Berry
growers, UFW beg for immigration reform [San Francisco Chronicle]
…For
generations of field hands from Japan, Mexico and more recently Laos,
strawberries have opened a path from brutally hard labor to farm ownership.
Some 85 percent of California's strawberry farmers are of Mexican or Asian
descent….Growers and the United Farm Workers union agree that without a new law
that provides a steady flow of migrant labor, California's fresh-produce
industry will vanish. Many growers are already gone, to Mexico and other parts
south. But growers and the union do not see eye to eye on the wages and working
conditions of the laborers so vital to the produce industry…. California
growers and the UFW are now united in imploring House Republicans to follow the
Senate and pass immigration legislation to legalize 1.5 million farmworkers and
their dependents, and provide a future flow of new temporary workers.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Berry-growers-UFW-beg-for-immigration-reform-4723326.php
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require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
Farmers,
water interests settle suit [Stockton Record]
And
then, there was peace. After decades of fighting, Delta farmers and south San
Joaquin Valley water interests have agreed to settle a lawsuit over a plan to
convert two farm islands into reservoirs. And at their meeting Tuesday, San
Joaquin County supervisors are expected to consider their own settlement,
potentially ending litigation over what is known as the Delta Wetlands Project.
A judge had already rejected opponents' complaints in court, but appeals were
still pending.
Hundreds
of salmon stranded in farm ditches [Sacramento Bee]
State
and federal wildlife officials are scrambling to figure out how hundreds of
endangered salmon recently became stranded in irrigation ditches in the Colusa
basin, west of the Sacramento River. Finding the answers is a matter of some
urgency, because tens of thousands of fall-run Chinook salmon are weeks away
from their annual return from the ocean to the Sacramento River and could also
become trapped….The rescues were led by the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife. In 11 separate trips over a month, starting May 2, officials rescued
312 adult salmon headed upstream….Kevin Shaffer, salmon conservation manager at
the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said it is possible that many
more stranded salmon went undetected in the hundreds of miles of irrigation
canals that form a watery maze in the Colusa basin, the agricultural region
west of the Sacramento River.
S.J.
tomato crop damaged by pest [Stockton Record]
California
tomato growers face significant losses from the beet curly top virus, which is
reaching epidemic proportions this year, farm officials report. The viral plant
disease - which can affect beans, spinach, melons, peppers, squash and
cucumbers, as well as tomatoes and sugar beets, from which it gets its name -
is a perennial problem for farmers in the southern San Joaquin Valley. But this
year, it is hitting harder and affecting crops over a wider area, including
some in San Joaquin County.
Bills
would spur private competition for taxpayer-funded ag research [Salinas
Californian]
Bipartisan
proposals in Congress would give tax breaks to wealthy individuals and groups
willing to finance agricultural research that’s ignored or sidelined by federal
and taxpayer-supported scientists. Supporters of legislation introduced by
California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman
Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., say there’s a great need for privately funded
research that’s available to the public. Congress has given short shrift to
agriculture research for years and is unlikely to increase funding anytime
soon, they say. Privately underwritten research would help America remain the
world’s leading agricultural innovator and result in groundbreaking discoveries
to feed a rapidly populating world, they add. But critics note that the
proposals would confer tax-exempt status to a few rich foundations,
philanthropies and individuals looking for a way to evade federal taxes while
serving their own interests.
Editorial: Authorities can’t
let pot farms degrade state’s water and land [Sacramento Bee]
For
decades, California lawmakers have imposed ever tighter restrictions on
logging, farming, and other activities that can foul water and damage the
environment. But they aren't showing the same aggressiveness about halting
damage being done by marijuana farmers. That timidity needs to end. Proponents
of medical marijuana and marijuana legalization want their harvest to be
treated like other commercial products. However, too often they ignore the most
basic rules that other farmers follow.
Ag
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