House
farm bill has plenty for California growers [Fresno Bee]
California
lawmakers will now help plant another farm bill, hoping it will bear fruit for
the state’s frustrated growers. The last farm bill died on the vine. But on
Wednesday, House Agriculture Committee members are scheduled to start trying
again, with a draft 576-page package that would change rice and cotton
subsidies, potentially shake up California’s dairy industry and open an olive
oil debate, among other provisions….House members on Wednesday, for instance,
expect intense debate over a renewed proposal by an Iowa congressman that would
effectively block a California law mandating larger cages for egg-laying hens.
In the bigger picture, the House bill would eliminate traditional crop subsidies,
which take several forms….In other cases, the House bill would retain programs
popular among California farmers.
Senate
panel passes farm bill [Wall Street Journal]
A
Senate panel's approval Tuesday of a farm bill that includes $4.1 billion in
food-stamp cuts marks the escalation of a contentious debate expected to play
out in Congress over the coming months on how to deal with one of the nation's
largest federal welfare programs. The Senate Agriculture Committee passed the
five-year farm bill on a 15-to-5 vote over objections from some Republicans,
including Sens. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.) and John Thune (R., S.D.), who said it
didn't go nearly far enough to rein in the growing ranks of people collecting
benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as the
food-stamp program….The American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest group
representing U.S. farmers, is unsure whether lawmakers can overcome their
differences on food stamps and agricultural subsidies and pass a farm bill this
year, said Mary Kay Thatcher, a senior director. "It is impossible to predict
the final outcome," Ms. Thatcher said.
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Federal
omission in closing oyster farm broke law, court told [Los Angeles Times]
The
U.S. Interior Department violated federal law by failing to conduct an environmental
review before ordering a Northern California oyster farmer to shutter his
operation, attorneys for the farmer told a federal appeals court panel here
Tuesday. In a case that has become a cause celebre across the political
spectrum, oysterman Kevin Lunny had been ordered to close the farm late last
year when his lease to operate within Point Reyes National Seashore
expired.…Arguing on Lunny's behalf, Amber Abbasi, chief counsel with the
Washington D.C.-based government watchdog group Cause of Action, told the
three-judge panel that federal environmental law requires the government to
conduct a scientific assessment to determine the effects of major decisions. By
allowing Lunny's lease to expire on schedule — refusing to extend it as he had
requested — Interior took an action that required such an assessment under the
National Environmental Policy Act, his attorneys say.
Poultry
pollution has been overestimated, UD-led study finds [Wilmington News Journal
(Delaware)]
Federal
environmental programs have drastically overestimated poultry industry
contributions to water pollution, according to a University of Delaware-led
study that could trigger changes to river and bay cleanup plans across Delmarva
and around the country. James L. Glancey, a professor in the university’s
Bioresources Engineering and Mechanical Engineering departments, said that a
multi-state study, based on thousands of manure tests, found that actual
nitrogen levels in poultry house manure are 55 percent lower than the
Environmental Protection Agency’s decades-old, lab-based standards….In a
statement released late Tuesday, the EPA said that the agency has been aware of
the studies for more than a year, and that a committee with “diverse
participation” had been formed to settle the issue in a timely way.…Federal and
state environmental agencies have focused heavily on pollution from animal
manures and “factory farms” across the country as a big part of efforts to
eliminate bay and river dead zones and harmful algal blooms in recent decades.
The Delmarva Peninsula’s poultry industry became an early, major battleground
for the issue during the late 1990s.
Lodi’s
Amy Blagg awarded for work with San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation [Lodi
News-Sentinel]
Though
her day job is in an office, Amy Blagg simply can’t get away from the farming
life she grew up in. Her work for the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation, both
locally and on a state level, was recognized by the California Farm Bureau
Federation in March. Blagg has been awarded the Star Young Farmers and Ranchers
Award for her efforts on behalf of the Young Farmers and Ranchers organization
within the state Farm Bureau….Blagg grew up watching the turn of the seasons at
Kautz Farms on Live Oak Road, where her father Joe Valente has worked as a
vineyard manager for years….Blagg now works for the Lodi District Grape Growers
Association, a volunteer advocacy group similar to the Farm Bureau, which
focuses on the winegrape growers in District 11, Lodi’s winegrape appellation.
Editorial: Require labels for
genetically engineered foods [San Jose Mercury News]
Americans
have made it abundantly clear they want the ability to make informed decisions
about what they eat. The United States should join every European Union nation
as well as Japan, Australia, Russia and China in requiring food producers to
label the genetically engineered foods sold in stores and supermarkets.
California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio introduced a
labeling bill in April that deserves widespread, bipartisan support. Congress
should pass the legislation and President Barack Obama should sign it into law.
Boxer watched Californians wisely defeat the poorly drafted Proposition 37 in
November. It wasn't that voters opposed the concept. They instead recognized
that the authors' attempt to define "natural" foods was a mess, and
that the exemptions permitted were inconsistently applied.
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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