Paramount leader: Drought forcing ground water regulations, fewer farming acres [Fresno Bee]
A
top official with Paramount Farms, the world's largest grower and processor of
almonds and pistachios, said California's historic drought is forcing two
likely outcomes: regulation of ground water and fewer acres being farmed. Bill
Phillimore, executive vice president for the farming company giant, was the
keynote speaker at the 2014 Water Technology Conference in Clovis on
Thursday.…As the chief of Paramount's water and power issues, Phillimore said
he has seen ground water regulation coming for some time..…Phillimore said he
would instead like to see more attention paid to developing technology of how
to measure water use -- information that might help check water
consumption.…Phillimore said that while Paramount has not made a decision on
whether to take any trees out, he said pulling trees may be a better answer
than trying to apply less water to existing acreage. But, he added, "on
the west side, we are going to run one of the largest experiments anyone has
ever run in drought management this year.
Report: Kings ground
zero for deepened wells [Hanford Sentinel]
Kings
County is in the middle of an area with some of the worst groundwater overdraft
problems in the state, according to a report from the state Department of Water
Resources. The 51-page report singles out the Kings River and Kaweah River
sub-basins as having the greatest number of deepened wells….“They call us out,
frankly,” said Dave Orth, Kings River Conservation District general
manager….According to Orth, the cost of putting a meter on more than 20,000
wells inside the KRCD boundary lines would be “extremely expensive.” He
suggested there may be ways to get an accurate picture of groundwater use
without requiring a metering device on every well head….Barry McCutcheon,
chairman of the Kings County Water Commission, said he’d prefer local control
rather than a one-size-fits-all state mandate.
California drought:
El Niño probability raised to 78 percent for next winter [San Jose Mercury News]
Drought-weary
California, heading into a long, hot summer of water shortages and extreme fire
risk, received some potentially good news Thursday: Federal scientists
announced there is now a 4-in-5 chance of El Niño conditions developing by the
end of the year. El Niño events -- when warmer-than-normal sea surface
temperatures in the Pacific Ocean at the equator affect the jet stream -- can
lead to wetter winters in California.…But there's no guarantee California's
persistent drought will be over in six months. Generally speaking, the warmer
the ocean water, the increased likelihood of heavy rainfall during El Niño
years. During mild El Niño years, when the ocean water is only slightly warmer
than historic averages, there are just as many drier-than-average years as
soaking ones.
'Dirty' pesticide
list called dubious [Salinas Californian]
If
it’s spring, it’s time for the annual tussle between the agriculture industry
and the publisher of the “dirty dozen list” of produce with the highest
pesticide residue, particularly since strawberries and spinach are near the top
of the list….An excerpt from EWG’s report cautions consumers that “single
samples of celery, cherry tomatoes, imported snap peas and strawberries tested
positive for 13 different pesticides apiece.” That sounds terrible, and can
hold sway over many consumer buying decisions. But farming groups and
government agencies have raised flags about the methodology used in EWG’s dirty
dozen list….So The Californian researched levels of pesticide residue and found
that while there are a number of different pesticides on, say, conventionally
grown strawberries, the levels of the chemicals are so minute that they are
hundreds and even thousands of times less than a maximum level, set by federal
regulators, called a reference dose.
Genetically modified
foods confuse consumers [Associated Press]
Genetically
modified foods have been around for years, but most Americans have no idea if
they are eating them. The Food and Drug Administration says they don't need to
be labeled, so the state of Vermont has moved forward on its own. On Thursday,
Gov. Peter Shumlin signed legislation making his state the first to require
labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. What about the rest of the
country? And does labeling matter?
Injuries on the farm
happen much more often than we're told [NPR]
Farm
work has always been one of the . Government statistics show it clearly, and
the people doing the work can attest, too. But new research from the University
of California-Davis suggests that it's a much bigger problem than the federal
government recognizes. The health problems faced by agricultural workers are
the most undercounted of any industry in the U.S., they say. Federal agencies
responsible for tracking farm injuries and illnesses fail to report 77 percent
of the physical calamities that befall farmers and their workers, according to
a published in April in the Annals of Epidemiology.
Ag
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