Ag Today Tuesday, August 26, 2014

County advisory groups go against groundwater bills [Hanford Sentinel]

Say “no” to two landmark bills that would comprehensively regulate groundwater in California. That was the message the Kings County Water Commission and the Kings County Agricultural Advisory Committee sent Monday night. Meeting in a special joint session, committee members voted unanimously to oppose the legislation….The bills, which would be combined if passed, are in feverish, 11th-hour negotiations in Sacramento to go to a vote before Sunday, when the Legislature goes on recess. The bills’ underlying principles have broad support amid severe drought conditions, but concerns remain in agriculture-heavy counties like Kings that local control will be usurped in favor of a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach.

http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/in_focus/california_drought/county-advisory-groups-go-against-groundwater-bills/article_454f9a70-bd5e-5983-a857-375f919718f9.html

Opinion: Legislature turns to special interest battles in final week [Sacramento Bee]

As the 2012-14 biennial legislative session entered its final week Monday, it was evident – with very few exceptions – that big public policy issues have given way to conflicts among moneyed interests. One of those exceptions is the regulation of groundwater, which ordinarily supplies about a third of California’s water supply, but in droughts such as the current one, that may rise to 50 percent….Environmental groups, among others, are pushing legislation, Senate Bill 1168, that would require regional “groundwater sustainability plans” to be written. Farmers are not happy with the bill and are offering an alternative, Senate Bill 757, that was introduced just last Friday as a “gut-and-amend.”

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/25/6653969/dan-walters-legislature-turns.html

Supervisors give $7.5B water bond qualified support [Stockton Record]

A coalition of Delta counties has endorsed the new $7.5 billion water bond to be decided by voters in November. Overall, however, local groups that are normally closely aligned on Delta issues are divided over this one. The coalition includes San Joaquin County supervisors and water specialists Larry Ruhstaller and Ken Vogel, who are now publicly backing the bond. Their cautious support comes with the caveat that the money must not advance the governor’s controversial twin tunnels project….On the other side of the issue remain central and south Delta farmers, who have released a formal statement of opposition to the bond. A primary concern is that the bond would use public money to buy water north of the Delta, river flows that would ostensibly be for fish and wildlife but could later be exported south through the tunnels.

http://www.recordnet.com/article/20140826/NEWS/140829519

Dairy industry debates milk pricing bill [Modesto Bee]

Dairy farmers are taking a skeptical look at a new bill that would change how California sets prices for its milk. The measure, Assembly Bill 2730, would allow processors and farmers to enter into agreements outside the complex 1960s-era formula for setting minimum prices. The change would apply to milk bound for cheese and butter plants, about 80 percent of the total….The bill would provide for “mutually agreeable” contracts between processors and farmers and help the state “transition the dairy industry to self-regulating marketing practices,” according to the text….Western United Dairymen welcomes the effort to reform the system but is concerned about bill provisions that favor processors, said Michael Marsh, chief executive officer of the Modesto-based group.

http://www.modbee.com/2014/08/25/3503819_dairy-industry-debates-milk-pricing.html?sp=/99/1571/&rh=1

Napa Valley vintners tally their losses [Sacramento Bee]

Some lost thousands of cases, some only a few bottles. As cleanup continues in the aftermath of Sunday’s 6.0 earthquake in Napa Valley, local vintners are mopping up and tallying their losses, estimated at $100 million or more. “We’re picking up, hosing down and mopping up. Napa Valley won’t be itself for more than a few days,” says Paul Wagner, a seasoned wine-marketing consultant whose own Napa home was damaged extensively. Amid scattered – but temporary – winery closures, he and other members of the valley’s winemaking community are concerned that news of Napa’s quake damage will scare away winery visitors, many of whom travel to the area specifically for the harvest just now getting underway….With the Napa Valley grape harvest underway, the Napa Valley Vintners’ 500 members are being asked to complete a form on the organization’s website if they need fermentation tanks, equipment or warehouse space to process grapes.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/25/6654003/napa-valley-vintners-tally-their.html

Editorial: Wine and temblors, all part of life in California [Sacramento Bee]

…The Napa earthquake hit shortly before 3:30 a.m. If it had struck 12 hours later or earlier, winery workers could have been crushed under the weight of 55-gallon wine barrels, which tumbled from their racks. Barrels are stacked four, five and six high and weigh 500 pounds when they are full. Steel racks aren’t stable enough to withstand a magnitude-6.0 earthquake, let alone a stronger one. It’s not as if people haven’t thought of the danger. “Tanks are a special concern. Barrels stacked high with nothing to keep the stacks from swaying are a glaring concern. Correcting these issues is not rocket science but simple engineering,” the industry magazine Wines & Vines wrote in September 2010….A California Occupational Safety and Health spokesman said there are worker safety regulations related to barrel racks, but no provision related to earthquake safety for the racks. There ought to be.

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/08/25/6654071/editorial-wine-and-temblors-all.html

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