California
GMO measure may fail after food industry fights back [Reuters]
Major
food and seed companies appear to be on the verge of defeating a California
ballot initiative that, if passed on Tuesday, would create the first labeling
requirement for genetically modified foods in the United States. In a campaign
reminiscent of this summer's successful fight against a proposed tobacco tax in
California, opposition funded by Monsanto Co, DuPont, PepsiCo Inc and others
unleashed waves of TV and radio advertisements against Proposition 37 and
managed to turn the tide of public opinion. Four weeks ago, the labeling
initiative was supported by more than two-thirds of Californians who said they
intended to vote on November 6, according to a poll from the California
Business Roundtable and Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy. On
Tuesday, their latest poll showed support had plummeted to 39 percent, while
opposition had surged to almost 51 percent.
Food-labeling
initiative could encourage lawsuits [Associated Press]
Supporters
of a ballot proposal to label cereals, sodas and other products containing
genetically modified ingredients say their effort is about empowering consumers
who deserve to know what's in their food. Legal scholars say the right to know
contained in Proposition 37 also comes with the right to sue. The initiative on
Tuesday's ballot is worded in such a way that it could invite lawsuits against
food producers and grocery stores, experts say. Plaintiffs, including
individual consumers, could sue for an injunction to halt mislabeled goods
without having to show they were somehow harmed or deceived. In class-action
lawsuits, the prevailing side could win damage awards and recoup attorney's
fees and other costs.
Clashes
persist between farmers, processors on price paid for milk [Modesto Bee]
I
picked up a gallon of milk this week for $3.79. Simple enough transaction? Not
really. Dairy farmers and processors are clashing once again over what prices
the farmers should get. This time, the debate is especially testy. Farmers,
many of them in and near Stanislaus County, are pressing state regulators to
boost the minimum prices processors must pay them. The farmers say they have been
squeezed for four years by milk prices that do not cover feed and other
production costs. Dairy processors say increased farm milk prices would hurt
Monterey
Peninsula, agriculture officials clash over recycled water [Monterey County
Herald]
One
leg of the three-legged stool that makes up California American Water's
proposed Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project is teetering, and local
officials are scrambling to repair it. A contentious split vote this week by
the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency board left the budget for the
groundwater replenishment portion of the project unfunded, and left board
members from the water-short Peninsula and ag-dominated Salinas Valley and
North County deeply divided.…Two plants treat up to 22,000 acre-feet of water
per year, about enough to cover what the growers say is their allocation of
19,500 acre-feet per year in exchange for paying off bonds to build the
treatment system. The remainder is designated for the Marina Coast Water
District….Nancy Isakson of the Salinas Valley Water Coalition, a grower-backed
advocacy group, said agribusiness interests are determined to secure a formal
agreement guaranteeing their recycled water rights are protected before backing
the proposal, though she added that even such a deal would be merely a "starting
point" for negotiations.
Eastern
Stanislaus' grazing land giving way to acres of orchards [Modesto Bee]
...The
Old West, as we've known it here in Stanislaus County, is being shoved east.
Thousands of acres of dry grassland and hills are being plowed under. Drip
irrigation and misting systems are being assembled, with white PVC pipes lining
the hillcrests. The new cow, calf or steer is an almond tree — make that thousands
upon thousands of trees, with thousands upon thousands more on the
way.…"Incredible," said Lia Ardis, whose family once ran cattle to go
with their almond and walnut orchards. She is among those who have sold acreage
to an investment company from the Bay Area called Trinitas Partners. Last
weekend, she took visiting relatives on an eye-opening drive out Warnerville
Road to see the almond orchards and vineyards lining what until a few years ago
had been wide-open cattle country.
Value
of organic crops continues to grow in Solano County and all of California
[Vacaville Reporter]
The
number of organic farms is growing in Solano County, contributing to
California's standing as the leader in the country for production in 2011. The
United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics
Service released the 2011 California Certified Organic Production Survey
recently which shows California's total gross value of sales of organically
produced commodities, at $1.39 billion dollars, 39.3 percent of the total gross
value of U.S. sales. The 2011 Certified Organic Production Survey provides
acreage, production, and sales data for a variety of certified organic crops
and inventory and sales data for certified organic livestock commodities.
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.
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