Madera County Farm Bureau News: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Ag Today Friday, August 31, 2012

The next edition of Ag Today will be distributed Tuesday, Sep. 4th. Our office will be closed on Sep. 3rd in observance of Labor Day.

California bills aimed at better worker conditions head to Gov. Jerry Brown [Sacramento Bee]

Lawmakers on Thursday sent Gov. Jerry Brown a pair of bills intended to improve conditions for farmworkers, housekeepers and nannies. Farmers could be jailed for failing to provide field workers with adequate shade or water under Assembly Bill 2676, which cleared the Assembly, 43-28….AB 2676 requires that anyone directing or supervising a farmworker must ensure "continuous, ready access" to shade and to enough "suitably cool" water for each employee to drink one quart per hour throughout a work shift.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/31/4774460/california-bills-aimed-at-better.html#storylink=misearch

Calif. court upholds state apple moth plan [Associated Press]

A California court on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to a controversial state plan to control and eradicate the crop-damaging light brown apple moth. But the ruling in Sacramento Superior Court prohibited the California Department of Food and Agriculture from using aerial spraying to control the Australian pest. Health and environmental organizations had challenged the plan, arguing that officials understated the human and animal health risks of pesticide exposure and overstated the moth's potential impact on crops. The court denied their petition, but put some limitations on the plan, ordering an environmental review in five years. Agriculture authorities argued that the moth could cause billions of dollars in losses by damaging everything from apples to grapes and berries.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/30/4773847/calif-court-upholds-state-apple.html

Editorial: Failing reform process needs to be public [San Francisco Chronicle]

California's workers' compensation program is expensive, unwieldy and incredibly important. So why in the world would the Legislature pass a 170-page bill to overhaul the $17 billion system that was only introduced last week? Employers are rightfully nervous about the possibility of a large hike in premium costs starting next year. Workers' compensation insurers' loss-and-expense payments shot up by more than $1 billion in 2011, to nearly $12.5 billion. To pay for this remarkable increase, the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau is recommending a 12.6 percent rise in premium costs for next year. And admittedly, SB863 will save some money. It's a sign of how slapdash this process has been, though, that even the proponents don't know how much money it will save:

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Failing-reform-process-needs-to-be-public-3829653.php

Key leaders at UC Davis ag college resign [Sacramento Bee]

The top two leaders of the University of California, Davis' signature College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences have resigned their posts. Dean Neal Van Alfen and Executive Associate Dean James D. MacDonald tendered their resignations Tuesday in letters to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and the university's provost, Ralph J. Hexter. Van Alfen intends to remain as a faculty member; MacDonald will leave the school. Long considered one of the nation's premier agricultural schools, UC Davis now finds itself with what one state agricultural expert called "a void of leadership." UC Davis' agriculture college is the campus' oldest.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/31/4774485/key-leaders-at-uc-davis-ag-college.html#storylink=misearch

Columnist: Delta fix is better than nothing [Davis Enterprise]

If there’s such a thing as a sure thing it politics, it is this: If the water plan announced late last month by Gov. Jerry Brown ever passes the state Legislature, it surely will become the object of a statewide referendum much like the 1982 vote that defeated a somewhat similar plan endorsed by Brown. The defeat of that plan made consideration of water conveyance plans political anathema for almost 30 years. It was known as the Peripheral Canal because it would have taken many thousands of acre-feet of Sacramento River water yearly around the edges of the delta formed where that river and the San Joaquin River come together east of the San Francisco Bay….Make no mistake: Something is needed in the delta, both to assure water supplies for California’s most significant farms and largest cities, and to preserve water quality and life itself in much of the delta.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/forum/opinion-columns/delta-fix-is-better-than-nothing/

Letter to the editor: Rules are in place to guard workers [Stockton Record]

The Aug. 20 Associated Press story, "Bill aims to keep workers cool, safe in the fields," discusses a topic that is very important to San Joaquin County farmers: the protection of farm employees from heat illness. Farmers and farm labor contractors work diligently to ensure that employees are safe while working outdoors….The bills in the Legislature do not recognize safety measures already in place and instead raise regulations to nearly impossible standards, turning farm employers into targets for bounty-hunting lawyers. We believe the current rules are working and the new legislation is not needed. AB2346 and AB2676 are bad legislation and need to be voted down.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120831/A_OPINION02/208310312

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.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Ag Today Thursday, August 30, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown signs Alejo's fertilizer bill [Salinas Californian]

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law a bill to finance study of more efficient uses of farm fertilizer distribution. AB2174 by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, frees up funds from the state Department of Food and Agriculture Fertilizer Research and Education Program to inform farmers about ways to use less fertilizer, which can be harmful to groundwater. Alejo said farms face increasing regulation by local water-quality boards, and the bill offers a win-win situation by reducing farmers’ costs and environmental impacts.

http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012308300019

Feinstein analyzes 'unusual' economy in Modesto speech [Modesto Bee]

Economic issues dominated the speech Sen. Dianne Feinstein gave Wednesday to a lunchtime audience in downtown Modesto. The San Francisco Democrat called the lingering U.S. recession "unusual," saying, "Productivity has gone up but unemployment hasn't gone down." Nowhere is that more evident than the greater Modesto area, where hundreds of businesses have closed or downsized in the past five years and the unemployment rate has not dipped below 15 percent….Feinstein also was mindful of being surrounded by farmers, addressing an issue top of mind in this area: water. California doesn't have nearly enough storage for its water, she said. "We are on our way to a warmer state, a drier state and a more fire-prone state," she said, adding that with global climate change, California's snowpack is in very real danger over the next 100 years. "We need to be able to store water from the wet years for the dry years."

http://www.modbee.com/2012/08/29/2349316/feinstein-addresses-unusual-economy.html

US seeks to block challenge by animal rights group [Associated Press]

The federal government asked a judge Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a group of animal rights activists who say a rarely used 2006 law has a chilling effect on lawful protest activities. Five activists represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights sued the U.S. government last year, asking that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act be struck down as unconstitutional. A Justice Department attorney on Wednesday argued that the law is not aimed at constitutionally protected activities such as leafleting, writing letters to newspaper editors or peaceful protests. "It is not aimed at speech. Rather, it is aimed at violent, destructive conduct," said Deanna Durrett, an attorney in the Justice Department's civil division.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-seeks-block-challenge-animal-rights-group

California law encourages lessons on guest worker program [Reuters]

California's governor has signed a law encouraging schools to teach the history of a guest worker program that brought in Mexican farm laborers as the national immigration debate heats up. The bill, signed by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown Tuesday, urges social studies teachers to include material on the "Bracero" program that brought in close to 5 million people over roughly two decades, forming the first big batch of modern Mexican immigrants, supporters said. Many of those immigrants came to California….The law, which focuses on the curriculum for grades 7-12, does not require teachers to include the Bracero program in their lessons, but encourages them to do so.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/29/us-usa-california-immigration-idUSBRE87S1GI20120829

California high speed rail comment period extended [Modesto Bee]

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is extending by 30 days the deadline for the public to review and comment on a draft environmental report for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield section of the proposed train line. The extension pushes the comment deadline from Sept. 20 to Oct. 19. The draft environmental impact report includes thousands of pages of technical details on how building and operating the high-speed train system would affect residents, neighborhoods, cities, businesses, farms and wildlife habitat in the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

http://www.modbee.com/2012/08/29/2350000/rail-comment-period-extended.html#storylink=misearch

California sends flood risk notices to thousands [Associated Press]

California water officials have mailed notifications to 275,000 California property owners whose parcels are protected by a levee, warning they may be at risk of flooding and should prepare. The Department of Water Resources sent the notices this week to residential, commercial and other property owners in 17 counties, who live behind the 1,600 miles of state-federal levees in the Central Valley….The notices suggest property owners should have an emergency action plan and consider flood insurance - in case a flood bigger than what the levee is designed for comes along.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/29/4769834/california-sends-flood-risk-notices.html#storylink=misearch

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Ag Today Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Limit engineered crops' spread, panel says [San Francisco Chronicle]

A government advisory panel reached a rough consensus Tuesday that growers of genetically engineered crops should try to contain the spread of their genes to organic crops. But the panel refused to set a threshold level for contamination as would be required by Proposition 37, a California ballot initiative calling for labeling of genetically engineered food. The panel also refused to hold biotechnology companies that make genetically engineered seeds, including Monsanto, Dupont and Syngenta, responsible for contamination.

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Limit-engineered-crops-spread-panel-says-3822923.php

Bill would allow sale of homemade foods [Los Angeles Times]

Shades of Mildred Pierce may be cropping up throughout the state as lawmakers are set to decide whether mothers and others are allowed to sell homemade muffins, cakes and pies at local stores and restaurants and directly to consumers….The bill, up for a final vote in the state Senate as early as Wednesday, would permit home bakers to sell as much as $50,000 worth of goods a year, as long as they don't contain cream or meat products. So far, more than 30 other states have similar laws….With consumers increasingly jittery over recall scares and reports of food-borne illnesses, critics worry that the bill, AB 1616, co-written by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake), could become a dangerous example of health-related corner-cutting — especially in direct-to-consumer sales….Gatto's California Homemade Food Act would allow "non-potentially hazardous food" such as bread, fruit pies, empanadas, jams, honey and dried nuts to be sold out of houses, apartment complexes and other residences….Those selling directly to consumers would have to register with their local health departments and complete food handler courses. Purveyors selling through a retailer would also be subject to health department inspections.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-homemade-food-20120829,0,6759357.story

Heat illness still a problem despite progress [HealthyCal.org]

Arcenio Lopez hasn’t been a farm worker since 2003, but the Oaxaca, Mexico native still remembers what it feels like to work a full day under the California sun….Lopez, who is now administrative director for Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project in Oxnard (MICOP), says he was not prepared for the dangers associated with working eight hours or more under direct sunlight….If Lopez were working in an outdoor industry in California today, he likely would see billboards in Spanish or hear radio ads in his native Mixteco language with slogans like “A wise man looks for shade.” or “If you want to last, don’t forget to drink water.” Or, he may have learned from a co-worker that his employer is required by law to provide adequate protection from the heat….“They tend to be the trusted resources and the go-to places, so we have done a lot of outreach to engage those organizations in the campaign,” says Erika Monterroza of the Department of Industrial Relations. “One of the goals of the campaign has been to create a community norm that starts to see this as a public health issue.” Lopez says he’s seen a growing awareness among his clients. “I’ve been seeing people being more conscious about this,” he says. Workers realize “it’s not a game. It’s something real.” According to UC Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program, the train the trainer workshops in addition to direct worker outreach reach 6-8,000 workers per year. For a worker who may be on the job site 10-12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week, this type of peer-to-peer education can be a needed lifeline.

http://www.healthycal.org/archives/9626

UC Merced making water data available [Merced Sun-Star]

As concerns heat up around predicted losses in average mountain snowpack, UC Merced researchers have launched a new program to study the effects of climate change on the San Joaquin River and the millions of people who depend on it….Under a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant, scientists hope to develop a range of predictions as to how flows on the river will be affected by climate change….At the same time, scientists aim to determine how this and other factors will likely affect irrigation and drinking water use, as well as the surrounding ecosystems….More accurate data on river flows will help irrigation districts and other agencies more efficiently deliver water for agriculture and other uses….The study will be conducted by UC Merced, the Sierra Nevada Research Institute and a team of graduate students over the next three years.

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/08/29/2502928/uc-merced-making-water-data-available.html#storylink=misearch

Website set up to focus on Delta water project [Sacramento Bee]

Sacramento County has unveiled a new website to highlight issues affecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its residents….County officials are on record opposing the project, a stance prominently described on the new website: www.sacramentoriverdelta .net. The website also serves as a portal for information about flood insurance requirements, levee projects, relevant legislation and a calendar for Delta-centric events. Delta residents and businesses are encouraged to submit additional information for the website via email to marettsd@saccounty.net.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/29/4766856/website-set-up-to-focus-on-delta.html#storylink=misearch

Water-use survey might help farmers get recycled water [North County Times]

Farmers and growers have been asked to fill out a survey about their water use and business activities for a local agricultural advocacy group. Escondido Growers for Agricultural Preservation (EGAP), an affiliate of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, is working with the city to procure recycled water for agriculture in the near future, and the survey results may help guide that process….The survey is online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W7RGJ7J.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/escondido-water-use-survey-might-help-farmers-get-recycled-water/article_0005249f-313b-5c3f-bbba-379fd1f456d4.html

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Ag Today Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Commentary: Wenger: California forest proposal offers a rare reform opportunity [Modesto Bee]

…Right now, California has the most lengthy, costly and burdensome review process for timber harvest in the United States, so it's no wonder that 70 percent of the lumber sold in California is imported from outside its borders….As the state's largest agricultural organization, representing many small-scale, family forest landowners whose businesses and communities depend on sound harvest planning, the California Farm Bureau supports the reform package….The timber proposal provides a rare opportunity for meaningful reform on issues important to rural voters. The reform package promises real relief for an important enterprise that prides itself on environmental stewardship while providing good-paying jobs in areas with some of the highest unemployment rates in California. It deserves support.

http://www.modbee.com/2012/08/27/2346061/forest-proposal-offers-a-rare.html#storylink=misearch

Letter to the Editor: Existing heat regulations are working fine [Desert Sun]

Your editorial properly notes that most farmers do their best to protect their employees' safety in warm weather. But we disagree that new state law is needed to assure that farmers follow existing heat-safety regulations….The existing standard is working. There has been only one confirmed heat-illness death in agriculture in the past four years, and everyone wants the number to reach zero and stay there. Awareness of heat safety has risen and compliance with the standard has increased. The regulation includes significant penalties, and Cal/OSHA can recommend criminal prosecution. The new legislation is not necessary.

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012208280340&nclick_check=1

Controversial Hanford slaughterhouse back in business [Fresno Bee]

Wearing hard hats and hair nets, employees at Central Valley Meat Co. went back to work Monday after the USDA lifted its one-week suspension of the slaughterhouse. The action gives the locally owned business a new lease on life, but a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation into alleged food safety violations will continue, the department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Monday….It appeared from the outside Monday that the meat processing plant is up and running again -- the employee parking lot was almost full and several trailers of Holstein cows arrived as reporters and TV crews watched. But the economic effect of the plant's closure on both the business and its employees remains unclear….The USDA said it let the plant reopen because Central Valley Meat Co. wrote a corrective action plan detailing more employee training on humane handling of animals; more monitoring inside the plant, including video monitoring; and outside audits of operations.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/08/27/2966977/hanford-slaughterhous-back-to.html

At least 2 cities under quarantine after Med flies found in traps [CBS TV/Los Angeles]

An 88-square mile stretch of land in the Rancho Cucamonga area is under quarantine after Mediterranean fruit flies were found in tree traps. The California Department of Food and Agriculture set up a quarantine area that spans from Claremont to Rancho Cucamonga. The department said the med flies destroy crops by injecting larva. The most obvious sign is maggots inside fruits and vegetables.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/08/27/at-least-2-cities-under-quarantine-after-med-flies-found-in-traps/

Q&A with Jackie Crabb of SLO County Farm Bureau [San Luis Obispo Tribune]

Jackie Crabb has served as executive director of the San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau for more than a decade, leading the nonprofit organization and its members in the “protection, promotion and advocacy of agriculture.” The county’s bureau is part of the larger California Farm Bureau Federation, whose delegates represent each county in the state and focus on a host of policy issues, ranging from the definition of agriculture, water, labor, natural resources, and marketing to the philosophy of government….Crabb recently discussed the Farm Bureau’s goals and challenges with The Tribune.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/08/27/2201461/qa-with-jackie-crabb-of-slo-county.html#storylink=misearch

Farmers should not face water burden alone [Porterville Recorder]

More than 300 farmers turned out last week for a meeting of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board that is considering imposing a hefty fee on farmers to pay for monitoring of the underground water table under the Valley….The water board is all over the place in its estimates on what it might cost….It was suggested that the cost of the monitoring program could be spread out more evenly until the source of contamination can be firmly nailed down, if there is widespread contamination. That would certainly lower the costs for farmers, but would mean increases in what citizens pay for water in cities and special districts….Farmers are not blameless, but they certainly should not bare all the burden of paying for the monitoring program.

http://www.recorderonline.com/opinion/water-53726-farmers-cost.html

Madera County Farm Bureau News