Ag Today Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Gov. Jerry Brown pushes for scaled-down, $6-billion water bond [Los Angeles Times]

Gov. Jerry Brown told legislative leaders Tuesday that he wants a $6-billion water bond to be put before voters in November — a substantially lower price tag than proposals making their way through the Legislature. Brown also made clear that he has concerns about the $11.1-billion bond now set to go before voters in the fall, according to legislative sources familiar with the conversations. That bond, originally written in 2009, would direct $3 billion for storage projects. But opposition from Brown could seriously harm its prospects if it remained on the ballot. According to the sources, Brown indicated that he would want one-third of the bond — $2 billion — for water storage. Republicans and Central Valley Democrats had wanted at least $3 billion for storage projects such as dams and reservoirs, which are a top priority for agriculture interests.

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-brown-water-bond-20140625-story.html

Wolk blasts opposition for non action on water bill [Vacaville Reporter]

A day after failing to secure Republican support for her bill to overhaul the $11.1 billion water bond on November's ballot, Senator Lois Wolk, D-Solano, and fellow Democrats blasted opposition demands that the measure include more funding to enable construction of twin tunnels underneath the Delta to divert water south and vowed that the battle is not over. SB848 by Wolk fell short of the required two-thirds majority vote needed to pass. "Yesterday's vote was a missed opportunity," Wolk said in a press release on Tuesday. "It was especially disappointing to see my Republican colleagues from Northern California tie their horses to the Delta Tunnels and support the current bond written in 2009 rather than the tunnel neutral approach in SB 848 that was before them."

http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_26028921/wolk-blasts-opposition-non-action-water-bill

Agriculture well permit applications spiking, likely due to drought [Davis Enterprise]

With the drought well into its third year, farmers are turning to groundwater to keep their crops green. Applications to install or replace agricultural wells spiked this year, doubling from last year. Residential applications rose slightly, having dropped steadily since the 2004-2006 housing boom….With no surface water allocations from the Yolo County Flood Control District and limited supplies coming from elsewhere, farmers are turning to the land’s liquid gold reserves….Now, farmers requesting wells face wait times of up to a year. And there is no data on how many of the applications actually result in completed projects.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/ag-environment/agriculture-well-permit-applications-spiking-likely-due-to-drought/

California Assembly Committee passes groundwater rules bill [Capital Public Radio]

Backers of the bill say years of ground water over-pumping has led to wells drying up around the state and has also depleted surface water supplies….Danny Merkley with the California Farm Bureau Federation says the state should take time to think through its groundwater management plan even in a time of drought. “We need to work through this and keep working through this regardless of arbitrary deadlines,” says Merkley.

http://www.capradio.org/articles/2014/06/24/california-assembly-committee-passes-groundwater-rules-bill/

Immigrants want more bend in driver license rules [Associated Press]

As California prepares to issue driver's licenses to immigrants in the country illegally, residents sounded off Tuesday on what documents should be accepted as proof of identity and residency in the state. At a packed hearing in Los Angeles, scores of immigrants urged the Department of Motor Vehicles to expand the list of acceptable documents to include church and children's school records, which may be easier for some people to obtain. "As a homemaker, we don't get a membership card or a pay stub," said Martha Escandon, 42, whose Mexican immigrant family obtained legal papers in the 1980s. Escandon said she volunteers at her South Los Angeles church and knows many mothers who could face a hard time obtaining proof of residency to apply for a license.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/24/6506640/immigrants-fret-about-license.html#

Ag Today is distributed by the CFBF Communications/News Division to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for information purposes; stories may not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site registration. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and e-mail address. For more information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.

Ag Today Monday, June 23, 2014

Editorial: What does drought-stricken California need? A water bond. [Los Angeles Times]

Los Angeles has begun a historic drive to decrease its dependence on imported water. The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the state's precarious water switching station and the key to the survival not only of salmon and other threatened species but of the state's agriculture industry, is in crisis. California is in the midst of a continuing drought. It is hard to fathom a higher priority than safeguarding the state's precious water resources, or a more crucial time to do it. That means an investment in the form of a carefully crafted water bond. Lawmakers in Sacramento representing various factions in the water debate are squabbling over what to include in a bond they submit to voters on the November ballot, or whether to just scrap the whole thing and wait for a better time. There will probably be no better time. They should send voters a bond.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-0622-waterbond-20140622-story.html#

Olive cultivation is on the rise in California’s drought-stricken Central Valley [Sacramento Bee]

Olive farmer Dan Kennedy scores a pellet-size olive with his fingernail. The scoring offers a burst of clear liquid. It’s a telling mix of oil and water. For Kennedy, the oozing oil portends the olive’s promising future; the water is a testament to the olive as a drought-resistant crop. In the midst of one of California’s worst droughts, that’s no small matter in the vast agricultural expanse of the Central Valley.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/22/6500375/olive-cultivation-is-on-the-rise.html#

UC Davis study links autism to pesticides [Fresno Bee]

A new study released today suggests pregnant women who live near agricultural fields where pesticides are sprayed are at increased risk of having a child with autism. The study by the UC Davis MIND Institute found mothers exposed to organophosphates had a two-thirds increased risk of having a child with autism. And the risk was strongest when exposures occurred during the second and third trimesters of pregnancies, the research showed.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/06/22/3991540/study-links-autism-to-pesticides.html?sp=/99/217/&ihp=1

Council to consider immigration reform resolution [Bakersfield Californian]

The Bakersfield City Council will consider a resolution Wednesday that could turn attention from the politics of Congressman Kevin McCarthy's election as House Majority Leader to immigration reform. The council will consider supporting House of Representatives Bill 15 -- a bill introduced in October that even sponsor Congressman Joe Garcia, D-Miami, said is a starting point to talk compromise. Garcia and local officials believe the bill could succeed where others have failed because, while it may have something for everyone to dislike, it also contains key measures for both parties.

http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x2071376338/Council-to-consider-immigration-reform-resolution

Local farmers, industry experts mobilize against state water curtailments [Turlock Journal]

Of the 9,528 junior water rights curtailment notices sent to Central Valley farmers by the State Water Resources Control Board on May 27 requiring them to stop diverting water from all streams flowing to the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, only 21 percent mailed back the mandated response — an indicator of local farmers’ posture towards the Board’s intervention during this drought period. The State Water Resources Control Board is now considering also curtailing senior water rights holders — or those acquired before 1914 — and local farmers are concerned about the future of not only their farms but the state’s entire agriculture industry. In a bipartisan effort between Assemblymember Kristin Olsen (R) and Assemblymember Adam Gray (D), local farmers and water industry officials gathered at the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau to voice concerns and interface in a town hall format prior to the State Board’s meeting on July 1, which will determine if senior water rights holders will be able to keep their precedence….“No one has a more stellar record of doing more with less than agriculture — we have more than double the output in the past 40 years with the same amount of water— but as farmers we tend to sit back and not say much but this is not the time,” said Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation. “It’s not a time to hope it all works out. They want to see you fight over groundwater, they want to see you divided, but this is the time to work together.”

http://www.turlockjournal.com/section/14/article/26234/

Op-Ed: Groundwater out of sight but never out of mind [Stockton Record]

Agriculture is San Joaquin County's leading industry. From our orchards, vineyards and dairies - all the way to the diverse crops grown in the Delta - we consistently produce commodities that are matched only in multiplicity by quality, making our area the envy of the rest of the state. Ask any farmers, and they will tell you that the most important tool they utilize when growing their crop is water. In dry years especially, growers rely on groundwater for irrigation, yet this precious resource is under attack. Political opportunists have used current drought conditions as leverage to accomplish what they have never been able to do - regulate and possibly curtail the rights of farmers to pump groundwater for use on their own farms and then to levy fees on locals for the execution of this regulation.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140621/A_OPINION03/406210307/0/SEARCH

Ag Today is distributed by the CFBF Communications/News Division to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for information purposes; stories may not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site registration. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and e-mail address. For more information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.

Ag Today Friday, June 20, 2014

Rep. McCarthy’s rise could be golden for the Golden State [Sacramento Bee]

Republicans in the House of Representatives on Thursday elected Bakersfield, Calif., native Kevin McCarthy as majority leader, giving California’s Central Valley a leg up on Capitol Hill. McCarthy’s election makes the 49-year-old former deli operator the first Californian to reach the House’s number-two position since it was created in 1899….California’s cotton, oil and gas producers could specifically benefit, along with the Silicon Valley business leaders McCarthy has spent considerable time cultivating….On the other hand, California’s high-speed rail program, already disfavored by House Republicans, can probably kiss future federal support goodbye. McCarthy is an adamant foe of the multi-billion-dollar project.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/19/6497325/rep-mccarthys-rise-could-be-golden.html

Republicans blame Obama policies for immigration crisis on border [Los Angeles Times]

Republicans are challenging the president's characterization of the surge in young immigrants from Central America across the southern border as an unforeseen crisis, accusing his administration of contributing to the influx and demanding that he deploy National Guard troops and other resources to secure the border. Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday called the flood of unaccompanied minors across the U.S.-Mexico border a "failure of diplomacy." "I've known about this for two years. The president has known about this," Perry said during a briefing in Washington. Since October, 47,000 children have been caught crossing the southern border alone, a more than 90% increase from last year, federal officials said. The number of unaccompanied children caught could reach 90,000 this year, with many crossing here in the Rio Grande Valley.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-immigration-border-20140620-story.html

Local drought-relief projects costing $13 million move forward [San Luis Obispo Tribune]

Five drought-relief projects costing nearly $13 million may bring emergency water to some of the most vulnerable communities in San Luis Obispo County by next year. Topping that list are Cambria and San Simeon, which face drastic water shortages. Cambria is expected to run out of water as early as October if rain doesn’t fall and needs a temporary brackish water treatment plant to avoid a disaster. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved applying for state grants to cover the bulk of the $13 million cost for the five projects, four of them in the North County. However, what should have been a routine matter turned into a controversy because one project will allow surplus water from Nacimiento Lake to be piped to the Chorro Valley west of San Luis Obispo.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/06/19/3119496/water-shortage-pipeline-projects.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1

Consortium addresses behavioral health services and coverage for farmworkers [Modesto Bee]

Behavioral health services will see some expansion in Merced and Stanislaus counties, according to an announcement made Thursday by Golden Valley Health Centers officials at the Merced County Health Care Consortium meeting….Also during Thursday’s meeting, Joel Diringer, founder of Central California-based health policy and data consulting firm Diringer and Associates, presented information on health coverage options and challenges for California’s farmworkers. According to Diringer’s presentation, about 60 to 75 percent of the 1.2 million agricultural workers in California are not authorized to work in the U.S., and fewer than 20 percent receive employer-provided health benefits. Diringer said maintaining healthy field workers is key to ensure a strong and stable workforce for California’s $43 billion agricultural industry. Research has found that nearly 1 in 5 male farm workers are at risk of developing a chronic disease, and most are vulnerable to occupational injuries, he added.

http://www.modbee.com/2014/06/19/3399948/consortium-addresses-behavioral.html

Guava fruit fly discovery triggers insect battle [Riverside Press-Enterprise]

Two male guava fruit flies were caught in insect traps in Eastvale earlier this month, prompting the California Department of Food and Agriculture to set out poison bait and begin spraying vegetation in the area. The eradication area – 9 square miles around each site where an insect was trapped – includes much of Eastvale and stretches into the southern portions of Chino and Ontario in San Bernardino County. The insect, native to Pakistan, India and Thailand, lays its eggs in the fruit. The larvae then tunnel through the flesh, making it unfit to eat. The fly larvae are known to feed on mandarins, melons, oranges, peaches and cherries.

http://www.pe.com/articles/fruit-696509-fly-flies.html

Farmers urged to fight attempts to curtail century-old water rights [Modesto Bee]

They don’t know what’s going to be proposed, but they know they won’t like it. That message was clear at Thursday night’s gathering to fire up opposition to any attempt by the state to curtail river diversions by those with century-old water rights. Assorted state and local politicians attracted about 70 people to the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau office….And there were dire predictions about what’s to come. “They are going after your groundwater,” insisted Paul Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau. He sees any water board attempt to curtail senior water rights as just the first step, and he urged farmers to show up in droves at its next meeting. “This is one we fight for, boys.”

http://www.modbee.com/2014/06/19/3400140/farmers-urged-to-fight-attempts.html

Ag Today is distributed by the CFBF Communications/News Division to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for information purposes; stories may not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site registration. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and e-mail address. For more information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.

Ag Today Thursday, June 19, 2014

California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter to retire [San Jose Mercury News]

California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter, a staunch conservative influence on the law for more than two decades, will retire at the end of the year, giving Gov. Jerry Brown an opportunity to dramatically reshape the state's high court. The 74-year-old Baxter announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election to a 12-year term on the November ballot, making him the second justice to depart the Supreme Court this year. Baxter, an appointee of former Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, has spent 24 years as a justice and is arguably the most conservative justice remaining on the seven-member court….Baxter's retirement paves the way for perhaps the most profound shift in the state's high court since it turned conservative in the late 1980s. Justice Joyce Kennard retired in April, and Brown has been vetting candidates for that seat. Coupled with the previous appointment of Justice Goodwin Liu, Brown would have three of his picks on the court once he replaces Baxter if, as expected, the governor is re-elected in November.

http://www.mercurynews.com/News/ci_25987594/California-Supreme-Court-Justice-Marvin-Baxter

Fruit fly deals blow to some Sacramento area olive-oil producers [Sacramento Bee]

Some artisanal olive-oil producers in the Sacramento region and beyond report that the tiny olive fruit fly is sabotaging their fruit yields….Flynn and his associates fielded an increase volume of calls last year from distressed owners of small olive groves in Napa, Sonoma and Yolo counties. “I heard one or two cases where the grower felt they had essentially a total loss, where it wasn’t worth them sending out a crew to sort out which were damaged and which weren’t,” he said. “Some were wondering whether they even ought to be taking out their groves as a result.”

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/06/18/6493984/fruit-fly-deals-blow-to-some-sacramento.html

Better grape acreage data needed [Wines & Vines]

Grapevines are being planted in California vineyards based on faulty information, according to Nat DiBuduo, president/CEO of Allied Grape Growers (AGG), which represents nearly 600 grower-members throughout California. He has expressed concern for several years that wineries and grapegrowers rely too much on the annual California Grape Acreage Report issued by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which in turn relies on voluntary reporting of bearing and nonbearing acreage, broken down by zones and grape varieties. DiBuduo said, “NASS does a great job, but the acreage is underreported.” This, he said, gives growers a skewed idea of what varieties are in shortage, and it can have serious effects on the industry in future seasons. To mitigate this, for the past five years, AGG has conducted its own survey using voluntary information gathered from different sources: grapevine nurseries.

http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=134562

Editorial: Ballooning state water bond [San Francisco Chronicle]

As California's drought intensifies, a $10.5 billion water bond is waddling toward the November ballot. In the frenzied negotiations to produce a bill that likely would garner the necessary two-thirds vote in both houses, legislators have fashioned a bond bulked up with $3 billion for dams and groundwater storage that agricultural interests like. But there is virtually no funding for our cheapest and fastest source of new water - conservation and water-efficiency projects that polls show voters favor and the drought demands. Further, the bill comes with a price tag voters certainly will reject - and is only $1 billion less than the measure already on the ballot the Legislature seeks to replace.

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ballooning-state-water-bond-5562957.php

Commentary: Brown's tunnel plan looms over effort to pass water bonds [Los Angeles Times]

As lawmakers struggle to craft a water bond proposal for voters, there's a huge reservoir of wonderful, non-controversial project ideas. But practically everyone is suffering from tunnel vision. Literally. Not just the politicians, but — especially — the warring water interests. The overriding question for most is what effect any bond would have on Gov. Jerry Brown's highly controversial, very costly plan to bore two gigantic water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-water-20140619-column.html

Opinion: If farms are to thrive, immigrant labor must have good health care [Fresno Bee]

I've spent my life in the Valley, and I know firsthand how the fruits and vegetables we grow and the grain we harvest fuels our state and nation. I grew up in Vacaville and have farmed in the Fresno area for decades, growing citrus outside Sanger and representing farmers as president of the Nisei Farmers League. I know that agriculture workers are an invaluable asset to our economy, not just for California but also for the entire United States….But the industry — agriculture — that I'm proud to be a part of would simply crumble without immigrant labor. Immigrants are the backbone of our industry; without healthy farmworkers, our farms would be nothing.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/06/18/3984720/if-farms-are-to-thrive-immigrant.html?sp=/99/274/

Ag Today is distributed by the CFBF Communications/News Division to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for information purposes; stories may not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site registration. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and e-mail address. For more information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.