Citrus
insect pest discovered in Tulare County [Fresno Bee]
Another
invader insect threatening California's citrus industry has been found in
Tulare County, prompting agriculture officials to speculate that a quarantine
on movement of fruit and nursery trees could be imposed as early as today.…The
tiny pest is feared because it can spread "citrus greening," a
disease that will kill a tree in five years and for which there is no cure. It
has afflicted orange-growing areas in Florida, Asia, the Middle East and other
regions. Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner Marilyn Kinoshita said Monday
that she expects state officials to announce a quarantine like those already in
place in Southern California, where the bug arrived in residential areas in
2008 and has lately been found closer to commercial growing areas. "All
roads point to 'yes, there is going to be a quarantine,' " Kinoshita said.
It would probably last two years, she said, and affect part if not all of
Tulare County.…"Only commercially cleaned and packed citrus fruit may be
moved out of a quarantine area," said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the CDFA.
Homeowners can't move citrus off their property, but can consume it, he
said.…Lyle told the Associated Press that the latest psyllid was not in suitable
condition to be tested for the bacteria that causes the disease.
State
egg farmers sue over elbow-room mandate [Sacramento Bee]
California
egg farmers announced Monday they are suing the state, claiming the 2008 ballot
initiative that sought to end "cruel confinement" of hens and other
types of farm animals is unconstitutionally vague and, as such, should be
nullified by the courts.…The Association of California Egg Farmers filed the
lawsuit in Fresno Superior Court on Friday, alleging that the proposition
"provides no ascertainable guidance on the required dimensions or
densities of hen enclosures." The trade group estimates that it will cost
California's 50 or so commercial egg farmers more than $400 million and take
about three years to build roomier facilities for their hens. "We're not
opposed to providing them with more space," said Sacramento attorney Dale
Stern of Downey Brand, the legal counsel for the egg farmers' group. "We
just need to know how much. How can (farmers') investors or their lenders give
them the money to build if they don't know what they're going to spend it on?"
Egg producers are also concerned about how the criminal penalties laid out in
the law will be enforced, Stern said. Under Proposition 2, farmers face $1,000
in fines and up to 180 days in jail per violation. He asked: Would each
illegally housed hen pose a separate violation? And would the sentence be
multiplied by the number of individual hens?
Grapes
(and raisins) of wrath: Supreme Court may hear farm program cases [McClatchy
Tribune News Service]
Supreme
Court justices on Tuesday will chew over several challenges to farm programs
filed by disgruntled California raisin and table grape growers. One case to be
considered behind closed doors Tuesday touches on the state-run California
Table Grape Commission. The other challenges a federal raisin-marketing order.
In both cases, justices will decide whether the appeals of lower court
decisions merit full-bore consideration next year….The grape commission case
started with plant patents developed by federal scientists and subsequently
licensed to the Fresno-based commission. The legal question now is whether the
U.S. Agriculture Department can be sued. The raisin case began when Fresno-area
farmers challenged the authority of a government program that requires them to
set aside part of their crop in reserve. The pressing legal questions now
include when and how individuals can pursue claims against the government.…At
least four justices must agree for the court to accept any case, and most
petitions are rejected without comment. At first blush, the cases lack the
sizzle of others that will be considered Tuesday. These include Idaho’s refusal
to allow the insanity defense in criminal trials and the sentencing of a
convicted Texas murderer. But for farmers, they could have long-term
consequences. At their core are several dozen marketing orders at the state and
federal level, which began during the New Deal as a way to manage fluctuations
in farm supplies and prices. The programs cover crops that range from
California almonds to Washington state potatoes.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/19/4997963/grapes-and-raisins-of-wrath-supreme.html#storylink=misearch
Imperial
Irrigation District accepting on-farm conservation applications [Imperial
Valley Press]
Valley
farmers who want to participate in the Imperial Irrigation District’s 2013
on-farm efficiency water conservation program have until noon Dec. 5 to submit
their proposals. The district hopes to conserve 16,000 acre-feet to 20,000
acre-feet of water in 2013 to meet water transfer obligations under the
Quantification Settlement Agreement or pay back its overrun obligations. A
number of conservation methods are available, from pressurized irrigation
systems such as solid set sprinkler systems to tailwater recovery systems and
surface irrigation optimization. Participating farmers will be paid $285 per
acre-foot of verified water reduction. The on-farm efficiency conservation
program is one of two conservation methods the IID offers. The other method,
fallowing, is a temporary program in which water is conserved by taking a
qualifying field out of production for a period of time.
The
food police are routed at the ballot box [Wall Street Journal]
…Before
the election, author Michael Pollan wrote in the New York Times Magazine NYT
-1.36% that "One of the more interesting things we will learn on Nov. 6 is
whether or not there is a 'food movement' in America worthy of the name—that
is, an organized force in our politics capable of demanding change in the food
system." By Mr. Pollan's own standard, we must conclude that there is no
viable food movement worth its sea salt. Right? That depends on which food
movement we are talking about. There is the food movement that has caught fire
over the past decade—encouraging consumers to use the power of their wallets to
prompt farmers and retailers to grow and sell better-tasting, more-nutritious produce.
It is the movement that has led to a surge in farmers markets, an explosion of
niche producers of jams and salsas in exotic flavors, the rise of craft brewers
in strip malls and backyard garages all across the U.S. Wal-Mart WMT -0.40% is
now the country's largest seller of organic produce. That food movement is
alive and well. So, what was the food movement that failed earlier this month?
The one that wants the coercive power of the state to strong-arm Americans into
eating fashionably. It is the movement that refuses to acknowledge the hard
work of the vast majority of American farmers—Urvashi Rangan of the Consumers
Union says that farmers' fertilizers "rape the soil"—simply because
they cannot make a living selling the stuff that the food elite think we all
should eat. It is a movement that uses scare tactics and misrepresents the
consensus scientific opinion about food technologies in an effort to demonize
agribusiness….There is a delicious irony in the behavior of food-movement
proponents. They readily celebrate bottom-up developments, like the
proliferation of farmers markets. But they want to orchestrate, from the top
down, whatever they find lacking.
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Column: Surprise! Americans
actually agree on immigration [Washington Post]
…Ongoing
research that MIT’s Jens Hainmueller and I have conducted shows that among
voters, there is a striking level of agreement about which immigrants to admit
to the U.S. In a nationally representative survey conducted in December
of 2011 and January of 2012, we asked respondents to look at pairs of
hypothetical immigrants to the U.S. and then indicate which of the two they
wanted to see admitted.…One might have expected that immigrants’ countries of
origin would play a sizable role in Americans’ preferences. But that’s not what
we found. If they have other pieces of information about an immigrant,
Americans don’t rely much on an immigrant’s birthplace. Instead, they put
substantial weight on the immigrant’s education and profession.…We see, for
example, that having a college degree makes an immigrant about 20 percentage
points more likely to be admitted, and that being a doctor has a positive
effect of about the same magnitude….The image of the hard-working immigrant
resonates not just in politicians’ speeches but in Americans’ attitudes as
well. It’s as if our respondents are acting like the nation’s Human
Resources department, screening for immigrants who would contribute economically.…The
core conclusion is that we are looking at two variants of the same image.
Democrats and Republicans alike prefer high-skilled immigrants with high-status
professions. Neither group is as supportive of immigrants who can’t speak
English, have no plans to look for work, or those who have made a previous,
unauthorized trip to the country….When it comes to the question of the types of
immigrants to be admitted, there is a hidden American immigration consensus,
one that crosses party lines. From these results, it seems clear that
Americans would be likely to support a more skill-based immigration system,
such as the one employed at the federal level in Canada.
Ag
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