CVP Reservoirs At Lowest Since 2009 [Capital Public Radio, Sacramento]
Six
key reservoirs of the federal Central Valley Project are at the lowest levels
since 2009, when the state was officially in a drought…. Gayle Holman with the
Westlands Water District says it’s telling farmers to be prepared for
zero-percent allocations in 2014. “We are looking at over 200,000 to 250,000
acres probably going unplanted," says Holman….But it won’t be the only
problem. “We’re also probably talking about a further exacerbation of
groundwater problems," says Chris Scheuring with the California Farm
Bureau Federation.
Editorial: Our View: Paranoid?
When it comes to water, we deserve to be [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
We
admit right up front we don't yet know enough about the specifics of the draft
California Water Action Plan. In fact, we know just enough to be worried….So
it's everyone's job in Northern California to make sure our issues are heard
and acknowledged. And that means taking a good look and voicing concerns over
the draft water plan….Meeting the demands for water in population centers and
for environmental concerns is very important. Just as important as providing
food for the world, which is what we do up here….Analysis by our local
agriculture and water advocates should be a high priority. And if further
conservation by agriculture makes it to the next draft, we're hoping that it
says something specific about how the water that's saved will be used — and we
hope it goes into storage and is maintained under local management.
Latest
farm bill roadblock? It's about the eggs [Minnesota Public Radio]
A
dispute over a 2010 California law concerning the treatment of egg-laying
chickens looks like it may add to the complications for congressional negotiators
trying to reach agreement on a new five-year farm bill this week….The
California law hasn't sat well with producers in the Midwest, where most of the
nation's eggs are produced….In the House, lawmakers added language to their
farm bill that would prohibit states from enforcing standards that affect
producers in other states. It's not in the Senate version of the farm bill. In
a first meeting between House members and senators to write a compromise bill,
Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King was adamant that the standards language should
stay….But King's amendment is dividing members more by region than by party.
"States have the rights to develop their own ag laws," said
California Republican Rep. Jeff Denham, who deployed a traditional conservative
states' rights argument to argue against King's amendment.
The
secret, dirty cost of Obama's green power push [Associated Press]
…As
farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of
acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies, an
Associated Press investigation found….
Landowners
filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon
dioxide that had been locked in the soil. Sprayers pumped out billions of
pounds of fertilizer, some of which seeped into drinking water, contaminated
rivers and worsened the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where marine life
can't survive. The consequences are so severe that environmentalists and many
scientists have now rejected corn-based ethanol as bad environmental policy.
But the Obama administration stands by it, highlighting its benefits to the
farming industry rather than any negative impact.
A
Jolt to Complacency on Food Supply [New York Times]
For
a look at what climate change could do to the world’s food supply, consider
what the weather did to the American Corn Belt last year. At the beginning of
2012, the Agriculture Department projected the largest corn crop in the
country’s history. But then a savage heat wave and drought struck over the
summer. Plants withered, prices spiked, and the final harvest came in 27
percent below the forecast….This may be the greatest single fear about global
warming: that climate change could so destabilize the world’s food system as to
lead to rising hunger or even mass starvation….The good news is that
agriculture has a tremendous capacity to adapt to new conditions, including a
warming climate. Crops can be planted earlier, and new varieties that are more
resistant to climate stress can be developed. But experts say the research
needed to make all this happen is getting short shrift.
An
Accidental Cattle Ranch Points the Way in Sustainable Farming [New York Times]
PESCADERO,
Calif. — When Tom Steyer first learned that his wife, Kat Taylor, wanted to
sell beef from the cattle herd on their ranch here, he rolled his eyes. Mr.
Steyer is the founder of Farallon Capital, one of the largest hedge funds in
the world with some $20 billion under management for universities, foundations
and some of the country’s wealthiest people — and he was sure beef was a lousy
business investment, particularly on a small scale….The couple did not set out
to raise prime grass-fed beef at TomKat Ranch, which sprawls across some 1,800
acres in this rural community near the ocean off Highway 1. The plan was to
create a model conservation project, demonstrating ways to improve soil health,
use solar energy and conserve water….But once cows became part of the plan to
restore the land, it was not too long before TomKat also became an agricultural
project, one that the couple hope will help develop sustainable farming
practices that can be put to use far beyond Pescadero.
Ag
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