San Francisco appeals court upholds plan to protect delta smelt [Fresno Bee]
A
federal appeals court in San Francisco on Thursday upheld the science used in
fish protection plans that sometimes cut back water pumping for San Joaquin
Valley farmers and Southern California cities. The Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals decision overturned a 2010 lower court ruling from Fresno, which had
held that protections for the delta smelt in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta were not supported in science….Farm water leaders involved in the case
said they were disappointed. Westlands Water District manager Tom Birmingham
said the decision basically says the court must defer to the judgment of a
federal agency -- the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "But in this case,
there was substantial evidence in the record and introduced in court that the
Fish and Wildlife Service's judgment ignored the best scientific and commercial
data available," he said.
Appellate court
ruling new hurdle for Delta tunnel plans [Sacramento Bee]
A
state appellate court dropped a bomb late Thursday on the early stages of the
state’s plan to divert fresh Northern California water under or around the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on its way to Central and Southern California. On
a 2-1 decision, a three-justice appeal panel in Sacramento ruled the California
Constitution bars the state from entering private properties to do preliminary
soil testing and environmental studies unless it wants to condemn affected
sections of the parcels through its power of eminent domain. The ruling on soil
testing affirms a 2011 decision by a retired Superior Court judge sitting in
San Joaquin County. The ruling on environmental studies reverses a separate
2011 ruling by the same judge.
Irrigation district
could run out of water by end of June due to drought [Redding Record
Searchlight]
Faced
with a 60 percent cut in its allocation, the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation
District is likely to run out of water by the end of June. District Manager
Stan Wangberg told the district’s board of directors tonight that because the
district is only getting 40 percent of its contract amount, it will not likely
be able to provide irrigation to its customers after June. He told the board
that delaying the start of irrigation season later into April could enable the
district to provide some water in July.
Central Valley ag
education supporters to have their say in Sacramento [Modesto Bee]
Supporters
of a state grant program for agricultural education will make their case for
keeping it at a Sacramento hearing Tuesday. The Senate Agriculture Committee
will hear testimony on Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to end the program and shift
the money – $4.1 million per year – into general education spending.…Supporters
say the grants enhance the instruction provided by high school ag instructors,
who double as advisers to FFA, formerly known as Future Farmers of America. The
hearing will come a day before FFA members rally for the program as part of Ag
Day at the Capitol. The proposal, part of the initial 2014-15 budget released
in January, is part of Brown’s effort to greatly increase the amount of money
school districts can spend at their discretion. It has become a rallying cry
for FFA, which has about 74,000 members in California.
Center for Food
Safety sues USDA over genetically modified alfalfa [Los Angeles Times]
A
food safety group filed a lawsuit in hopes of forcing the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to release documents in court that could explain why the federal
agency approved genetically engineered alfalfa despite its misgivings about
environmental safety. The Washington-based Center for Food Safety said Thursday
the USDA may have come under pressure by seed giant Monsanto Co. to grant
approval of its Roundup Ready alfalfa, which is designed to withstand multiple
applications of herbicide….In an e-mailed statement, Monsanto dismissed the
Center for Food Safety's characterization of the biotech alfalfa….The USDA did
not reply to a request for comment….Opposition to genetically modified alfalfa
centers on fears that it could contaminate traditional alfalfa fields since the
crop is pollinated by bees.
Young farmers face
challenge of expensive land [Davis Enterprise]
As
the nation’s farmers age, whether there will be enough interested youths to
sustain their numbers remains to be seen. One thing is for sure: Though there
is some help for farmers starting out, the costs of just breaking ground do not
make the career an easy one, especially in Yolo County. This year’s census of
American agriculture shows the average age of a farmer to be 58.3 years. On the
brighter side, there has been a slight rise the number of farmers nationally in
the 25-to-34 age group.
Ag
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