Food
safety clashes with wildlife oversight [Salinas Californian]
In
the wake of a recent lawsuit against a Salinas Valley grower alleging
responsibility for an E. coli-related death, and an ongoing outbreak of
sickness caused by a parasite found in bagged salad from a facility operated by
a Taylor Farms subsidiary in Mexico, growers are under increasing pressure to
extend animal buffer zones around their crops. That, say wildlife advocates, is
unnecessary and is harming the environment. Animal feces – from any number of
wild or domestic animals – worry growers because of the pathogens that can be
introduced into their crops, including a deadly strain of escherichia coli
bacteria – E. coli. Wildlife interests, meanwhile, say that increasing buffer
zones and fencing are infringing on key habitat and are not founded upon any
sound science.
Assembly
narrowly passes Steinberg's farm worker contract bill [Sacramento Bee]
A
controversial bill to change mandatory mediation procedures in farm labor
contract disputes narrowly cleared the Assembly Monday. Senate President Pro
Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, monitored the 41-24y vote from the
Assembly floor after working to thwart what he described as fierce lobbying to
kill Senate Bill 25. Proponents, including the United Farm Workers union, say
the bill is needed to avoid lengthy delays in contract disputes by forcing
agricultural employers into mediation.
Motion
filed against implementation of IID water apportionment plan [Imperial Valley
Press
A
motion to stop the Imperial Irrigation District from implementing its
recently-approved water apportionment plan has been filed in Imperial County
Superior Court. Calling the plan “capricious and inequitable,” the El Centro
farmer alleges IID’s Equitable Distribution Plan causes irreparable harm that
“money damages cannot suffice.”…While Abatti served on the advisory committee,
he was vocal in his opposition to any plan that does not take into account a
field’s historical water use. Many of his fields require more than 6 acre-feet
of water per year, with some requiring as much as 9 acre-feet of water, states
his complaint.
Incredibly
shrinking avocados: Why this year's fruit are so tiny [NPR]
What's
thick-skinned and leathery, about the size of an egg, essential for guacamole
and sold eight for a dollar? No, not limes. Hass avocados. This year, anyway.
These pear-sized fruits usually weigh half a pound or more. In the summer of
2013, though, hundreds of thousands of trees in Southern California are sagging
with the tiniest Hass avocados in local memory — some just the size of a golf
ball. The main reason for the lemon-sized fruits, sources say, is a very
unusual growing year that consisted of low winter rainfall in early 2012
(avocados spend more than a full year developing on the tree), erratic bee
activity during the late spring bloom period, and lots of unseasonably cool and
cloudy weather in the year since.
Editorial: Judge should halt
California's high-speed rail [Oakland Tribune]
Finally,
a judge officially recognizes what has been obvious for years: The bullet train
empress has no clothes -- or, in this case, money. Sacramento County Superior
Court Judge Michael Kenny's 16-page ruling issued Friday exposes the fraud
perpetuated by the California High Speed Rail Authority. Voters set restrictions
in 2008 when they supported linking major metropolitan areas of the state:
Money must be secured and environmental reviews completed before the authority
authorizes expenditures.
Ag
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