Obama backs piecemeal immigration overhaul [Wall Street Journal]
President
Barack Obama said Tuesday he would accept a piecemeal approach to overhauling
the immigration system, a move aimed at jump-starting a moribund process that reflects
the realities of a divided Congress….In a wide-ranging interview before
business executives at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council, the president said
he is amenable to House Republicans' taking up elements of the Senate bill, as
long as the end result is the same….The president said he was
"optimistic" that Congress would meet the goal he set of passing an
immigration bill by the end of the year. But just after Mr. Obama spoke, Rep.
Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, poured cold water
on that idea. In his own appearance before The Wall Street Journal CEO Council,
Mr. Ryan said there wasn't enough time left to tackle immigration this year.
Ag
Secretary Tom Vilsack stumps in Fresno for Farm Bill [Fresno Bee]
Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a Fresno visit that without passage of the
Food, Farm and Jobs Bill and immigration reform, rural America, farmers and
consumers will suffer. Vilsack who spoke to a packed house at Fresno State's
Satellite Student Union Tuesday said the legislation is a cornerstone to
helping improve the economy, strengthen the agriculture industry and provide
new opportunities for young people.…During his nearly hour-long talk, Vilsack
said the Food, Farm and Jobs Bill, otherwise known as the Farm Bill, is not
just about helping farmers. It provides funding for conservation programs,
research, innovation, energy production and food assistance. "Every single
American benefits from this bill in one way or another," Vilsack said to a
receptive audience.
Oakdale
Irrigation District board leader says ‘disaster is imminent,’ urges halt to new
wells [Modesto Bee]
Warning
that “disaster is imminent,” the Oakdale Irrigation District’s board president
on Tuesday called for an immediate moratorium on new water wells in Stanislaus
County. “You cannot on a consistent basis take more water out of the ground
basin than you put in,” Frank Clark told a standing-room-only crowd, which came
out for an OID presentation about the region’s groundwater situation. “We need
a moratorium on new wells until more and better data is available.”…Clark’s
fellow OID directors, however, didn’t join his plea for action. They were
mostly silent after listening to a staff report that explained how the region’s
water tables are falling despite the irrigation district’s ongoing efforts to
recharge them.…After the meeting, a Stanislaus County Farm Bureau
representative predicted that the moratorium threat will trigger a flood of
drilling permit applications. That seems to be happening already: Last month,
more than 60 well permits were requested, which is 3½ times the usual amount.
Farmer:
Water apportionment plan unfair [Imperial Valley Press]
Farmers
continue to speak out against the Imperial Irrigation District’s recently
adopted water apportionment plan. “The 2014 (equitable distribution plan) based
on 50 percent history and 50 percent straight line will discriminate against
those growers that have installed water conservation measures and have been
conserving water,” said El Centro farmer Paula McConnell Pangle, addressing the
board Tuesday during public comments….The 2014 water apportionment plan that
was initially brought before the board had been vetted and approved by a
committee of Imperial Valley farmers. It, too, allocated water to all fields
equally, and relied on a water clearinghouse to balance water needs between low
water users and high water users. However, at the urging of some farmers,
including Mike Abatti, the board approved a plan that allocates water based on
50 percent of a farm’s historical use, and 50 percent straight-line. The
result, McConnell said, hurts her business.
Butte
County Planning Commission ponders new rules aimed to protect ag land [Chico
Enterprise-Record]
Keeping
agricultural land as ag land, or at least slowing down the change from plow to
pavement, is the goal of a new land mitigation plan working its way through
county government.…Another 475,000 acres — about 44 percent of the land in the
county — remains in full ag production including orchards, rice land and
grazing, explained Dan Breedon, principal county planner. For these ag areas,
it is proposed that growth can only occur if similar ag land is protected from
development. If one acre in the prime ag land is developed, the developer would
need to pay for protection of two acres of similar land….Letters of support
have been received from the Butte County Farm Bureau and the Butte Local Agency
Formation Commission (LAFCO).
Blue
Diamond Growers rings up $1.2 billion in revenue [Sacramento Bee]
California-grown
almonds continue to be a red-hot commodity for Sacramento-based Blue Diamond
Growers. Blue Diamond President and CEO Mark Jansen today will report that Blue
Diamond amassed record revenue of $1.2 billion for its fiscal year that ended
Aug. 30….Blue Diamond also will report record grower payments of $828 million
during today’s formal presentation….Blue Diamond’s rapid rise is attributed to
a proliferation of new, almond-based products and an aggressive expansion of
those products into international markets.
Ag
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