Feinstein
wants ICE to stop farm audits [San Francisco Chronicle]
At
the height of California's harvest, during a critical farm labor shortage, Sen.
Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has asked immigration officials to stop cracking
down on undocumented field workers, saying she is concerned that it could lead
to financial losses and higher food prices. Feinstein, a senior member of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement to focus
its prosecutions on violent criminals instead of agricultural employers and
their workers. She has asked the agency to discontinue its I-9 farm audits, a
verification process that assures that an employee has authorization to work in
the United States….ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said Homeland Security will
respond directly to Feinstein. She would not address whether the agency would
stop the audits, which she said are not random and are prompted by tips….Last
year, the California Farm Bureau Federation, a nonprofit advocacy group,
conducted an informal online survey of its members. Of the 800 farmers who
responded, two-thirds had trouble finding enough workers to help tend and
harvest the 2012 crop.
Battle
over 'redevelopment lite' goes down to wire [Capitol Weekly]
While
cash-strapped cities in California are taking the fight for disputed
redevelopment funds to the mat, a bill that could revive the lifeless program
is still floating through the final weeks of the legislative session. Senate
Leader Darrell Steinberg’s SB 1 would create entities called the Sustainable
Community Investment Authorities to redevelop property to create more efficient
transit areas….But opponents believe the oversight outlined by the bill is not
sufficient to keep the Sustainable Community Investment Authorities in check.
While Steinberg’s office has presented the bill as a form of redevelopment that
is far more limited in scope, John Gamper of the California Farm Bureau
Federation argued that the redevelopment standards established by the bill are
actually less narrow than the previous program because there is no requirement
for blight. “We believe that’s going to put a bull’s eye on farmers land
because they’ll need to maximize the size of the increment to make it cancel
out,” Gamper said.
IID’s
use of water being questioned [Imperial Valley Press]
The
way that Imperial Irrigation District uses its entitlement of Colorado River
water is being scrutinized once again. A letter from Southern Nevada Water
Authority to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service questions whether the IID’s
delivery of water to the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge is
permissible under federal law. “The use of Colorado River Water by the Refuge
Complex may violate the Law of the Colorado River, even if the water is
delivered via canals or drainages,” states the August 21 letter.
Drought
causes heavy losses for county cattle ranchers [Ventura County Star]
In
a normal year, enough grass grows on Richard Atmore Jr.’s 7,000 acres in Sexton
Canyon above Ventura to feed his roughly 400 cattle. But this year, grass that
normally grows 2 feet tall grew only 4 inches, and thinner.…The drought that
has constrained water supplies in Ventura County has killed 95 percent of the
grass on hillsides on which cattle graze throughout the region. As a result,
cattle ranchers including Atmore have had to sell large portions of their herd
early and spend more money to buy feed and nutritional supplements for the cows
they can afford to keep….The drought has forced nearly every rancher in the
county to sell cattle this year, said Tom Crocker, president of the Ventura
County Cattlemen’s Association. Two large ranchers who raise more than 100
heads have had to sell all their cattle, he added.
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Expect
to pay much more for walnuts [Stockton Record]
California's
fall walnut crop is expected to be slightly smaller than in 2012, despite a
significant expansion of the state's orchards, federal farm officials said
Thursday. But the chairman of a walnut processors' group expects wholesale
prices to be 20 to 30 percent higher this year as the new harvest season is
about to start. That's important in San Joaquin County, which leads the state
in walnut production and where it is the area's No. 2 cash crop. The 2012
bumper harvest was pegged at $457 million, second only to winegrapes in the
county.
Editorial: Court's split
ruling doesn't end oysters battle [Marin Independent Journal]
TUESDAY'S
SPLIT DECISION upholding the Interior Department's controversial decision to
not renew the lease of the Point Reyes oyster farm is not the end of the
battle….Politically, there is a lot of passion on both sides of that equation.
Many local environmentalists are split, just like the court. Local agricultural
interests, despite Salazar's assurances otherwise, are worried that Lunny's
closure could doom the dairies that have historically operated in the park.
Opponents of commercial interests in national parks see Lunny as standing in
the way of a longstanding promise to convert the estero from a business into
protected wilderness. And others see the removal of the oyster farm as a
dismantling of progress made to promote sustainable aquaculture. Point Reyes is
peppered with "Save Our Oyster Farm" signs, while national parks
organizations have lent their political weight and membership numbers to press
for closure of the business. Tuesday's ruling was an important milestone, but
this road is nowhere near its end.
Ag
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