Direct payments to end, but farm-bill policy questioned [Wall Street Journal]
When
lawmakers unveil a bipartisan compromise on a new five-year farm bill this
month, they likely will trumpet a major change in policy: ending the
long-established and much-maligned system of direct payments to farmers.
Abolishing the unpopular program, in which payments have been made regardless
of crop prices—and sometimes even to people who grow nothing—is a rare point of
accord among Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate.…But the
emerging compromise, which would replace direct payments with beefed-up crop
insurance and other protections for farmers, has already triggered criticism
from outside groups who say it won't radically reduce the amount of risk the
federal government assumes in the agriculture industry.
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Historic dryness
shows no signs of letup [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
About
an inch a day, every day, for the last two weeks of December. That's the amount
of rainfall that was needed to bring 2013 back to a normal year of
precipitation. The amount of rain in that time: zero inches, cementing 2013 as
the driest calendar year on record for California and causing managers across
Yuba-Sutter to begin bracing for the possibility of water cuts in 2014….Any
consequences of the drought will be felt by the farmers and ranchers who depend
on reservoirs for irrigation water. The Sutter Extension Water District, which
provides irrigation to about 20,000 acres, could see a 50 percent cut of its
water allotment from Lake Oroville, said general manager Lynn Phillips.
"If we were to get cut, the acreage cuts would be felt in the rice farming,"
Phillips said. "The orchards and the other crops would have to reduce
their number of irrigation."
Water officials cut
Russian River releases from Lake Mendocino [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
The
Sonoma County Water Agency has cut flows in the Russian River by about 30
percent since Tuesday in an effort to preserve dwindling supplies in Lake
Mendocino. State regulators granted the agency permission to cut flows late
Tuesday and the agency promptly dropped from releasing about 100 cubic feet per
second at the dam, or about 748 gallons, to 90. On Thursday, the agency dropped
that number down to 70 cfs, and could go lower this week or next….With no major
rain predicted for the early weeks of January, the agency is preparing to face
a second straight dry year. Without cutting the flows dramatically now, there
is a risk of the reservoir effectively running dry next summer should the
drought continue, the agency said. The State Water Resources Control Board
agreed, saying cutting the flow now will affect downstream farmers, cities, and
wildlife less than if the reservoir were allowed to dry out next summer.
Mixed reports on
olive harvest [Napa Valley Register]
The
olive harvest for 2013 in Sonoma and Napa counties proved to be a medley of
good and bad, mostly attributed to larger-than-normal olive fruit fly
infestations. Some larger growers reported somewhat successful harvests, as
they were able to combat the infestations, resulting in less damage than they
initially feared. Some smaller growers had to toss out their crops, rather than
sort out healthy olives from the infested ones. Statistics about the harvest
won’t be available from the Napa County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office
until sometime in January at the earliest, when department staff survey local
olive growers on their yields, Agricultural Commissioner Greg Clark said.
Original Cheerios to
go GMO-free [Associated Press]
General
Mills says some Cheerios made without genetically modified ingredients will
start appearing on shelves soon. The Minneapolis-based company said Thursday
that it has been manufacturing its original-flavor Cheerios without GMOs for
the past several weeks in response to consumer demand. It did not specify
exactly when those boxes would be on sale. Original Cheerios will now be
labeled as "Not Made With Genetically Modified Ingredients," although
that it is not an official certification. The labels will also note that trace
amounts of GMO ingredients could be present due to the manufacturing process,
said Mike Siemienas, a company spokesman.
USDA opens door to
new herbicide-resistant seeds [Associated Press]
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture opened the door Friday to commercial sales of
corn and soybean seeds genetically engineered to resist the weed killer 2,4-D,
which is best known as an ingredient in the Vietnam War-era herbicide Agent
Orange.…The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a draft
environmental impact statement Friday as part of the process for potential
deregulation of the seeds, which can now be used only in tightly controlled
field trials. Deregulation would allow commercial development of the seeds and
presumably lead to greater use of the herbicide.…Some corn and soybean farmers
have eagerly anticipated a next generation of herbicide-resistant seeds as
weeds immune to Monsanto's Roundup, known generically as glyphosate, become
more common. Most corn and soybeans grown in the U.S. are genetically engineered,
usually with the Roundup resistant trait.
Ag
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