Food,wine
producers urge less government intervention [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
Local
food and wine producers pressed lawmakers Monday to relax some agricultural
regulations while also emphasizing the merit of their voluntary efforts to
create sustainable food systems. Joe Pozzi, president of the Sonoma County Farm
Bureau and fourth generation rancher from west Sonoma County, argued that
private land owners play a key role in sustainable food production, and said
producers need more acreage to feed people in Sonoma County and across the
state.…A state legislative committee focused on California’s local, organic and
sustainable food systems met in Santa Rosa to discuss how the Legislature could
help improve food production.…Speakers argued that environmental goals were
best achieved by collaborating with land owners, rather than imposing
regulations that can be confusing and costly.
San
Joaquin County supervisors to discuss allowing solar farm in agricultural area
[Lodi News-Sentinel]
Are
solar farms compatible with agricultural areas, or are they industrial
installations that should be discouraged on farmland? The San Joaquin County
Board of Supervisors will decide today whether Bear Creek Solar should be
allowed to construct a solar farm on 20 acres on the east side of Jack Tone
Road south of Victor Road in the Lockeford area.…Two neighboring property
owners and the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation oppose the solar farm because
they say it would reduce the amount of agricultural land in the area. Farm
Bureau officials consider solar farms to be an industrial use, Farm Bureau
program director Katie Patterson said. A solar farm may sound "warm and
fuzzy," Patterson said, but the 20 acres of farmland would be replaced by
concrete. There's a lot of potential for solar farms in cities rather than agricultural
areas, she added.
Dairy
farmers making tough decisions as industry struggles [Marysville
Appeal-Democrat]
…With
low milk prices and soaring feed costs pushing dairies out of business, this
fourth-generation farmer is doing everything he can to ensure a future for the
daughter and granddaughter he envisions will carry on the family
business….Grain feed for milk cows that usually costs $160 to $170 per ton has
rocketed up to $320 per ton and jumped again in September to $420. Luis feeds
his cows 3 tons of grain a day, so the extra expense adds up quickly. Luis
admits he has started to fall behind in payments and is looking to take out a
bank loan to keep his family dairy afloat. To make ends meet, he sells a few of
his lowest-volume producers every month, but since no other dairies can afford
to take them on, they are sent to butcher. The normally cheery farmer, who has
helped deliver every cow on his farm, chokes up as he talks about those he has
sent away.
Commentary: Geoffrey Vanden
Heuvel: Open letter to CDFA dairy economists [Visalia Times-Delta]
…California
dairy-producer bankruptcies are occurring every week, but let me assure you
that those producers that file for bankruptcy are a small percentage of the
producers that are in dire financial straits. And when producers cannot pay
their bills and essentially go broke, who gets hurt? Not just the dairyman and
his family, but also the feed suppliers, the hoof trimmers, the veterinarians,
the breeders, the soap suppliers and hundreds of other people in the allied
industries. In essence, the entire infrastructure of the California dairy
industry begins to crumble right along with the bankrupt dairymen. This is why
we have a regulated industry to begin with, to prevent this type of damage from
occurring….There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the California system.
What is wrong is the way the California system is being administered.
Parsing
of data led to mixed messages on organic food’s value [New York Times]
…A
debate erupted between those who saw the Stanford study as validation of their
belief that organic food is an expensive, pointless exercise and people who
said the report ignored the main reasons they buy organic food and pay a
premium: to avoid pesticides, for the health of farm workers and for
environmental considerations. So why the chasm? Part of the issue is
methodology. Neither the Stanford nor the Newcastle researchers conducted new
field or laboratory work; rather, both groups performed a meta-analysis, a
statistical compilation of earlier work by others.…Such analyses seek out
robust nuggets in studies of disparate designs and quality that offer
confounding and often conflicting findings, especially in nutrition and
medicine.
Turlock
Christian the first private school in state to launch FFA [Modesto Bee]
The
nation has put its faith in Future Farmers of America for 84 years, relying on
it to teach young people how to farm and how to lead. Faith has a particular
meaning at Turlock Christian School, which last month became the first private
school in California to start an FFA chapter. That happened soon after leaders
amended FFA's state constitution to expand beyond the public schools it has
served for decades….The private school option is up to the leadership in each state,
and 14 have chosen it, said Kristy Meyer, spokeswoman at FFA's national office
in Indianapolis. Turlock Christian joined at a time when FFA is thriving along
with most of the ag economy. California had 70,523 members at last report, up
from 67,842 two years ago. National enrollment is at 540,379.
http://www.modbee.com/2012/10/15/2415504/turlock-christian-the-first-private.html#storylink=misearch
Ag
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