Opinion: Immigration reform
failure would hurt California and GOP, official says
[Sacramento Bee]
From
a Sacramento office where he sits as president of the California Farm Bureau
Federation, Paul Wenger is a key figure in the national immigration reform
debate. A business-oriented Republican, Wenger is spending his days lobbying
ideologues in his own party as immigration reform comes to a head in
Congress.…The hope is that farmers would get the workers they need, while the
workers would be free from the exploitation endemic to undocumented life.
"We're not displacing American workers," Wenger said. "Let's get
past this."…But if you support locally grown food, you should support
immigration reform because locally grown crops are hand-picked.
Budget
office view boosts Senate immigration bill [Associated Press]
Supporters
of a far-reaching immigration bill in the Senate see fresh momentum from a
report by the Congressional Budget Office that says the measure would boost the
economy and reduce federal deficits by billions of dollars. Congress'
nonpartisan scorekeeping agency said that the immigration bill would decrease
federal red ink by $197 billion over a decade and $700 billion in the following
10 years as increased taxes paid to the government offset the cost of benefits
for newly legal residents….The CBO assessment Tuesday came as the pace of
activity increased at both ends of the Capitol on an issue that President
Barack Obama has placed at the top of his domestic agenda.…The bill approved
late Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee on a 20-15 party-line vote would
make being in the U.S. illegally a federal crime punishable by prison time,
instead of a civil offense as it is now.…On Wednesday, the committee was to
take up a bill creating a temporary agriculture worker program.
Farm
bill is fertile ground for complaints [Fresno Bee]
California
dairy processors are still trying to squeeze a better deal from a big farm bill
up for House debate this week. They aren't the only ones. The Obama
administration is threatening a veto. California liberals complain it cuts
nutrition programs too much. The state's conservatives say it's still too
generous. Everyone agrees the 1,200-page House bill is a work in
progress….Broadly speaking, the Obama administration this week proclaimed that
it "strongly opposes" the House farm bill, citing the cuts in
supplemental nutrition programs including food stamps and increases in crop
insurance subsidies. More narrowly, the bill pits dairy producers, many of whom
favor a new voluntary supply management program, against dairy processors, who
contend they'll be hurt by artificially curtailed supplies. The supply
management provision does not set a production quota, but does tie dairy
payments for program participants to certain market conditions….Beyond the
high-profile dairy issue and the big-ticket subsidies and nutrition programs,
the House bill includes myriad provisions that matter to different sectors of
the California farm economy.
Editorial: Farm bill takes
turn for better [Chico Enterprise-Record]
…The
new farm bill makes a philosophical shift from subsidizing a few staple crops,
including rice, to crop insurance. That provides a safety net for an industry
more at the mercy of weather and market forces than any other, while
eliminating a kind of spending that just wasn't palatable to the general public
anymore….But unless you're really out of touch with how critical ag is, it's
hard to argue with crop insurance. Protect the farmers from the variables.
Protect the most critical industry in America, because you have to eat, first
and foremost. That's why the government is involved. Ensuring a safe and
adequate food supply has been a function of government since the beginning. And
it's a business that needs some help, because it is unique.
San
Joaquin Valley farmers get bleak report on water supply [Fresno Bee]
Growers
jammed into the Westlands Water District field shop Tuesday to hear bad news:
Expect a zero percent water allocation next February if winter doesn't start
out stormy. A leader with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which sells water to
the farmers, described a bleak situation, but stopped short of predicting zero
next year. Westlands general manager Tom Birmingham didn't hesitate. "When
we look at these dry conditions and low storage in reservoirs later this year,
it's difficult to see how the initial allocation could be anything but zero,
unless we have a very big December and January," he said….West San Joaquin
Valley farmers rely on that first water estimate to plan their crops, set up loans
and prepare the ground for planting.
Grand
opening draws 300 to Turlock plant [Modesto Bee]
A
large crowd turned out Tuesday for the grand opening of the Blue Diamond
Growers processing plant, a welcome boost to the job market. The plant has
about 50 employees now, could reach 100 by year's end and might have as many as
300 when it's at full operation within a decade, said Mark Jansen, president
and chief executive officer, in an interview before the event. The Washington
Road plant slices, dices, grinds and blanches almonds after they get initial
processing at Blue Diamond's plants in Salida and Sacramento.
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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