Fear in the fields: Drought means job losses for California farmworkers [Al Jazeera America]
…With
only about six weeks left until the rainy season ends, California farmers and
their workers are bracing for the worse from a drought so severe that it could beat
500-year records. “This here will surpass anything I’ve had to deal with in my
lifetime,” said Chuck Herrin, who runs Sunrise Farm Labor and provides workers
and equipment for area farms. None of his contracts have been dropped so far,
but “I know it’s coming,” he said.…Farmers, who just found out they will get no
water from the federal Central Valley Project this year, are having a “Sophie’s
Choice” moment: Do they hope for more water and risk planting seasonal crops?
Or do they take a loss and leave the land fallow? Their decisions will affect
thousands of farm laborers and hundreds of farm suppliers and contractors.…How
many jobs will be lost won’t be known until summer, when the full impact of the
drought can be calculated. But everyone is expecting the worst.
MID approves
intra-district open-market sales of irrigation water [Modesto Bee]
The
prospect of irrigation water hawked on Craigslist became a possibility Tuesday
with a landmark vote allowing Modesto Irrigation District customers to buy and
sell to other farmers within MID’s boundary at any price they want. The 3-2
decision overshadowed a competing proposal to establish a pool system managed
by district staff in which growers would buy and sell water for $400 an
acre-foot. That idea also passed, on a 4-1 vote, but supporters acknowledged it
might not get traction because sellers are likely to fetch higher offers on the
open market.…The surcharge and open-market transfers will end when the drought
does, leaders said. Board Chairman Nick Blom defined that as a year when MID
can offer its customers at least 30 inches of water per acre. The district
typically provides 42 inches, but drought has reduced that allotment to as
little as 18 inches this year. Because most crops can’t get by on that little,
the district figures that some customers will decline their allotment in return
for some money.
California analyst
suggests drought solutions [Sacramento Bee]
Saying
Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal "includes little to address the effects
of the current drought," a new report by the Legislature's nonpartisan
fiscal analyst suggests anti-drought and conservation steps that lawmakers
could take….For example, the LAO said, the state could change how water is
priced. The Legislature could require water agencies to charge more in drought
years. Lawmakers also could make agencies charge lower per-gallon rates for
essential water use, but higher rates for water uses deemed less important,
such as landscaping. In addition, lawmakers could change the system of water
rights. The objective would be to reflect the potential to save water in
"the definition of reasonable use." And the Legislature could
encourage farms to save more water by setting goals for the agricultural industry
or helping them pay for water-efficiency equipment.
Commentary: The water we can't see [Ventura County Star]
When
the California Legislature put together its big water package in 2009, the one
that paved the way for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and included an $11
billion water bond about which lawmakers are now having second thoughts, Sen.
Fran Pavley put forth what she thought was a modest proposal. She thought that,
since groundwater accounts for more than a third of California’s water usage,
it might be a good idea to take inventory. Such an inventory would require
sending people out into the field to measure well depths and collect pumping
data. The response was swift and furious, and evoked images of farmers standing
in front of their wells, pitchforks or shotguns in hand, to prevent anyone from
the government from coming onto their land to inspect their water wells….Pavley
believes that in 2014, unlike five years ago, there may now be an appetite for
taking meaningful steps to measure groundwater — to find out how much is the
bank before making decisions on how much can be spent and how much needs to be
saved.
Slaughterhouse
accused of selling meat from cows with cancer [San Francisco Chronicle]
Rancho
Feeding Corp., the Petaluma slaughterhouse that recently recalled 8.7 million
pounds of beef, is under criminal investigation by the federal government for
killing and selling meat from dairy cows with cancer, according to sources who
would speak only on the condition of anonymity. Rancho was allegedly buying up
cows with eye cancer, chopping off their heads so inspectors couldn't detect
the disease and illegally selling the meat, the sources said. Although it's
against federal law, experts say eating the meat isn't likely to make people
sick. So far, no one has reported becoming ill from eating the meat.
Assembly bill would
create state’s ‘Office of Farm to Fork’ [Sacramento Bee]
A
buzzword familiar to Sacramento foodies may soon be the official name of a
statewide office. AB 2413, which is sponsored by Assembly Speaker John A.
Pérez, would create the Office of Farm to Fork within the California Department
of Food and Agriculture. Among other provisions, the Office of Farm to Fork
would promote healthy food access, especially in underserved communities, and
seek collaborations between public health agencies, farmers and other parties.
AB 2413 was introduced Friday, the deadline for bills to be introduced in the
2014 legislative session….AB 2413 is a nearly identical bill to AB 38, which
was introduced by Perez in December of 2012. AB 38 would similarly have created
the Office of Farm to Fork, and passed through the Assembly’s Committee on
Agriculture with a 7-0 vote in May. However, the bill ultimately died in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee because of cost.
Ag
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