Fields and farm jobs dry up with California's worsening drought [National Public Radio]
…On
a recent afternoon on the main drag of Orange Grove, Calif., about a dozen farm
workers gather on the sidewalk in front of a mini-mart….Salvador Perez paces
back and forth with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. If there is
no water, there's no work, he says in Spanish. Perez was laid off when the
citrus farmer he worked for ran out of water….You hear a lot of these stories up
and down California's Central Valley. Everything that everyone has been warning
about over the past few months is starting to happen. Workers are getting laid
off as prized fruit and nut trees are going unwatered, and fields are going
fallow.
California
edging closer to regulating groundwater for the first time [KQED – San
Francisco]
We
hear a great deal about California’s reliance on its “frozen reservoir,” a
reference to the (currently anemic) Sierra snowpack. We hear a lot less about
the Golden State’s invisible reservoir, the water that resides in underground
aquifers beneath our feet. That’s about to change. Today, state Sen. Fran
Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) puts a trio of water conservation bills before her
Natural Resources and Water Committee, the centerpiece of which (SB 1168) is a
frontal assault on the management of California’s groundwater, which, compared
to other western states, is almost unregulated….If you want to see farmers and
ranchers turn ornery, make like you’re a state bureaucrat going after their
water — or their right to pump as much as they need out of the
ground….California is the only western state that doesn’t exercise some degree
of control over its groundwater. But how much control is too much? Matt Conant,
a walnut grower in Sutter County, articulated the greatest fear of many in the
ag community: “I’m afraid that the state will come in and try to over-regulate
groundwater and surface water,” he told me outside a recent hearing of the
State Water Resources Control Board.
Editorial: Mercury News
editorial: Feinstein bill risks further damage to Delta [Mercury News]
California
Sen. Dianne Feinstein's willingness to do Big Ag's bidding at the expense of
the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is increasingly alarming. Last week she
released a revised drought bill that has environmentalists up and down the
state fuming -- with good reason….We sympathize with the Central Valley farmers
who provide the vast majority of the state's fruits and vegetables. The state
needs to find every drop of water available for them, as long as it doesn't
permanently harm the Delta. But Big Ag has a dirty little secret: Wealthy
Central Valley farmers have doubled the area of profitable almond orchards in
recent years to 800,000 acres, largely for export….Feinstein has a choice. She
can pander to corporate farming interests who are big donors, or she can stand
up for reasonable protection for the Delta to ensure safe, adequate water
supplies for future generations in California -- both on farms and in cities.
Supreme
Court weighs truth in labeling in fruit juice case [Sacramento Bee]
Dual
marketing disputes have ripened for the California-based makers of Pom
Wonderful pomegranate juice, with Supreme Court justices sounding sympathetic
Monday to some company claims. In the first of two key court cases, justices
seemed Monday to accept Pom Wonderful’s argument that Coca-Cola misleadingly
labeled as “Pomegranate Blueberry” a product that had only an infinitesimal
amount of either juice….In a legal twist, the validity of Pom Wonderful’s own marketing
claims anchors a second pending case. On May 2, in arguments before the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the company will defend
health claims that have been disputed by the Federal Trade Commission.
U.S.
dairy insurance plan a template for reluctant livestock farmers [Reuters]
A
plan in the new U.S. farm law to help dairy farmers limit losses from rising
feed costs or falling milk prices may become a model in coming years for
livestock producers who have resisted similar types of insurance. The plan,
called the Margin Protection Program, takes a page from the popular
multibillion-dollar government-backed crop insurance programs for grain, cotton
and other crops. In short, MPP will create formulas to insure against loss of
"revenue" rather than actual loss of animals. Cattle and hog
producers have traditionally rejected government risk-management schemes
because they abhor any idea of government controls….But the thrust of the
1,000-page Agricultural Act of 2014, signed into law Feb. 7, was to move away
from "direct payments" toward more elaborate insurance coverage. The
dairy program aims to convince not just dairy farmers but all livestock
producers they can benefit as crop producers have.
U.S.-Japan
Trade Deal Is Coveted—but Elusive [Wall Street Journal]
The
U.S. and Japan had hoped to demonstrate the strength of their alliance with an
announcement of a landmark trade agreement during President Barack Obama's
visit to Tokyo. That is now uncertain, with no deal just hours before Mr.
Obama's arrival….A trade deal between the two countries is crucial to the
success of the broader Trans-Pacific Partnership, a U.S.-led initiative meant
to eliminate tariffs among 12 economies that account for around 40% of global
economic output and 30% of trade….The U.S. had hoped to conclude the trade
agreement as early as last year. But after months of talks, including intensive
negotiations over the past two weeks, significant differences with Japan remain
on key issues, particularly U.S. access to Japanese agricultural markets. Japan
wants to protect its own farm products, including rice and beef, while the U.S.
is demanding full access for its agricultural goods.
Ag
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