Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Ag Today Monday, February 24, 2014


Feds to Central Valley farmers: Expect no water this summer [Fresno Bee]
The federal Central Valley Project on Friday made an unprecedented irrigation forecast -- zero water this summer for 3 million acres in the Central Valley at the heart of the state's $44 billion farm industry. Federal leaders blamed a record-setting drought for the potentially devastating cutback. San Joaquin Valley farm officials say the industry could lose hundreds of millions of dollars and jobless rates in some rural communities could soar above 50%....In Fresno County, the country's biggest farm county with more than $6.5 billion annually in products, the announcement hits hard, said Ryan Jacobsen, executive director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau….If several storms hit California in the next two months, water could become available for delivery, federal leaders said….Farmer Dan Errotabere, a member of the Westlands board, said he will run his wells aggressively to keep his crops alive, though he does not like to overpump the groundwater. "We're going to fallow acreage," he said. "But we still will have to overpump. We don't like to tax the water system out here like that. You wind up losing wells." On the Valley's east side, 15,000 farmers are facing their first summer without San Joaquin River water since Friant Dam was constructed and formed Millerton Lake more than 60 years ago. Entire orchards may be lost in the east-side citrus region.

Opinion: Water won't run through lines in the sand [Salinas Californian]
To butcher an old adage, if you want to muck things up, form a committee — particularly one where the members don’t get along. While farmers in the Salinas Valley are increasingly worried about future irrigation water, the federal Bureau of Reclamation told farmers in the Central Valley on Friday that they will have a zero allocation of water from the Central Valley Water Project.…I wish I could be as eloquent as California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger was on Friday when he crafted the words to accompany my sigh. “Make no mistake, our current water crisis is not caused by two years of below normal rainfall, followed by the record dry year we’re having right now,” Wenger said. “This crisis is the direct result of 20-plus years of inaction by politicians and policymakers, who have failed to take the steps required to shield California from drought.”

Opinion: California politicians have talked about water, but done little [Sacramento Bee]
It’s not that California politicians haven’t talked about the state’s uncertain water supply. They have – constantly, for decades. It’s that they haven’t done much but talk….However, they didn’t. The state hasn’t truly addressed its water needs since Brown’s father, Pat Brown, was governor more than a half-century ago….Just as we need state budget reserves to cushion the impact of economic gyrations, so do we need more storage above or below ground to cope with the ebb and flow of rain and snowfall, as well as more intelligent supply management and a more rational pricing structure.

Environmentalists' warning irks grape growers [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
North Coast grape growers are weeks away from having to make crucial decisions about how much water to use for frost protection, but already are facing what is widely interpreted as a threat of being sued by environmental groups over potential harm to fish habitats. Three Sonoma County organizations, including one with a long history of filing lawsuits, sent letters to hundreds of growers and vineyard managers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties outlining concerns about water draw-downs harming federally protected salmon and steelhead. The four-page letter notes that many vineyard managers are “working diligently” to prevent extinction of fish species. But it also addresses concerns about placing “profit above compliance with the law” and states growers who are “known” to violate federal law will be publicly identified on the website for California River Watch, or sued by the organization.

Eggman refocuses on saving farmland [Stockton Record]
A year ago this month, Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, was still settling into her seat in the Legislature. She had just been named chairwoman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee and had introduced a farmland-preservation bill, AB823, hoping it would force a minimum mitigation standard for urban development projects statewide.…The bill quickly made it onto the California Chamber of Commerce's annual "job killer" list. Opposition mounted. Last month, AB823 died in Eggman's committee, but the former Stockton city councilwoman has come up with a new approach. This week, she introduced AB1961, which also is intended to preserve agriculture….There are major differences in the two bills.

National Beef proceeding with plant closure [Imperial Valley Press]
Three weeks of discussions, meetings and fervent hope are over. National Beef will close its Brawley meatpacking facility despite local officials’ efforts to convince the company to stay. National Beef’s announcement at the end of January that it would close its Brawley plant shocked the community and prompted a quick response….According to National Beef, a decline of fed cattle available for the Brawley plant was a key driver in its decision to close the plant. Local officials say the company had three issues: cattle supply, utility costs and regulatory compliance….National Beef released a statement around the same time. “We have considered all of the alternatives, but, unfortunately, the barriers to profitably operate the facility continue to exist. Even with the proposed incentive package, the declining supply of fed cattle available for the Brawley facility remains the key driver of our decision to close the plant,” reads the press release.

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