Business
and labor unite to try to alter immigration laws [New York Times]
After
decades of friction over immigration, the nation’s labor unions and the leading
business association, the Chamber of Commerce, have formed an unusual alliance
that is pushing hard to revamp American immigration laws. These oft-feuding
groups agree on the need to enact a way for the 11 million immigrants illegally
in the United States to gain citizenship. And they are also nearing common
ground on a critical issue — the number of guest workers allowed into the
country — that has deeply divided business and labor for years and helped to
sink President George W. Bush’s push for an immigration overhaul in 2007….The
issue has long been one of contention, with businesses like hotels and farmers
saying they need a large supply of seasonal workers while unions complain that
these workers are often exploited. To try to resolve their differences, they
are discussing what they call a “data-driven system” that would determine how
many “provisional workers” would be let in each year to work on farms, summer
resorts and elsewhere. One proposal labor is pushing would have Congress
establish a panel that would use economic, industry and regional data (like
unemployment rates) to determine how many provisional workers should be allowed
in annually to work in industries, like farming, that have seasonal surges in
their demand for laborers. But business groups say they worry that such a panel
would be unwieldy and act too slowly to meet employers’ needs.
Agricultural
community helping the IID create a water apportionment plan [Imperial Valley
Press]
To
help it pay back two years of water overruns and better manage its share of the
Colorado River’s water, the Imperial Irrigation District has turned to its
largest water-user group, the agricultural community, for help. To that end,
the district formed the Water Conservation Committee recently. It met for a
second time Wednesday and approved a resolution that recommends the IID modify
its existing Equitable Distribution Plan to an annual system of apportionment
as soon as possible, while the committee works out the specifics of such a
plan. It also began a review of Imperial County Farm Bureau’s allocation,
equitable distribution and fallowing plan, elements of which may form the basis
of its apportionment plan. Among other things, the Farm Bureau’s plan calls for
the creation of a clearinghouse to facilitate unused water from one farm-unit
to another that needs it. The plan prohibits individual landowners from
transferring water or water rights outside the Valley. Although the IID holds
the largest allocation to the Colorado River’s water, two years of water
overruns, water transfer obligations under the Quantification Settlement
Agreement and drought conditions that triggered an accelerated water payback
schedule have put the district in an uncomfortable position.
In
California, reading the snow to tell the future for the water supply [New York
Times]
Along
Highway 50 in the Sierra Nevada, elevation 6,820 feet, a California winter
ritual unfolded here on a recent morning. In the snow-blanketed meadow of a
local homeowner’s backyard, reporters representing news organizations from
across the state followed a man on skis who kept plunging an aluminum tube into
the snow. Leading the pack was Frank Gehrke, California’s chief snow surveyor,
the man responsible for measuring the Sierra Nevada’s snowpack, the source of a
third of this state’s water supply….Ryan Jacobsen, who is executive director of
the Fresno County Farm Bureau and also sits on the board of the Fresno
Irrigation District, said that the snow surveys are the “bible for what
decisions irrigation districts are going to make for the rest of the year.”
“Fresno County is the No. 1 agricultural county in the nation, but we also
happen to be situated climatically in the middle of a desert,” he said. “It
really is the Sierra Nevada snowpack that makes this desert bloom.”…A new
project by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena could soon enrich the
snow surveys’ findings. As part of what the laboratory calls the Airborne Snow
Observatory, scientists will begin flying over the Sierra Nevada next month
aboard a plane equipped with an imaging spectrometer and a laser system known
as lidar. The findings, which will be used for water management as well as the
study of the impact of climate change on snowpacks, are expected to yield a
broader view of the snowpack and more precise predictions of the snowmelt, said
Thomas H. Painter, a research scientist heading the observatory.
Valley
lumber production making comeback [Fresno Business Journal]
Timber
production in the Central Valley is on a rebound.Timber production in the
Central Valley is on a rebound.Since the California timber industry’s peak back
in the 1980s, production has steadily declined in the state’s forests followed
by a deep drop when the recession hit. However, the last few years have seen a
bump among loggers as they try to catch up with a rebounding construction
market….Kent Duysen, CEO of Sierra Forest Products in Terra Bella, was one of
many with mills and timber companies that cut back during the recession as
housing starts dropped to 450,000 and the demand for lumber dwindled. With
housing starts bouncing back to around 900,000 today, he said, the industry is
faring much better but the difficulty in increasing production is causing
lumber values to rise. “Framing lumber has gotten strong,” he said. “The rest
has not done much in the last several months. We cut the materials for the
doors and windows about once week each month and cut the framing lumber two to
three weeks a month.”
Commentary: Crop insurance one
way to help protect farmers [Modesto Bee]
…California's
citrus industry is a window into the national crop insurance program and how it
works. It was first introduced after a devastating freeze in 1990. Initially, growers
were hesitant to spend large sums for protection. But participation has grown
over time as premiums dropped. The growth of crop insurance is a testament to
the market and the dedication and professionalism of those who service the
plans. But there are those in Washington who will take the failure to pass a
four-year farm bill and use it as an opportunity to eviscerate crop insurance.
Every day I speak to California farmers, who, like farmers elsewhere, are
worried about what would happen if their only risk management tool is weakened
or eliminated. Their message is to "do no harm to crop insurance." If
Congress feels the need to revisit the program, it should only be to strengthen
it and expand the number of crops it covers.
Commentary: Tulare County DA:
'I am committed to fighting ag crime' [Visalia Times-Delta]
…Success
in the field of agriculture depends on variables such as weather, pest and
disease control and the availability of water. Crime should not be a factor a
rancher or farmer must consider as well. However, thefts of farm implements,
metal, livestock and crops are a reality and challenge for our agricultural
community. Through funding made possible by the Central Valley Rural Crime
Prevention program, we have dedicated staff that efficiently and effectively
investigate and prosecute those criminals who prey on our farming community.
One of my first priorities as District Attorney was to increase this unit by
adding an additional criminal investigator in order to aggressively investigate
agricultural crime….Rural crime cannot be tolerated in our community. We have
too much to lose to risk letting crime become a variable that must be factored
in to the cost of doing business. As your District Attorney, I am committed to
combating agricultural crime with technology, manpower, education and
prosecution of criminals.
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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