State to boot smog-causing pesticides from S.J. Valley [Stockton Record]
State
pesticide regulators expect to restrict use of smog-producing pesticides,
commonly used on grapes, almonds, walnuts, alfalfa and other leading crops,
from May through October next year in the San Joaquin Valley. Formulations of
abamectin, chlorpyrifos, gibberellins and oxyfluorfen that produce high levels
of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are on the state Department of
Pesticide Regulation’s bad-boy list….The restrictions should take effect for
the first time next spring to help the region meet Clean Air Act goals, said
Charlotte Fadipe, agency spokeswoman. Department experts calculate that VOC
emissions from pesticides in 2013 hit a “trigger level” of 17.2 tons per day in
the Valley. Fadipe said the agency expects the new rules to have little effect
on Valley agriculture. “We think that people will be able to find alternatives
to the products that they have been using that have high VOCs,” she said.
Rancho
Feeding trouble trailed USDA cuts [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
A
decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to cut the number of food safety
inspectors at a Petaluma slaughterhouse is coming under new scrutiny this week,
with federal prosecutors alleging that Rancho Feeding Corp. employees processed
180 diseased or condemned cattle after the USDA reduced its presence at the
facility. The USDA transferred one of its inspectors assigned to the plant in
October 2012 and did not replace the individual, said Paul Carney, a regional
president for the union that represents USDA inspectors. “Looks like it started
right after, didn’t it?” Carney said of the alleged criminal activity. A
federal indictment unsealed Monday alleged that Rancho’s owners and two
employees illegally processed 180 diseased or condemned cattle between January
2013 and January 2014. While no USDA employees were charged in the alleged
scheme, several members of Congress are demanding the agency explain how such
crimes could have taken place at a federally inspected slaughterhouse. “They
clearly dropped the ball,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.
Cattlemen
express concern over mountain lions [Half Moon Bay Review]
Mountain
lions are running amuck on the Peninsula, according to Coastside ranchers who
believe the wild predators are increasingly prowling near rural homes and
attacking livestock. Local cattlemen are calling for new control measures to
thin the population or scare the cougars away from humans. Mountain lions were
the big discussion topic on Monday morning during a packed meeting of the San
Mateo County Farm Bureau. Ranchers and farmers, primarily from the South Coast,
emphasized that the animals were trekking closer to homes and sightings were
becoming frequent. Attacks on cattle have also become commonplace, they
say….Two California Fish and Wildlife officials at the meeting advised the
crowd on the special status afforded to mountain lions under California
law….Attendees at the meeting urged the Farm Bureau to press county officials
for funding to hire a professional animal tracker or to give instruction on
laying traps.
Parties
settle civil case over starving chickens near Turlock [Modesto Bee]
Three
animal rights groups have settled their lawsuit against two people associated
with a South Carpenter Road egg farm where authorities reported finding
thousands of hens without feed. Defendants Andy Yi Keunh Cheung and Lien Tuong
Diep each will pay $5,000 to the plaintiffs, which helped rescue survivors
after the hens were found in February 2012. Cheung also agreed not to work with
animals in the future, and Diep agreed to limit her work to briefly
transporting laying hens for slaughter….Cheung was the owner of A&L
Poultry, on South Carpenter about a half-mile south of Fulkerth Road, west of
Turlock. Public records indicate Diep operated Lucky Transportation Inc., a
Ceres-based hauling company for wholesale poultry products. The Stanislaus Animal
Services Agency said more than 40,000 hens died, about a third of them from
starvation and the rest euthanized because of their poor condition.
Recycled
water project: No deal yet on source water, by compromise still possible
[Monterrey Herald]
Salinas
Valley growers believe an agreement for source water for a proposed recycled
water project is getting closer, but a deal is likely still weeks away even as
a deadline approaches for Monterey Peninsula officials to decide whether to
allow the delayed project more time. On Thursday, Monterey County Water
Resources Agency general manager David Chardavoyne and water board members met
with a group of Salinas Valley growers in closed-door talks to discuss a
proposed compromise agreement on source water. The proposed memorandum of
understanding would commit the parties to negotiating a final agreement on the
use of Peninsula and Salinas Valley wastewater — including Salinas-area produce
wash water, and contaminated Blanco Drain and Reclamation Ditch water. That
water would feed the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency's
proposed potable recycled water treatment plant, which would supply the
Monterey Peninsula, and the existing plant that treats Peninsula wastewater for
use in farmland irrigation….Ocean Mist Farms vice president Dale Huss agreed
that progress was being made and reiterated the growers' interest in a
"reasonable solution."…Huss said the growers want to be assured they
won't end up with rights to less irrigation water than they have now through
the current treatment plant, which they're paying for.
Editorial: California needs to
manage its groundwater [San Jose Mercury News]
California
needs to require local water agencies to establish and enforce groundwater
management plans so that water taken out doesn't exceed what is naturally replenished.
Sen. Fran Pavley's SB1168 and Assemblyman Roger Dickinson's parallel AB 1739
would do this, giving agencies until 2020 to adopt plans and empowering the
state to step in if they don't….Excessive pumping has dried up wells that
provided water for agriculture for decades. But rather than conserve, farmers
are digging hundreds of new wells, drilling deeper and deeper -- sometimes more
than 300 feet -- for increasingly scarce resources….Corporate ag is still
fighting Pavley's and Dickinson's plan, but the thirst for short-term profit
endangers the state's ability to ensure a long-term adequate water supply. The
Legislature needs to act in the public interest. And in concert with every
other state in the West.
Ag
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