Farm
Subsidies for Nonfarmers May Continue as Lawmakers Deadlock Again [New York Times]
…Far
from the nation’s fields of wheat and corn, more than 18,000 people who live in
the 54 largest American cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Washington,
received about $24 million in farm subsidies last year, according to a report
to be released Tuesday by the Environmental Working Group, a Washington
research organization….This year both the House and Senate have passed farm
bills eliminating the payments, but progress has again slowed over fights about
the food stamp program, which makes up about 80 percent of the farm bill.
Conservative lawmakers are seeking large cuts in food stamps, but many
Democrats are opposed. So with just a few weeks left before the end of the
fiscal year, it appears that Congress may again either extend the current farm
bill or let hundreds of farm programs expire. An extension means another year
of farm subsidies….And even though the American Farm Bureau Federation, the
nation’s largest farming organization, said it still supported the idea of
direct payments, the group said it would not oppose Congressional actions to
eliminate the payments.
Hearing
in Sacramento Oct. 2 on federal protection of gray wolf
Sacramento
will host one of three hearings in the West on the federal government’s
proposal to withdraw Endangered Species Act protection for the gray wolf….There
are currently no wolves in California. But a gray wolf known as OR7 spent more
than a year in Northern California after migrating from Oregon. That wolf
crossed back into Oregon on March 1. Officials at the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife expect more wolves to eventually disperse into California.
They are working on a recovery and management plan for the species.
Possible
Salinas water deal could help Monterey Peninsula [Monterey Herald]
A
deal may soon be in the works that would send agricultural wash water and
stormwater runoff from Salinas to a recycled water project for the Monterey
Peninsula….The project is designed to provide a new water supply to offset the
state-ordered cutback in pumping from the Carmel River that takes full effect
at the start of 2017….Salinas Valley farmers had argued that the agency's plans
to tap Peninsula wastewater for the groundwater replenishment project impinged
on their recycled water rights, enshrined in exchange for their agreement to
pay for the existing irrigation treatment plant and delivery system.
Valley
grape farmers take drastic steps after frustrating loss [KFSN-TV, Fresno]
The
uncertainty over winery and raisin prices has Valley grape growers taking
drastic steps. Some are getting out of the market altogether. Ripped out
vineyards will be a more common sight after this year's harvest. Grape growers
said their profits are drying up. Crews in a Madera vineyard cut
dried-on-the-vine raisin grapes for a final time. Grower Matt Andrew explained,
"Instead of hacking off canes we're coming in here and hacking off
arms."…Andrew said other growers will also pull out their vines this year.
Allied Grape Growers president Nat DiBuduo was worried about the loss of
productive Valley vineyards. He said, "I think we're going to see anywhere
from 15,000, maybe 20,000 acres of Thompsons pulled out after harvest this
year."
Latino
Winemakers Rise in California, Through the Ranks [New York Times]
It
is harvest season in wine country, the time of year when the scent of crushed
grapes infuses the air and flatbed trucks heavy with fruit cargo come lurching
down narrow back roads. For the winemaker Everardo Robledo — who grew up
working in the fields alongside his father, Reynaldo, on weekends and after
school — the harvest has a particular emotional resonance: a measure of how far
the family has come since his Mexican immigrant grandfather drifted from one
migrant labor camp to another and his father toiled in the vineyards for $1.10
an hour. Mr. Robledo, 30, and his family are part of a tiny but growing
fraternity of Mexican-American winemakers, many of them farmworkers’ children
who now pursue wine business degrees or study viticulture and oenology at the
University of California, Davis.
Marin
Voice: Tule elk are part of the Pt. Reyes seashore [Marin Independent Journal]
…Once
ubiquitous in California, the famous tule elk at Point Reyes are now
rare….Special interests have wired the politics in this — and 60 other national
parks — so lucrative ranching of domestic cattle compete with rare wild animals
for space, grazing, water and political favor. In most cases, cattle win and
the taxpayer owners of the parks subsidize ranchers' private profit. Raising
cattle on public land usually means that ranchers don't pay what the land is
worth and pocket the extra cash. They have the advantage of huge lobby groups
like the farm bureau to keep it that way.
Ag
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