As California farmworkers age, a labor shortage looms [Sacramento Bee]
…Amid
the verdant fields and orchards of America's most bountiful agricultural
region, California farmworkers are graying. A labor shortage deepens as fewer
younger workers arrive from Mexico and more head home to stay. Increasingly,
California's $44.3 billion agricultural industry must rely on the
well-calloused hands of older workers who came many years ago to fill jobs
pruning, planting, picking and packing….But from California's Central Valley to
Washington, D.C., the graying workforce adds urgency to the debate over
immigration reform…."We have to try to find a system that is not going to
cause a major disruption to our industry," said Bryan Little, director of
labor affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federation. The industry group
favors letting undocumented farmworkers stay in the country while applying for
legal status, as well as drawing in seasonal guest workers to replenish the
labor force.
Senators
struggle over work visas [Wall Street Journal]
The
little-loved visa system for low-wage temporary workers is shaping up as one of
the toughest tangles facing senators in their bid to overhaul U.S. immigration
laws. A bipartisan Senate group, labor unions and business groups all agree it
is time to overhaul the visa system for foreign workers who come to the U.S.
for low-wage jobs because it can be arduous, costly and offers few protections
for workers. However, there are sharp divides over how to do it….Groups are
similarly dissatisfied with the short-term visa program for agricultural
workers, known as the H-2A visa. It is regularly criticized for being
unfriendly to workers and inflexible and expensive for employers….To redesign
that program, farm-worker unions have been in confidential talks with growers.
One issue is expanding the seasonal-worker program to include agricultural
industries that need workers year round. Farm workers' unions also want to put
a cap on the size of the program.
San
Joaquin Valley farmers could be left short of water if the drought persists
[Modesto Bee]
…This
week's storms failed to add much to water supplies in the Northern San Joaquin
Valley, which has started to feel the pain of yet another drought….The Turlock
Irrigation District, the region's largest, has capped 2013 deliveries at a
level that could leave some farmers short. The Modesto Irrigation District
could soon follow with somewhat softer limits. On the West Side, where drought
is amplified by strict fish protections, several irrigation districts expect
just 25 percent of their contracted supply from the federal government. If they
do not have supplements, such as groundwater or purchases from flusher
districts, some fields could go fallow.
Yuba
County Water Agency lawsuit takes issue with feds' opinions on fish runs
[Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
Among
the many issues of contention that the Yuba County Water Agency has with a 2012
federal biological opinion on Yuba River fish passage, one theme emerges: bad
science. According to the legal complaint filed earlier this year seeking
revisions to the opinion, the scientific flaws in the National Marine Fisheries
Service's biological opinion make it problematic to rely on as a way to restore
endangered fish runs. That includes a recommendation to remove Englebright Dam,
said Water Agency General Manager Curt Akins. But while a Fisheries Service
spokesman said he could not comment, another side of the fish run issue, the
South Yuba River Citizens League, believes the BiOp, as it is informally known,
has merit.
Whole
Foods: Products will carry GMO labeling [Associated Press]
Whole
Foods says all products in its North American stores that contain genetically
modified ingredients will be labeled as such by 2018. The company says it's the
first national grocery chain to set such a deadline for labeling foods that
contain genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. A spokeswoman for the
supermarket operator said organic foods will not have to carry the labels since
they do not contain genetically modified ingredients by definition. Although
Whole Foods is known as an organic grocer, it also sells a wide array of
non-organic products.
Opinion: Don’t Be
Afraid of Genetic Modification [New York Times]
…WE
should all be rooting for the agency to do the right thing and approve the
AquAdvantage salmon. It’s a healthy and relatively cheap food source that, as
global demand for fish increases, can take some pressure off our wild fish
stocks. But most important, a rejection will have a chilling effect on
biotechnological innovation in this country….Of course, all this would be just
fine with some anti-biotech groups, which traffic in scare tactics rather than
science. But it shouldn’t be fine with the rest of us….Of course every
application needs to be painstakingly evaluated, and not every modified animal
should be approved. But in cases like AquaBounty’s, where all the available
evidence indicates that the animals are safe, we shouldn’t let political
calculations or unfounded fears keep these products off the market. If we do
that, we’ll be closing the door on innovations that could help us face the
public health and environmental threats of the future, saving countless animals
— and perhaps ourselves.
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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