Meeting today in Tulare to discuss citrus quarantine [Visalia Times-Delta]
…Farmers,
fruit packers, haulers and others involved in Tulare County’s citrus industry
will hear today how a planned quarantine on movement of commercial citrus will
affect them. The California Department of Food and Agriculture, which is
working to enact the quarantine, and the Tulare County Agricultural
Commissioner’s Office will hold the two seminars on the quarantine plans
starting this morning at the International Agri-Center in Tulare….Steve Lyle, a
CDFA spokesman, said the quarantine plans were intended to take effect this
week, but they were delayed after scientists for his agency confirmed on Nov.
21 that the remains of another Asian citrus psyllid were found in an insect
trap in an orange grove about a mile south of Terra Bella….All the insects were
too dried out to determine if they were infected with HLB. CDFA inspectors have
been checking citrus trees in the south county areas and found no signs that
any trees have been infected, nor have they spotted any more psyllids, Lyle
said.
Worth
noting in business: Farm bureau urges public comments [Bakersfield Californian]
The
Kern County Farm Bureau is "strongly" urging every agricultural
producer in the county to attend and possibly testify at a hearing Friday in
Bakersfield where state water quality officials plan to consider new irrigation
discharge regulations. According to email sent Tuesday by the bureau, the
Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board's proposed Irrigated Lands
Regulatory Program would force farmers to prepare annual nutrient budgets with
certified crop advisers, among other measures. The email likens the proposal to
a separate order it says costs farmers $118.55 per acre yearly. "This is a
game changer," bureau Executive Director Ben McFarland said in an
interview.
Stanislaus
ag water cleanup backed [Modesto Bee]
A
farmer-funded effort has helped reduce agricultural pollutants in waterways in
and near Stanislaus County, its leaders and a state regulator said Tuesday. The
East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition reported that pesticide problems are
"few and far between" nearly a decade into its monitoring and grower
education. They said this and similar coalitions are showing that this method
is preferable to regulation of individual farmers by the Central Valley
Regional Water Quality Control Board.
River
of storms headed for Northern California [Sacramento Bee]
It's
shaping up as California's equivalent of a hurricane: A series of warm, wet
storms arriving today that will be unlike anything the state has seen in years.
By Sunday, weather experts say Sacramento could see 4 to 8 inches of rain, and
the mountains of the Northern Sierra Nevada and Shasta regions could be deluged
with 12 to 18 inches of rainfall….Forecasters say the second storm will plant
its bull's-eye on Shasta, Tehama, Butte and Plumas counties, with lesser
rainfall amounts farther south. This is worrisome, because these counties
experienced large forest fires over the summer that now create a significant
erosion and mudslide risk. Of particular concern is the Battle Creek watershed
in Shasta and Tehama counties, where the Ponderosa fire burned more than 27,000
acres in August.
Farm
Bureau VP concerned about stability [Colusa County Sun-Herald]
Agriculture
was nervous about the election of Gov. Jerry Brown two years ago, and now the
Democratic Party has a super majority in both the Assembly and the Senate.
"To err is human, but to do it over and over again makes you a California
voter," quipped Jamie Johansson, second vice president of the state Farm
Bureau Federation, at a farm-city breakfast held Tuesday morning in Colusa
County….As it turns out, Johansson said, Brown has been a good governor to work
with the past two years. He also noted Brown's veto of the heat illness
legislation and other legislative victories, plus the voters' Nov. 6 rejection
of Proposition 37, the food labeling initiative….The lesson, Johansson said, is
that local farm bureaus and individual farmers and ranchers need to be involved
in the political process. Send the message that if the state wants to turn the
economy around, it should start on the farm.
Farm
Bureau keeps the wheels turning [Imperial Valley Press]
Laughter
filled the air Tuesday morning as Nancy Caywood Robertson led second-graders
from Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School through a humorous song about
picking hay. The students were learning about agriculture through Farm Smart, a
community outreach program offered by the University of California Desert
Research and Extension Center.…Unfortunately, educational field trips — even
those that are local, like Farm Smart — are endangered. State budget cuts have
forced schools to try to save money any way they can, and reducing or
eliminating field trips is one way to try to make ends meet. That’s where the
Imperial County Farm Bureau comes in. “The Farm Bureau last year established a
fund to allow schools to apply for a stipend to supplement transportation
expenses,” said Linsey Dale, executive director of the Imperial County Farm
Bureau.
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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