Valley
farmers may lose Williamson Act tax break [Fresno Bee]
A
handful of prominent Valley families stand to lose big if tax breaks under the
state's 47-year-old farm preservation program are scaled back. The Williamson
Act, which cuts property taxes for landowners who agree to keep their land in
agriculture, is on the chopping block in Fresno County….Last year, about 14,000
county parcels benefitted from the Williamson Act, worth nearly $23 million,
more than in any other California county. But, according to a Bee review of
county property tax records, half of the total tax breaks given out under the
program went to roughly 250 big landowners. About a dozen enjoyed tax
reductions greater than $100,000. By comparison, the majority of landholders in
the program saw reductions well under $1,000….The California Farm Bureau
Federation praises participation in the Williamson Act by large landholders as
well as small ones. The program ensures adequate food supplies and provides an
economic anchor for local communities, said John Gamper, the federation's
director of taxation and land use. "You can say it's a tax benefit, but
there is something given in return," Gamper said. "Having these large
landowners put thousands of acres under (conservation) contract is a huge
benefit for the county by protecting agriculture."
Solar
companies look to the East Bay for expansion [Contra Costa Times]
…Spurred
by California's mandate that all utilities produce 33 percent of electricity
from renewable sources by 2020, solar companies hoping to harness the sun's
energy have eyes on flat land just west of Mountain House near the San Joaquin
County border. It is a prime location next to transmission lines and
substations. At least four applicants showed interest in that area of Alameda
County last year. They proposed building solar energy facilities -- ranging
from 14 to 2,000 acres -- on prime farmland, prompting members of the county
board of supervisors to ask their planners to begin work on a policy to guide
development….The area of focus for the new policy is south of Byron Highway
near Kelso and Mountain House roads and takes in about 2,000 acres of prime
farmland. After more than a year of the county's staff working with landowners,
ranchers, environmentalists and solar facility developers, the policy is at
least another year away….Most of the 2,000 acres attracting the attention is
protected through the Williamson Act, a state law enacted in 1965 that
preserves prime agricultural land and open space by offering landowners
property tax relief if they leave the land as is for a minimum of 10 years.
Whole
Foods endorses Prop. 37 [Los Angeles Times]
Whole
Foods Market, the largest U.S. natural-goods specialty retailer, has endorsed a
California initiative that would require the labeling of genetically engineered
food ingredients. The Austin, Texas, company is backing Proposition 37 on the
November ballot "because it has long believed its customers have the right
to know how their food is produced."…Whole Foods' endorsement of
Proposition 37 came with a couple of reservations. In a Sept. 11 press release,
the market complained that a 0.5% threshold was too low for exempting a product
containing a small amount of genetically engineered content from the labeling
requirement. The company also objected to a provision that would allow private
attorneys to sue on behalf of the state, alleging a violation of the labeling
mandate, should it become law.
Inspectors
wary of Mexican cattle pen [Wall Street Journal]
Mexican
cattlemen opening a state-of-the-art inspection facility intended to speed
livestock exports are facing a problem: U.S. veterinarians fear traveling to
the complex. The U.S. government inspectors in charge of checking the animals
for dangerous diseases before the cattle are shipped north say they are afraid
to show up at the inspection station south of the border near Laredo, Texas,
because of drug-cartel-related violence….Officials from the agency's Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service met with the concerned veterinarians on
Thursday to brief them on safety measures at the new cattle pens located in the
Mexican state of Nuevo León, about two miles from the U.S. border. The pens,
which cover close to 100 acres, are protected by high-security fencing and an
adjacent military garrison with armed soldiers. There is also a safe room with
direct communication to the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, about 30 miles to
the southeast, where personnel can take shelter in case of a threat.
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Decline
in immigration felt in vineyards [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
…Grape
harvest is underway in Sonoma County, but it has yet to reach full-swing. So on
the days when his crew doesn't have grapes to pick, Enrique Castillo, owner of
Enrique's Vineyard Management, is sure to keep them busy….Castillo is one of
many vineyard managers in the North Coast dealing with a dwindling supply of
labor.…Grape growers in Sonoma and Napa said the problem didn't begin this
year, but they're starting to feel the impacts of tighter border restrictions
that have been in place over the last decade. Some have increased wages to
attract workers. Castillo pays his crew $25 an hour for harvest work, well
above the average wage of $14 an hour for North Coast grape pickers last year,
based on figures reported by the state Employment Development Department.
Others are trying to keep their crews employed year-round, with erosion
management, pruning or odd jobs like chopping wood for mulch….Generally, around
harvest time, migrant workers show up at the vineyards where they worked the
previous year, said Manuel Rios, owner of Rios Farming Company in St. Helena,
which has 200 employees. “This year we haven't had any people show up,” Rios
said. “We've had to go out and find them.”
10
things farm stands won’t tell you [Wall Street Journal]
Ah,
the old farm stand, that seasonal roadside wellspring of sweet,
ready-to-be-shucked corn, crisp and juicy apples or jugs of real maple syrup.
But that humble stand has now become big business—in more ways than one.
Spurred by the “eat local” movement, consumers are flocking to stands connected
to family farms (and those farms account for fully 96% of the 2.2 million farms
in the United States). No less an authority than the U.S. Department of
Agriculture calls the trend of selling directly to consumers “an important new
opportunity for small and beginning farmers and ranchers to become financially
secure.”
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