Missouri AG challenges California egg law [Associated Press]
Missouri's
attorney general has asked a federal court to strike down a California law
regulating the living conditions of chickens, setting up a cross-country battle
that pits new animal protections against the economic interests of Midwestern
farmers. The lawsuit by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster takes aim at a
California law set to take effect in 2015 that prohibits eggs from being sold
there if they come from hens raised in cages that don't comply with
California's new size and space requirements. Koster said Tuesday that the
California law infringes on the interstate commerce protections of the U.S.
Constitution by effectively imposing new requirements on out-of-state farmers.
Senate sends farm
bill to Obama [Associated Press]
The
sweeping farm bill that Congress sent to President Obama Tuesday has something
for almost everyone, from the nation's 47 million food stamp recipients to
Southern peanut growers, Midwest corn farmers and the maple syrup industry in
the Northeast. After years of setbacks, the Senate on Tuesday sent the nearly
$100 billion-a-year measure to President Barack Obama. The White House said the
president will sign the bill on Friday in Michigan, the home state of Senate
Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow. The Senate passed the bill 68-32 after
House passage last week. The bill provides a financial cushion for farmers who
face unpredictable weather and market conditions. It also provides subsidies
for rural communities and environmentally-sensitive land. But the bulk of its
cost is for the food stamp program, which aids 1 in 7 Americans. The bill would
cut food stamps by $800 million a year, or around 1 percent.
7 new 'climate hubs'
to help rural areas adapt [Associated Press]
Aiming
to help rural communities deal with climate change, the Obama administration is
creating seven regional "climate hubs" that will serve as clearinghouses
for information and outreach about extreme weather across the U.S….The seven
regional hubs will be housed in forest service stations or government research
labs in Ames, Iowa; Durham, N.H.; Raleigh, N.C.; Fort Collins, Colo.; El Reno,
Okla.; Corvallis, Ore.; and Las Cruces, N.M. Three smaller, additional
"sub-hubs" will be created in Houghton, Mich.; Davis, Calif.; and Rio
Piedras, Puerto Rico.
As California drought
persists, federal aid begins to flow [Fresno Bee]
The
Agriculture Department on Tuesday offered new aid to water-starved California
farmers, while lawmakers tussled over competing anti-drought proposals.
Underscoring how California's water crisis has reached a political boil, top
federal and state officials jointly announced the relatively modest new package
of aid that features $20 million for agricultural water conservation efforts.
Additional aid for California will be announced by the Forest Service on
Thursday. "This is really designed to pump resources into problem
solving," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. "We expect and
anticipate that this is the first of a number of (aid) announcements."
Accompanied by Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, and Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, Vilsack announced the funding for
which California farmers can apply. Grants will be provided for projects that
could include improving irrigation efficiency, planting cover crops and
protecting grazing lands, among other efforts.
Drought conditions
concern North Coast grape growers [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
The
North Coast needs an additional foot of rain between now and May just to get
back to drought conditions seen in 1977, and even then Lake Mendocino could
still go bone dry by autumn for the first time in recorded history, water
officials said Tuesday….“If you're below Dry Creek, it's going to be a bad
year. If you're above Dry Creek, it's going to be a biblical year,” said Sean
White, general manager of the Russian River Flood Control District….White's
assessment silenced the crowd of more than 150 growers, vineyard managers,
scientists and government officials who gathered Tuesday at the Cloverdale
Citrus Fairgrounds for the meeting, which was sponsored by the Mendocino County
Farm Bureau and Sonoma County Winegrowers.
Editorial: Don't hold immigration reform hostage to electoral
politics [Los Angeles Times]
House
GOP leaders issued a set of standards last week for overhauling U.S.
immigration law, but the ink had hardly dried on their one-page summary before
conservatives starting pushing back — not against the leadership's ideas but
against the idea of doing anything at all on such a controversial issue.
Nevertheless, the House should press ahead. Resolving the many problems in the
current system will only get harder if it misses the opportunity it has
now….The broad outlines are promising. As in the Senate bill, the House
standards call for more effective enforcement at the borders and in the
workplace, a better system for temporary workers, a path to citizenship for
those brought into the country as children, and more visas for highly skilled
immigrants. But that's not exactly breaking new ground; thoughtful members from
both parties have long agreed on such goals.
Ag
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