The next edition of Ag Today will be distributed Tuesday, Sept. 3rd. Our office will be closed on Sept. 2nd in observance of Labor Day.
Growers
looking at new safety rules [Salinas Californian]
Growers
in the Salinas Valley and the rest of California are facing new requirements to
ensure their crops are not contaminated by visiting wild and domestic critters.
The new rules — metrics — were announced Thursday by the Leafy Greens Marketing
Agreement based in Sacramento. The changes focus on growers being diligent
about any animal that may be walking through crops of fresh produce. The key
word in the change is “any.” Previous LGMA metrics required growers to respond
to a list of specific animals.…The new approach requires LGMA growers — roughly
99 percent of all farmers in the state — to determine the level of intrusion
and what kind of mitigating action should be taken. The new metrics also add a
definition for green waste and requirements for composting green waste relative
to the production of leafy greens.
Taylor
Farms, big food supplier, grapples with frequent recalls [New York Times]
Taylor
Farms, the large vegetable producer whose salad mix is being investigated in
connection with an outbreak of illness involving hundreds of people in 22
states, has had an unusual number of voluntary recalls for potentially tainted
products in the last three years. The recent investigation of greens used at
Olive Garden, Red Lobster and possibly other restaurant chains follows three
recalls by Taylor Farm this year. The company initiated three others in 2012
and three in 2011, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Bruce Taylor,
chief executive of Taylor Farms, attributed the number of recalls to the sheer
size of his company — it sells as much salad as its next three largest
competitors combined. “Just if you do the sheer math, our recalls relative to
our size are fewer than anybody else,” Mr. Taylor said. Only the most recent
was prompted by an outbreak of illnesses, he added.
Let
it burn? Yosemite park officials won't say that, but it's policy [Los Angeles
Times]
As
the massive Rim fire roared out of the Stanislaus National Forest and deeper
into Yosemite National Park this week, public attention rose sharply. But the
intensity of firefighting did not. That's because part of the blaze had crossed
into the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, which has a more restrained
approach to managing wildfires than other federal, state and local fire
agencies battling the 300-square-mile blaze….Park fire managers suppress blazes
that endanger people or threaten structures and resources.…Otherwise, park
officials prefer to herd fires where they want them to go and allow blazes to
burn out on their own. It's a science-based approach that serves the same
function as off-season forest thinning and controlled burns. But those
arguments often fail to stand up to public distaste for trees burning in
beloved national parks.
Commentary: Strengthen our
forests - thin the trees [San Francisco Chronicle]
The
Rim Fire is one of the largest fires in recent California history. It
highlights how every Californian has a stake in our forests, no matter how far
away you are from the flames….As California experiences the effects of climate
change, our forest environment will become hotter and drier….One way to begin
to strengthen our forests is to burn them. "Prescribed fire" -
intentionally set and closely controlled fire - is an effective tool, and we
should not ignore its benefits….Another important tool is forest thinning,
which is a process of selectively removing thick vegetation while leaving the
majority of larger, more fire-tolerant trees in place. Trees from the thinning
can be sold to cover the cost of the program. Thinning projects put people to
work, create funding for the state and protect us from dangerous, costly
wildfires.
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‘Bibles,
Badges and Business’ bipartisan group makes push for immigration reform [NBC
Latino]
A
group of bipartisan faith, law enforcement and business leaders are doing all
they can to push members of the House of Representatives to vote in favor of
immigration reform. During the congressional recess, members of Bibles, Badges
and Business for Immigration Reform (BBB) in various states have set out to
speak to their corresponding members of Congress – in particular Republican
members – about why their states would benefit from immigration reform. Among
the states involved with BBB groups are California, Florida, Illinois, North
Carolina and Texas….Rayne Pegg from the California Farm Bureau Federation said
that from an agricultural perspective, her organization needs reform to take
place. She has recently met with California representatives to explain that the
majority of Americans do not want to take the available labor jobs. “Farmers
are struggling to find enough domestic labor,” Pegg said.
'Flash
drought' hits parts of Midwest [Wall Street Journal]
A
recent spate of hot, dry weather has brought about a "flash drought"
in parts of the U.S. Midwest, according to a weekly government report Thursday.
The federal Drought Monitor showed that one-quarter of the Midwest region,
which includes the heart of the nation's Farm Belt, was in some level of
drought as of Tuesday, up sharply from 7.9% the previous week. Drought
conditions were considered severe in nearly 4% of the region, up from zero a
week earlier.…The drought expanded to 45% of U.S. corn-growing areas, up from
25% the prior week, and to 38% of soybean-growing areas, up from 16%, the week
before, said U.S. Department of Agriculture meteorologist Brad Rippey.
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