America's
Farm-Labor Pool Is Graying [Wall Street Journal]
From
Vermont and Michigan to Texas and California, the nation's long-standing pool
of farm labor is graying….Government data confirm that the workers who got
legal status nearly three decades ago are now 49 years old, on average. The
average age of farm workers overall is around 37, according to the data, up
from 31 in 2000. This aging workforce, farmers say, is just one of the problems
that highlight American agriculture's urgent need for an overhaul of the
nation's immigration system….Farm workers who benefited from the amnesty in
1986 represent only about 10% of today's field workers. Since then, many of
those workers have taken jobs in other parts of the economy, returned to their
native country or died. Still, about three-fourths of all crop workers were
born abroad, and more than half of them work in the U.S. illegally, according
to official estimates….
High-speed
rail agency says fed law trumps state environmental rules [Fresno Bee ]
An
appellate court brief in a high-speed rail lawsuit from the Bay Area could have
far-reaching implications in the rest of the state -- including the San Joaquin
Valley, where the first stretches of the statewide bullet-train network are
supposed to be built….Late Friday, The California High-Speed Rail Authority
filed a brief with the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento claiming that
federal environmental laws -- typically considered less stringent than the
California Environmental Quality Act or CEQA -- supersede state regulations. In
April, the federal Surface Transportation Board asserted that it has
jurisdiction over the state's high-speed rail project. Late Friday, The
California High-Speed Rail Authority filed a brief with the 3rd District Court
of Appeal in Sacramento claiming that federal environmental laws -- typically
considered less stringent than the California Environmental Quality Act or CEQA
-- supersede state regulations. In April, the federal Surface Transportation
Board asserted that it has jurisdiction over the state's high-speed rail
project. The state Attorney General's Office, which represents the rail agency,
believes that federal decision triggered provisions of national law that
"pre-empt" the state's environmental laws….Jason Holder, an Oakland
attorney who represented Farm Bureau organizations in Madera and Merced
counties and other plaintiffs in a now-settled CEQA lawsuit against the rail
authority, said the key federal law, the National Environmental Policy Act, is
considerably weaker than California's environmental rules.
Conservation
groups challenge logging in spotted owl habitat [Redding Record Searchlight]
Three
Northern California conservation groups today sued two federal agencies over a
plan that allows logging in northern spotted owl and salmon habitat on private
timberlands in Siskiyou County….The Center for Biological Diversity is joined
by Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and Klamath Forest Alliance in seeking an
injunction barring implementation of what is known as a habitat conservation
plan covering about 150,000 acres or 235 square miles of timberland owned by
Fruit Growers Supply. The lawsuit says the plan violates environmental laws by
relying too heavily on the assumption that neighboring national forest lands
won’t be logged, and will result in the deaths of more than 80 spotted owls.
Yolo
farmers given cheap option for getting rid of plastic [Woodland Daily Democrat]
Farming
can generate a lot of plastic waste. Just ask John Glenn. The store manager at
Irrigation Supply Co., located on Kentucky Avenue in Woodland, says farmers
come to him for plastic materials throughout the growing season: Plastic
covering for grapes and almonds, plastic fumigation tarp for strawberries. And
above all else, plastic irrigation drip tape for tomatoes….But eventually the
material begins to crack and erode, and needs to be removed from the
fields….Thanks to a new county program, farmers now have a new thing to do with
it: Drop it off at the Yolo County Landfill free of charge…. Encore is picking
up all the plastic agricultural waste it can find in order to melt the material
down and re-form it into heavy-duty, reusable plastic bags, Hedrick said.
Editorial: Delta tunnel
study ignores the north [Chico Enterprise-Record]
Backers
of a plan to bury a couple of huge pipes under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
continue to provide self-justification for their proposal. The latest was a
report on the economics of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan that found the tubes
would provide an economic boost to the state. Well, to the state south of the
delta, that is. The latest report, like all the others in the series, pays no
attention to the places where the water would come from….Here's the truth: The
economic benefits only result if more water flows south under the delta. They
call it a more reliable water supply, but it's just more water. More water
there, less water here. That's the only way it works.
Commentary: Reliable water
supply is vital to Valley [Fresno Bee]
…
With one in seven jobs in Fresno County dependent on agriculture, dry weather
and regulatory water cuts are taking a mounting toll on our ability to not only
feed the world but to feed ourselves. Our productive and vital farms are forced
to idle fields and workers, and if the prediction of 0% westside water
allocations in 2014 holds true, we will begin the most debilitating recession
in our history….State water officials are working with water agencies and some
environmental groups to complete a plan called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
The centerpiece features two underground tunnels that would route water from
the Sacramento River before it enters the maze of delta islands and
channels….This delivery system would greatly reduce the threat to fish species
and would reinstate water deliveries to westside farms up to their contract
levels. These steps, along with the addition of much-needed water storage, will
change our water outlook, secure our long-term economic base and allow
continued growth in our region.
Ag
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