Field
worker's suspected heat-related death closes South Valley farm [Fresno Bee]
A
South Valley farming operation has been temporarily shut down by state
officials investigating the suspected heat-related death of a 37-year-old farm
worker. The employee was working for the McFarland-based Etchegaray Farms LLC
on Friday when he collapsed in 106 degrees. The worker, identified by the
United Farm Workers union as Juan Ochoa, was checking irrigation equipment in a
citrus orchard near Richgrove, east of Delano. Erika Monterroza, spokeswoman
for the California Department of Industrial Relations, said the investigation has
uncovered several serious violations of the state’s heat illness prevention
rules, including no access to shade.
Editorial: House Republicans
and immigration [Wall Street Journal]
Today
the 234 House Republicans will meet behind closed doors in a therapy session
that could decide the fate of immigration reform. This will be raucous and
maybe enlightening. The GOP is splintered and confused on immigration, and this
has left the party with no coherent or winning message. Too often Americans
hear the shrillest anti-immigration Republicans whose only argument is
"secure the border," as if that is a sensible policy for the 21st
century. House Speaker John Boehner's job is to make sure those voices don't
carry the day….History proves without question that the best way to reduce
illegal immigration is by opening more paths for legal immigrants to meet U.S.
labor demand. Border security alone won't work. Almost all Republicans in the
House insist they support legal immigration. It's time to prove that with some
votes.
*Link may
require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
As
agriculture booms, farm bill gets yawns [Wall Street Journal]
…For
decades, the farm bill has served as the main vehicle for U.S. agriculture
policy, getting renewed about every five years to keep billions of dollars
flowing to farm subsidies and rural development programs. But lobbyists and
lawmakers say the measure is drawing less grass-roots support from the Farm
Belt this time around as the House struggles to pass the measure for a second
straight year….Roger Johnson, president of the lobby group National Farmers
Union, said farmers overall have been noticeably muted compared with past
debates over renewing the farm bill. He said stronger incomes from higher
prices on commodity crops like corn and soybeans have left farmers less willing
to fight for federal support…. In certain slices of agriculture, the bill is
attracting strong interest. Growers of vegetables, cotton, peanut and rice have
pushed for an expansion of federal subsidies for crop insurance. In the dairy
sector, a fight has erupted between dairy farmers and dairy-product producers
over government price supports.
*Link may
require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
Meat-Industry
groups sue to block labeling rules [Wall Street Journal]
North
American meat-industry groups sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, seeking
to block meat-labeling rules that require more information about their
products' origins. The U.S. and Canadian groups, including the American Meat
Institute, said in the lawsuit announced Tuesday that the labeling requirements
violate the U.S. Constitution by compelling speech, exceeding Congress's
mandate when adopting the rules in the 2008 farm bill. The dispute centers
around a May amendment to U.S. "country-of-origin labeling," or COOL,
regulations that were first implemented in 2009. The amendment requires more
detailed labels that specify where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered.
*Link may
require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
Pajaro
Valley farmers pumped 27 percent more from wells this spring than last [Santa
Cruz Sentinel]
WATSONVILLE
-- Blame warm, dry weather for an increase in water consumption this spring in
the Pajaro Valley. In March, April and May, valley residents and crops drank
nearly 21 percent more water than during the same period last year, according
to figures released Tuesday by the Pajaro Valley Water Management
Agency….Farmers pumped 27 percent more water from wells this spring compared to
the previous year. The city of Watsonville used 16 percent more water. Dave
Cavanaugh, vice chair of the agency board and the owner of a nursery, said the
increase is due to "extraordinary dry and occasionally warm
temperatures," and said the success of efforts to curb water use should be
evaluated not on a quarterly basis but as five-year averages.
Commentary: UCLA prof. wants
more time with his family? I don't buy it [Bakersfield Californian]
…I've
been harping on Froines and his involvement with the Scientific Review Panel
for several years now. The panel is made up of nine people, mostly scientists,
and is tasked with reviewing studies to determine whether a substance, such as
diesel exhaust or a particular pesticide, is a threat to human health. Once the
panel puts its "threat!" stamp on something, state agencies start
cranking out regulations….Last spring, he was reappointed to another three-year
term. Which makes his Monday resignation somewhat curious.…I'm wondering if
maybe Froines made himself a political hot potato after it was revealed he was
having ongoing cozy relations with anti-pesticide activists while acting as an
supposedly impartial judge of the safety of methyl iodide, a soil fumigant.
Ag
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