A serious chill for Valley's $1.5 billion citrus industry [Fresno Bee]
Farm
leaders are holding their breath as a Canadian arctic blast passes Portland,
Ore., today, charging toward the San Joaquin Valley's $1.5 billion citrus crop.
About 85% of the fruit is still on the trees. By Friday, overnight temperatures
in Valley citrus groves could drop as low as 21 degrees -- a killing frost for
mandarins and navel oranges if the exposure lasts more than a few hours….
Citrus industry leaders are taking this early freeze seriously. "The
concern is real," said Joel Nelsen, president of the Exeter-based
California Citrus Mutual, representing more than 70% of citrus growers in this
region. "We're sending out notices right now to make sure everyone
knows."
Struggling
with one of the driest years on record [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
Rex
Williams' sheep normally are munching green grass in early December. But this
year, one of the driest on record, the land he leases remains mostly brown….The
Williams aren't alone — ranchers around Sonoma County are grappling with the
added cost of feeding their animals more hay earlier in the year because of the
arid conditions and lack of grass. Some are watching their ponds dry up and
wondering if they'll have to pay to truck in water for their animals to drink.
All are hoping December rains will bring them some relief. Normally, November
dumps about 4 inches of rain on the Santa Rosa area, but this year, just 1.08
inches fell, according to the National Weather Service. It was enough to cause
some grass to start sprouting on Sonoma County's hillsides, but farmers say
that could change if December remains dry.
State
water board faces suit [Salinas Californian]
A
coalition of environmental groups and an elderly Monterey County woman filed a
lawsuit against state water regulators for failing to protect the public from
toxic agricultural discharge. The suit, filed on behalf of Antonia Manzo, a
Monterey County resident, by Monterey-based The Otter Project and Monterey
Coastkeeper and five other organizations, alleges that the state Water Board
passed a regulation governing agricultural discharge that is so weak it is in
violation of state law….As agricultural interests fought a draft 2012 waiver as
draconian, the state Board ultimately approved the Waiver on Oct. 29. “The
financial, legal and political resources of big agriculture eviscerated and
weakened the regulation,” said Steve Shimek, executive director of The Otter
Project.
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Egg
Farmers' Push for Larger Cages Leads to Farm Bill Fight [The California Report]
Egg
farmers in California have their hackles up over a potential farm bill
provision that they say could put them out of business….Jill Benson, a
fourth-generation egg farmer with JS West, walks by stacked cages of hens,
their beaks poking between the metal links. She’s in one of two, brand new hen
houses at the company’s operation in the Central Valley town of Atwater….Benson
said she fought mightily against California’s Proposition 2 animal welfare law
that doubles the size of conventional hen houses by 2015. But after it passed
in 2008, her company was one of the first to make changes….Those high costs –
to the tune of millions of dollars – led Benson and other egg farmers to
convince the state to pass another law, requiring by 2015 that out-of-state
eggs sold in California meet the same larger cage standards. It’s that law that
Republican Congressman Steve King from Iowa – the country’s largest
egg-producing state – wants to quash.
Food
artisans, farmers find prosperity beyond farm stands [Santa Maria Times]
Central
Coast food artisans and farmers alike are rising from their pantries and
venturing beyond their farm stands to cash in on the California Homemade Food
Act (AB 1616). The nearly year-old law legalized the preparation and sale of
certain food products in home kitchens, and closet cooks are taking heed….Since
the law took effect Jan. 1, Santa Barbara County has issued 178 cottage food
operator (CFO) permits, while San Luis Obispo County has issued
77….Klein-Rothschild said Santa Barbara County was one of the first counties to
establish guidelines and encourage its citizens to take advantage of the new
situation. It is also home to the state’s first weekly cottage food market, the
Local Artisans Market in Santa Barbara.
Commentary: For the Starving,
'Eat Local' Isn't an Option [Wall Street Journal]
…Activists argue that
local foods support sustainable agriculture and struggling farmers, reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions and carbon footprints. Groceries that are lower in
"food miles" are touted as better for the economy, better for the
environment and better for the poor. Recent studies, however, have found that
local foods are often neither better for the environment nor for the poor.
Shipping produce from across the world often emits less greenhouse gases than
the same local produce grown with more resource-intensive methods….The
"return" to local foods and yeoman farmsteads isn't just impossible.
It misdirects political attention away from the problem of world hunger. Local
foods simply cannot feed the world.
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Ag
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