County farmers prepare for year of water rationing [Woodland Daily Democrat]
…With
reservoirs going dry, and the lack of rain expected to continue, Yolo County
farmers are preparing for an a year of rationing, the first time since 2009.
According to Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner John Young, growers at this
time are taking a look at what they need to plant -- and where -- due to the
lack of surface water available….Eric Paulsen, president of the Yolo County
Farm Bureau said that the main crop currently affected is wheat. Without proper
moisture or irrigation systems in place, wheat growers are struggling and
"some of the crops might be lost," Paulsen said.
Editorial: Our Voice: Exert
greater controls on groundwater usage [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
A
New Year’s resolution for the California Legislature: Take the depletion of the
state’s groundwater more seriously. Another of our series of investigations,
“Aquifers at Risk,” found that overdrafting is a statewide problem….Unchecked,
these problems could lead to restrictions on development and threaten the
state’s $45 billion-a-year agricultural industry….The Desert Sun urges local
and state lawmakers to learn from other Western states — such as Oregon, Nevada
and New Mexico — that have greater controls on how groundwater is used.
Sustainability should be the goal and the path toward protecting California’s
economy and environment.
Produce
inspectors keep farmers markets honest [Los Angeles Times]
On
a recent Saturday morning, Ed Williams stood off to the side at Santa Monica's
downtown farmers market, scrutinizing a bright red mango like a detective
trying to solve a mystery….Williams is deputy director of the Los Angeles
County agricultural commissioner's office. Avery contacted him because she
suspected that the vendor was buying the fruit, not growing it at his farm as
required by state law…The vendor will probably be fined, officials said, in
part of a crackdown over the last year on those who buy produce from neighbors
or packinghouses and sell it as their own at certified farmers markets. It has
led to 20 vendors being fined in Los Angeles County in 2013, up from two last year.
San Diego County has sanctioned five vendors, and more Southern California
cases are pending.
Report
puts $797M price tag on Rim fire's damage to ecosystem [Modesto Bee]
Until
they burned, oaks and pines in the Rim fire area absorbed carbon dioxide and
emitted oxygen, a useful service for the planet. The massive blaze reduced the
value of this function by as much as $797 million, according to an initial
estimate by economists who specialize in accounting for "ecosystem
services," or what nature provides to humans…The report also cited lost
ecosytem services related to recreation, water supply, aesthetics and other
categories in the national forest and on burned land in Yosemite National Park
and private ownership…. Some experts have tallied the fire suppression cost,
$127 million, and others are putting together estimates on the impact to the
timber supply, some of which will be salvaged at lumber mills.
For
divided Congress, water projects are a unifier [Associated Press]
Those
occasionally infamous multimillion-dollar water projects that have been derided
by good-government types over the years as Exhibit A of pork-barrel spending in
Congress are making a comeback. The reason: Apparently, this is one of the few
areas where members of both party see eye to eye. Republicans and Democrats who
found little common ground in 2013 are rallying around a bill they hope to pass
early next year authorizing up to $12.5 billion over the next decade for flood
diversion in North Dakota, widening a Texas-Louisiana waterway, deepening
Georgia's rapidly growing Port of Savannah and other projects….Unlike a farm
policy-food stamp bill also the subject of ongoing House-Senate negotiations,
the differences in the two houses' water project bills are modest and the
acrimony is less.
2013
was the year bills to criminalize animal cruelty videos failed [National Public
Radio]
The
past year was a busy one for the animal welfare activists who've turned their
hidden cameras on confinement facilities where huge numbers of food animals are
raised.
Livestock
producers — and the policymakers they influence — were just as busy trying to
make it illegal for activists to enter these facilities undercover….Three
states signed ag-gag bill into law in 2011 and 2012, setting new legal
precedents. This year, a flurry of legislation — 15 ag-gag bills — was
introduced in 11 states, but interestingly, not a single one passed.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/12/19/255549796/2013-was-the-year-every-new-ag-gag-bill-failed
Ag
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