soybeans, cotton, corn, Christmas trees and other crops. Heaviest use is in California. The herbicides are ingredients in more than 100 commercial products made by dozens of manufacturers. NOAA Fisheries informed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that they are likely to jeopardize half the 26 salmon populations on the West Coast protected by the Endangered Species Act, and suggested restrictions like no-spray buffers to keep them out of salmon streams.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/09/4401732/feds-say-3-pesticides-harmful.html
E.P.A. Denies an Environmental Group’s Request to Ban a Widely Used Weed Killer [New York Times]
The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday said that the widely used herbicide 2,4-D would remain on the market, denying a petition from an environmental group that sought to revoke the chemical’s approval. The E.P.A. said that the environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, had not adequately shown that 2,4-D would be harmful under the conditions in which it is used…
First approved in the late 1940s, 2,4-D is one of the most widely used weed killers in the world. It is an ingredient of numerous home lawn-care products, and it is used by farmers… Use of the chemical is expected to grow substantially in the coming years because Dow is seeking federal approval to sell seeds of corn genetically engineered to be resistant to 2,4-D.
REGION: Abandoned groves must be monitored for pests, county says [North County Times]
Growers who've abandoned their fruit trees can't abandon their duty to monitor the trees for invasive pests, San Diego County says. The county's Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures is preparing a letter to these growers reminding them of their responsibility, said Sandy Parks, the department's assistant director… Soaring water costs make the crops, especially citrus, unprofitable, said Gary Arant, general manager of the Valley Center Municipal Water District. Although many of the citrus trees have died without irrigation, some have managed to live off rainfall and could potentially be host to pests, Bender and Arant said. Such pests include the Asian citrus psyllid, which carries the citrus-killing disease Huanglongbing. A citrus psyllid was found in a trap in Valley Center in October 2009.
Grapevine shortage squeezes wineries [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
In a row of greenhouses off Sonoma Highway, young grapevines are nestled in tiny pots stretching for what seems like miles. And it is still not enough to meet demand from California’s resurgent wine industry, which finds itself facing an unusual problem: a shortage of grapevines… The situation is hampering plans by North Coast wineries and growers to expand their vineyards and quench consumers’ growing thirst for California wine. Nurseries are largely sold out of vines to plant this year, and are running out of plants that will be available in 2013.
High-stakes vote nears in California water wars [Associated Press]
The San Diego County Water Authority launched the website last month to attack the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, its largest supplier, saying it wanted to lift a veil of secrecy. The site offers a trove of internal documents obtained under California's public records law, including references to a "Secret Society" and an "anti-San Diego coalition." Metropolitan, a Los Angeles-based agency that counts San Diego as the largest of its 26 customers by far, votes on a budget Tuesday that would raise rates 7.5 percent in 2013 and 5 percent in 2014, a move that San Diego says would hit the nation's eighth-largest city and its suburbs disproportionately hard… As with many water disputes in arid stretches of the West, this one is just as much about how to move water from one place to another as it is about the water itself. San Diego lacks its own water supply and - just as importantly - doesn't own pipes to get it from somewhere else. In 2003, San Diego agreed to buy a big chunk of its water from California's Imperial Valley in the nation's largest farm-to-city water transfer. It still needs Metropolitan's 242-mile aqueduct to carry the water from the Colorado River.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/10/4402410/high-stakes-vote-nears-in-california.html
Rancher Rosasco dies at 90 [Sonora Union Democrat]
Otis Rosasco, one of Tuolumne County’s last real cowboys, died Friday at his home in Jamestown. He was 90. Rosasco is best known for his family’s cattle ranching business and as an advocate for the preservation of agriculture, water and private property rights. He was also a proponent of the Williamson Act, or The California Land Conservation Act of 1965, which enables local governments to enter into contracts with private landowners to restrict specific parcels of land to agricultural or related open space use… Among Rosasco’s numerous contributions to agriculture, he and other old time ranchers started the Tuolumne County Farm Bureau in 1948 and also helped start the local Cattlemen’s Association, said longtime friend Ty Wivell, who was also in the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Posse with Rosasco, one of the original members.
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/News/Local-News/Rancher-Rosasco-dies-at-90
Ag Today is distributed to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for information purposes, by the CFBF Communications/News Division, 916-561-5550; news@cfbf.com. Some story links may require site registration. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and e-mail address.
No comments:
Post a Comment