Editorial: The farm worker
shortage [Wall Street Journal]
U.S.
agriculture needs more guest workers than the Senate bill allows. The Senate
begins floor debate on immigration reform next week, and our hope is that it
can improve the Gang of Eight bill that emerged from the Judiciary Committee
with the U.S. economy foremost in mind. One place to start is ending America's
farm-worker shortage. Farm growers have reluctantly (and under Democratic
pressure) endorsed the Gang of Eight's framework, flaws and all, because they
desperately need more workers….The good news is that the Gang of Eight bill
replaces the H-2A visa with a more rational guest-worker program….The problem
is that in return for these improvements, labor unions demanded a cap on new
guest workers of 337,000 over five years. That isn't likely to fill the needs
of an industry in which labor shortages run as high as 20%, depending on the
location and crop. The guest-worker flow ought to follow labor demand, not have
an artificial cap that might still allow a shortage that would attract more
future illegals….Most media attention on immigration has been on legalizing the
11 million workers already here, but more crucial for the future is creating an
adequate flow of guest workers to meet the demands of a growing U.S. economy.
Having conceded on a "path to citizenship" for the 11 million,
Republicans should focus on creating guest-worker programs with enough visas
and without bureaucratic controls. Let Democrats choose between satisfying Big
Labor and legalizing 11 million Hispanics.
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Mediation
to continue on Salton Sea restoration solutions [Imperial Valley Press]
Mediation
on how to address impacts caused by the nation’s largest farm-to-city water
transfer will continue between Imperial County and the Imperial Irrigation
District, officials said Wednesday, although what that mediation will produce
is still unclear. “Nothing in this decision or any future decision by a court
is going to advance the cause of restoring the Salton Sea, so mediation, direct
talks among all the parties, is the best path forward,” said IID General
Manager Kevin Kelley. “…Officials’ comments come a day after the landmark 2003
Quantification Settlement Agreement was upheld by a Sacramento Superior Court
judge,
Commentary: Plan could help
fisheries, water supply [San Francisco Chronicle]
…The
California Department of Fish and Wildlife believes the right approach is to
shape the plan into the best proposal possible, evaluate and consider reasonable
alternatives, and then decide whether to go forward….The plan must be guided by
the best available science, subject to a comprehensive adaptive management
strategy. The measures the parties commit to must also be adequately funded to
ensure they actually occur….Now is the time for constructive and thoughtful
input. Our department is engaged and doing just that. Each of us as citizens of
this great state deserves fair and intelligent discourse on this subject. The
outcome is too important to accept anything less.
Genetically
modified cotton helps farmers escape malnutrition [Los Angeles Times]
People
opposed to genetically modified organisms often insist that the plants are no
good for anyone except the companies, like Monsanto Co., that sell GMO seeds. A
new study may force them to come to terms with the idea that GM crops can
benefit regular people too -- even farmers in developing countries like India….
Previous studies have found that farms using Bt crops earned more money -- they
get higher yields while spending less money on chemical pesticides. The authors
of the new study found the same thing in India -- farming families that planted
Bt cotton were able to grow or buy more food, and they were less likely to be
classified as “food insecure,” consuming fewer calories per day than the World
Health Organization deems safe…. f you are a GMO skeptic, you are probably
wondering whether the study authors work for Monsanto or another biotech
company producing so-called “frankenfoods.”…
UC
Davis tests tiny unmanned copters for pesticide spraying [Sacramento Bee]
To
some, the sight of a small helicopter hovering a few feet over a Napa Valley
vineyard may be just a curiosity. To others its the future of California
farming. One of those is Ken Giles, professor of agricultural engineering at UC
Davis. In Giles' mind, agriculture has as much to do with unmanned vehicles as
it does with tractors and threshers. At the university's research vineyard
Wednesday in Oakville, Giles showed off one of those vehicles – a 200-pound RMax
helicopter built by Yamaha. In flight the helicopter revealed surgical and
lighting-fast movements over the vineyard.
Winemakers
resist new nutrition labels [San Francisco Chronicle]
Many
in the wine industry are squeamish over new federal guidelines that give
alcoholic beverage companies the ability to label their bottles voluntarily
with nutrition facts. Winemakers aren't worried that consumers will be scared
off by calorie counts or the number of carbs in a glass of wine. But they are
concerned that the guidelines could lead to mandatory nutrition labeling that
increases costs and confuses consumers….Jean Halloran, director of food policy
initiatives for Consumers Union, said she and other consumer advocates would
like to see the nutrition boxes be made mandatory, which the government has
been considering since 2007.
Ag
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