Farmworkers sue over firing [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
Two migrant workers say they were fired, along with 15 to 20 other laborers, when they stopped picking bell peppers in the eastern Coachella Valley on a dangerously hot day, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this week. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday by California Rural Legal Assistance in Riverside County Superior Court, claims Ventura County-based Chuy and Sons Labor Inc. unlawfully forced its farm crews in Thermal to work at “breakneck speed” during extreme heat and unsafe conditions. It charges that Chuy and Sons required workers to run back and forth in the fields to fill and empty baskets of bell peppers on a June 2010 day when temperatures climbed past 111 degrees.
Farm labor shortage hurts early harvest crops [KXTV/Sacramento]
After the weather problems that hurt the cherry crop last year, growers like Lodi's Joe Petersen, were pleased that this year things looked good. While the cherries are ripe and beautiful, there aren't enough laborers to pick them all….The California Farm Bureau's Bryan Little confirms the problem. "The people who do early harvesting of cherries, asparagus and early season activity are about 30 percent to 40 percent short of (the workers) they would normally need this time of year," Little said.
http://lodi.news10.net/news/news/100265-farm-labor-shortage-hurts-early-harvest-crops
Delta council will keep independence [Stockton Record]
The state agency that might be the final judge in whether a peripheral canal or tunnel is built will remain independent, officials announced Wednesday. Gov. Jerry Brown had proposed shifting the Delta Stewardship Council under the auspices of the California Resources Agency, which is considering a massive canal or tunnel to divert water around the Delta. Critics said that move would have stripped the council of any appearance of independence.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120614/A_NEWS/206140314&cid=sitesearch
US wildfires fuel urgency for forest restoration [Associated Press]
As firefighters battle blazes in New Mexico and Colorado that have forced evacuations and destroyed hundreds of structures, the U.S. Forest Service chief is renewing his call to restore forests to a more natural state, where fire was a part of the landscape. Experts say a combination of decades of vigorous fire suppression and the waning of the timber industry over environmental concerns has left many forests a tangled, overgrown mess, subject to the kind of super-fires that are now regularly consuming hundreds of homes and millions of acres. The Forest Service is on a mission to set the clock back to zero and the urgency couldn't be greater, Tom Tidwell said. The plan calls for accelerating restoration programs - everything from prescribed fire and mechanical thinning - by 20 percent each year in key areas that are facing the greatest danger of a catastrophic fire.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/14/4562230/us-wildfires-fuel-urgency-for.html#storylink=misearch
Farmers prepare for the data harvest [Wall Street Journal]
U.S. farmers are getting help from a new kind of farmhand: iPads and other gadgets that help them plant seeds in ways that maximize harvests. Big seed companies including Monsanto Co. MON +0.80% and Pioneer Hi-Bred, a subsidiary of DuPont Co., DD +0.31% are gathering mountains of data to figure out which crops work best in certain soil and conditions so they can deliver farmers customized planting plans. The information is funneled into thousands of dollars worth of gadgets that help drive the vehicle and control seed and fertilizer dispersal.
*Link may require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
Editorial: Cut welfare for farmers [North County Times]
The farm bill being debated in Congress remains, in its current form, full of the kinds of expensive pork that hides the true cost of the food we buy to feed our families….Don't get us wrong: Farmers are the most important part of any society, because all wealth ultimately flows from the ability to feed ourselves. But large corporate outfits that own and manage much of our farmland should not receive government subsidies or price controls ---- they should be left to thrive or fail based on their competence, just like any other business….Taxpayers do not need to be underwriting the day-to-day business decisions of our farmers, however. It is time for Congress to radically overhaul our agricultural policies and begin weaning farmers off their federal welfare.
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