Federal
judge in Fresno rejects extension for smelt, salmon plans [Fresno Bee]
A
federal judge in Fresno on Wednesday declined to give federal officials more
time to update a plan that protects threatened delta smelt and endangered
salmon species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working to complete a
revised delta smelt plan -- known as a biological opinion -- by Dec. 1, and the
bureau and National Marine Fisheries Service are working on a similar update
for five salmon species with an April 2016 deadline.…The decision was a
disappointment to the Westlands Water District, even though it successfully
challenged the management plans currently in place. The district relies on
delta water. "Our great fear is if the agencies only have time to dot the
i's and cross the t's, there will still be some significant defects," said
Westlands General Manager Tom Birmingham.
Don
Pedro's relicensing subject of public meeting [Modesto Bee]
People
concerned about the Tuolumne River, whether for farming or for fish, immersed themselves
Wednesday in a process that will help decide its future. Roughly 70 people
turned out to hear about some of the 35 studies being conducted as part of the
relicensing of Don Pedro Reservoir. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
which could grant a new license in 2016, will continue the meeting today. Much
of Wednesday's discussion was technical, but participants managed to get their
views across about the reservoir, which is owned by the Modesto and Turlock
irrigation districts.
Thirsty
farmers turn to wine [Wall Street Journal]
Phil
Pace checks avocados in his Escondido, Calif., grove. Watering the trees has
gotten so costly that some area farmers are turning to other crops. A year and
a half ago, Phil Pace bought a 15-acre property in Escondido, Calif., covered
in avocado trees that were producing nearly $100,000 worth of fruit a year. But
watering them turned out to be so expensive that he began ripping them out by
the hundreds to clear space for a new endeavor: a vineyard. "I'm just
hoping grapes are a little more profitable," says Mr. Pace, a restaurateur
who agreed to sell future grape harvests to a local winery. Though he had to
invest $70,000 to plant the merlot and cabernet vines, Mr. Pace says he expects
to save thousands annually on his water bill.
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Tulare
County ag industry upbeat about immigration reform [Visalia Times-Delta]
…Tricia
Stever Blattler, executive director of the Tulare County Farm Bureau, said the
president’s statements on reform are a good sign that change is coming, as is the
fact that a bipartisan group of eight senators announced earlier this week that
it has developed a proposed framework for immigration reform….Obama’s speech
didn’t touch on the issue of agricultural laborers from Mexico and other Latin
American countries working here, but Stever Blattler said the California Farm
Bureau has been told by the White House that farm labor is being considered as
part of immigration reform….And in an informal survey by the California Farm
Bureau released in December, 61 percent of farmers across the state reported
having trouble finding enough workers to harvest crops and do other work for
them….In some cases, the labor shortages have forced some farmers not to
harvest all of their crops, Stever Blattler said. “They will pick what they
think is the best quality of product and leave lower-quality product behind, if
they can’t pick it.”
Monterey
County continues ag land tax credit [Salinas Californian]
Despite
the state cutting the financial legs out from under a popular agriculture tax
credit, Monterey County is continuing to support its Williamson Act
program….But four years ago in an attempt to staunch the flow of red ink in the
state budget, lawmakers gutted the Williamson Act despite intense opposition
from legislators in agricultural counties such as Monterey.…Lou Calcagno, a
dairyman and Monterey County supervisor, called the move by the state “one of
the poorest decisions it’s ever made.”…“Without the Williamson Act, it would be
prohibitive to take over that land and farm it,” said Norm Groot, executive
director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. “(The act) is a critical safeguard
to ensure ag land remains in production.” It’s because of the enormous benefit
the Williamson Act affords the Salinas Valley’s $4.8 billion agriculture
industry that county supervisors decided to continue the credit even after the
state stopped reimbursing counties, Calcagno said.
Shortage
slows California wine shipments [North Bay Business Journal]
Shipments
of wine to the U.S. hit another record last year, but growth slowed
considerably from 2011 as producers turned to imports in a big way to try to
meet demand, according to experts at a major industry symposium in Sacramento
this morning. Total shipments of wine to U.S. markets last year increased to
the equivalent of 363 million 9-liter cases, up from 2011 by 2 percent, or 8.1
million cases, according to industry analyst Jon Fredrikson of Gomberg
Fredrikson & Associates. He based his whole-year figures on 11 months of
state and federal data. The total figure includes table wine, cider, sangria,
sparkling wine and sake as well as imports of bulk and bottled wine.
“California ran out of wine,” Mr. Fredrikson told an audience of about 1,200 at
the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento this morning.
Ag
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