Few farmers immune to impact of epic California drought [Sacramento Bee]
When
spring arrives, the Central Valley farm fields owned by Harris Ranch normally
come to life with tomatoes, lettuce and watermelons. This year, much of the
land has been left dry and bare. California’s epic drought is being felt all
over rural California, from small family farms to agribusiness giants such as
Harris. Growers are fallowing land, tapping expensive groundwater and rationing
supplies to keep their orchards and vineyards alive. This downshift will cost
the state billions of dollars in lost economic activity and translate into
higher food prices for consumers….The drought has affected just about every
place in California where agriculture is king, from the rice and tomato fields
of the Sacramento Valley to the citrus groves on the east side of the San
Joaquin Valley.
House panel meeting
in Fresno hears emotional impact of Calif. drought [Fresno Bee]
Larry
Starrh's voice choked with emotion Wednesday as he told congressional members
of his family's decision to dry up 1,000 acres of almonds this year and let the
trees die due to water shortages. "Shortages that were created and
controlled by regulations that have been imposed and brandished like
weapons," the Kern County farmer said. "Sadly, in the real world,
water is about power, water is a weapon, water is a hostage." Starrh was
one of nine witnesses at a loud House Natural Resources Committee field hearing
on California's water crisis convened in the Fresno City Council chambers. He
echoed the thoughts of many in the audience about environmental regulations
that curb farm water deliveries.
LaMalfa, Garamendi
look to store water south of Redding [Redding Record Searchlight]
In
a display of bipartisan agreement, Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa and Democrat
Rep. John Garamendi today called for the construction of a reservoir to
potentially solve California’s long-term water problems. The two congressional
members held a news conference in Maxwell, some 20 miles west of the location
for the proposed Sites Reservoir, to announce their bill. The legislation will
be introduced next week and in all likelihood be ready for a vote on the House
floor in June. It accelerates an existing feasibility study to authorize the
construction of the reservoir in Colusa County, about an hour north of
Sacramento and 90 minutes south of Redding.
Hundreds rally at
Capitol to save Future Farmers of America [KCRA TV, Sacramento]
The
Capitol was the epicenter of a big fight on Wednesday over funding for
California's future farmers. It's a battle between tens of thousands of
students enrolled in the Agricultural Career Tech Grant Program and Gov. Jerry
Brown….Under Brown's budget plan, $4.1 million in funding for the program would
be transferred to individual school districts. Starlyte Simmons, an FFA student
at Rio Linda High School, is concerned. She joined hundreds of future farmers
for the giant rally, with hundreds of students at the Capitol chanting,
"Save FFA, Save FFA."…There is strong student support for Assembly
Bill 2033, authored by Assembly member Rudy Salas….While AB 2033 does have
bipartisan support at the Capitol, it's not expected that Brown would
jeopardize his own budget proposal by signing it.
GOP optimists
challenge common wisdom on immigration [Wall Street Journal]
It’s
easy to find people in Washington who say an immigration overhaul is dead, at
least for the year. Finding optimists on the matter is harder. But there are a
few Republicans out there who think the Republican House will change course and
take up immigration before the November election, despite arguments inside the
party that the GOP should remain focused on unifying issues such as health
care….The question is whether the House might be willing to take up the issue
this spring or summer, after the bulk of Republican primaries are over. The
reasoning is that politically, House Republicans are most worried about
primaries, where many fear being challenged by an opponent claiming to be more
conservative….There are political reasons to hold off even longer….Still, a few
leading Republicans think there’s a chance that Mr. Boehner may change course
and bring the issue to the floor this spring or summer. Business, religious and
law enforcement interests are among those pushing for the overhaul as a way to
rationalize immigration policy and aid those now living here illegally.
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Feds ban all Rancho
Feeding meat from being sold [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
Custom
beef ranchers who used the now-shuttered Rancho Feeding Corp. for a
slaughterhouse will not be allowed to sell any of the meat they processed at
the Petaluma company's plant, the federal government told the ranchers on
Wednesday. That stymies for now the ranchers' efforts to convince the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to exempt hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of
their beef from the international recall of Rancho products. The ranchers
reacted angrily.
Ag
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