Senate farm bill laden with suggestions [McClatchy Newspapers]
The egg producers and animal rights advocates who once battled over animal housing in California see a new farm bill as a chance to put an unusual alliance into action. If lawmakers agree, the bill would phase in the first national standards to include larger cages for egg-laying hens, stricter egg labeling and limits on ammonia buildup. The farm bill, though, remains a work in progress for which 198 Senate amendments await action, any one of which could alter the legislation's direction. Nor it is clear that the proposal for national henhouse standards, written by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, will last long enough to get a vote. "I won't bring it up if it's going to lose," Feinstein said.
Farm bill divides Midwestern and Southern farmers [Associated Press]
For once, it's not Democrats battling Republicans. The five-year farm and food stamps bill now being debated in the Senate is a regional fight, pitting rice and peanut growers in the South against corn producers and soybean farmers in the Midwest. The half-trillion-dollar bill setting farm policy into the future outlines dramatic changes in how farmers are protected from financial and natural disasters. It would end $5 billion a year in direct payments to farmers whether or not they actually plant a crop and programs that reward farmers when prices fall below a targeted level. Instead, the government would offer a new "shallow loss" program to aid farmers when revenues fall between 11 percent and 21 percent below five-year moving averages and would put greater emphasis on heavily subsidized crop insurance. Farmers' regular crop insurance would pay for losses above 21 percent.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/jun/13/farm-bill-divides-midwestern-and-southern/
Water too dangerous to drink: What life's like in California's farming communities [AlterNet]
…One in 10 Californians in two major agricultural regions pays high rates for well water that’s laced with nitrates, pesticides and other pollutants….California’s $37.5 billion farming industry has led the nation in food production for more than 50 years. The state has known for decades that nitrate contamination has been a cost of that productivity. But now, state officials know the primary sources of contamination, just how extensive it is and who’s shouldering the burden…. Dave Kranz, a spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation, calls nitrate contamination a legacy issue, stemming from outdated fertilizing practices.
Commentary: Only strong leadership will help us address the Delta's challenges [Sacramento Bee]
In the ongoing quest to solve California's water problems, discussions focus on various challenges and solutions while highlighting the dire circumstances of the state's unpredictable and unsustainable water supply. But for all the well-intentioned talk, there is little action….Various drafts of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the Delta Stewardship Council Plan, and the Delta Economic Sustainability Plan are in circulation. But the granddaddy of them all, the Delta Vision Strategic Plan, released in 2008, continues to hold the most promise for accomplishing the two co-equal goals of restoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem and ensuring a reliable water supply for California.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/13/4557530/only-strong-leadership-will-help.html
Commentary: Help needed to keep pests out of SLO County [San Luis Obispo Tribune]
Few places provide such ideal conditions for raising a wide variety of crops, livestock and ornamental plants as San Luis Obispo County. However, these same conditions also create the perfect place for exotic, detrimental insect pests and plant diseases. These pests and diseases could be the biggest challenge yet for commercial agricultural producers and anyone growing a garden, a landscape or even a single citrus tree. Now more than ever, the help of all residents of San Luis Obispo County is needed to keep pests at bay and help find them before they can negatively impact our $736 million local agricultural industry, ornamental landscapes and the natural beauty that makes this county so desirable.
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/06/12/2102943/crop-pests-plants-diseases.html#storylink=misearch
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