Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal intensifies water bond negotiations [Los Angeles Times]
Gov.
Jerry Brown's call for a drastically cheaper water bond set off a fresh round
of negotiations in the Capitol on Wednesday, as lawmakers and stakeholders seek
to craft a plan that addresses the state's myriad water needs without a bloated
price tag. Brown's $6-billion bond proposal, which was fleshed out in greater
detail Wednesday, marks a significant step up in the governor's engagement with
the effort to pass a water bond to replace the $11.1-billion measure now on the
November ballot….Many parties involved are smarting from the slashed price tag.
Alternative proposals moving through the Legislature this year have ranged from
$8 billion to $10.5 billion. "A lot of stakeholders are jumping up and
down very unhappy that it's $6 billion because it doesn't provide enough. I
agree," said Mario Santoyo, executive director of the California Latino
Water Coalition. "But let's not start getting the torches out here yet.
Let's start working and negotiating and get it to a better place."
Drought
costs continue to mount, totals uncertain [Santa Maria Times]
For
nearly three years, the ongoing drought has stressed Santa Barbara County's
valuable agriculture industry, but the costs and long term impacts are tough to
measure as every farm, ranch and operation weathers unique challenges, trying
to survive to see wetter times. What these producers do know is that the
impacts are mounting. "Every operation is in a different situation, and
that's largely based on their sources of water," said Mary Bianchi,
University of California Cooperative Extension Director for Santa Barbara and
San Luis Obispo counties….The drought has impacted agriculture countywide, but
Bianchi's information, which she has been collecting since April, shows that
those impacts can differ noticeably. While some avocado growers have stumped
their trees, cutting them back and slashing their leafy growth to save water,
some strawberry and vegetable growers have seen increased demand as supplies
dwindle elsewhere and their groundwater remains accessible, according to
Bianchi.
Fruit
and vegetable prices going up as California drought continues [Los Angeles
Times]
Fresh
fruits and vegetable prices will go up an estimated 6% in the coming
months, the federal government said Wednesday, as California’s ongoing drought
continues to hit price tags in grocery stores across the country….In its
monthly report on the food price outlook, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
said the price of fruit and vegetables will continue to rise. As farmers
continue to battle for water in the summer months, The USDA’s Economic Research
Service reported that California’s drought has the potential to increase food
price inflation above the historical average in coming years. Although the
department is sticking with its overall forecast that U.S. food prices will
increase by up to 3.5% this year over last, it cautioned that the cost of meat,
dairy, fruit and vegetables will jump.
Immigration
reform effectively dead until after Obama leaves office, both sides say
[Washington Post]
The
two-year attempt to push immigration reform through Congress is effectively dead
and unlikely to be revived until after President Obama leaves office, numerous
lawmakers and advocates on both sides of the issue said this week. The slow
collapse of hopes for new border legislation — which has unraveled in recent
months amid persistent opposition from House Republicans — marks the end of an
effort that both Democrats and Republicans have characterized as central to the
future of their parties….Some of the most vocal proponents of a legislative
overhaul now say they have surrendered any last hopes that Democrats and
Republicans can reach a deal….Friday marks a year since the Senate approved a
comprehensive immigration bill on a bipartisan vote, with no progress evident
in the GOP-controlled House and little time left this year to approve legislation.
Wage
hike will squeeze ag’s margins [Salinas Californian]
With
a minimum wage increase going into effect next week in California, agriculture
in the Salinas Valley is saying the hike will have ripple effects that will
increase overall costs to growers and processors. California’s minimum wage
increase to $9 per hour July 1 is a result of the passage of Assembly Bill 10 by
Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, in 2013. AB 10 also provided for a second
hike to $10 per hour on Jan. 1, 2016. The impact on Salinas Valley agriculture
will not be felt as hard as in other industries, though. Economic factors such
as competition for skilled workers have kept farm wages a few dollars above the
prevailing minimum wage, said Jim Bogart, president of the Salinas-based
Grower-Shipper Association of Central California….Bryan Little, California Farm
Bureau Federation director of labor affairs and chief operating officer of the
Farm Employers Labor Service, said raising California’s minimum wage might have
happened through a ballot initiative had AB10 not become law last year….“The
majority of farmers already pay their employees much higher than minimum wage,
so when these changes occur, employees making more than minimum wage expect to
stay that much ahead of the increased rate,” Little said.
Editorial: Obama task force is
good news for beekeepers [Redding Record Searchlight]
After
years of declining hive populations, worries about fungicides, disappearing
forage lands, mites and assorted other problems, the nation’s beekeepers
finally have something to celebrate. The North State’s lively apiary owners —
there are more than a dozen and maybe as many as 20 — are delighted at the
news. Last week the President Obama quietly established the Pollinator Health
Task Force co-chaired by the secretary of agriculture and the Environmental
Protection Agency. It sounds like another dreadful red-tape producing bore, but
it’s tremendously important to the nation’s food supply and the North State
economy….What’s great about it, says University of California, Davis Extension
apiculturist Eric Mussen, is the plan brings together a number of approaches he
and others in the North State bee industry have tried to implement locally or
have talked about. Here in California, Mussen said, apiary proponents are “just
beginning to try to open doors locally,” including trying to come up with a way
to convince the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to allow lands under its
control to be used as bee habitat. “If this federal thing has teeth, maybe that
would help,” Mussen said.
Ag
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