Is California headed to 'megadrought'? [Union-Tribune San Diego]
…Extended
drought could lead to new ordinances that force residents and businesses to
sharply curtail their water consumption — while paying more money for the water
that’s available. It could mean the end of lawns and widespread use of new
technologies for saving water. It could reshape California’s farms and
forests….Farms are another hot topic, because they use more than three-quarters
of the state’s water supply. They hold some of the oldest and most deeply
entrenched water rights, yet they’re still subject to state authority
concerning drought-induced water conservation. “The California Constitution
contains a reasonable use clause, and there’s a lot of power within that
clause,” said Minan, the USD law professor. “The problem is that the
politicians would prefer not wrestle with agriculture.” Under that clause, he
said, regulators could limit the kinds of crops farmers grow, restricting
high-water products such as rice, alfalfa and cotton. They could eliminate
water subsidies, which allow growers to irrigate at reduced rates. During a
prolonged drought, growers could be encouraged or even compelled to sell some
of their water rights to urban users.
California farmers
pray for rain, prepare for continued drought [KQED Radio/San Francisco]
Get
a group of farmers and ranchers together and they will tell you without
hesitation California’s historic drought is driving up the cost of food. The
Center for Land-Based Learning, a non-profit teaching people how to farm, held
its annual fundraiser at the Oracle Conference Center in Redwood City this
weekend. In the glossy lobby, Matt Byrne of SunFed Ranch cut an incongruous
figure in his cowboy hat and boots. SunFed is based in Woodland, west of
Sacramento….Byrne says the company is trimming its herd because there simply
isn’t enough water….A farmer who grows tree fruit can’t switch crops from
season to season, but a farmer who grows produce has more flexibility in which
fields to fallow and what kind of produce to grow. Thaddeus Barsotti, co-owner
of Capay Organic in Yolo County, explains. “Farmers have set aside their lowest
yielding crops, their lowest dollar crops, and planted their higher value
crops,” Barsotti says….For now many farmers and ranchers are using smart water
practices and changing their crop practices to survive. But if the drought
drags on into another year there will be far more damage to their businesses.
Reintroduced tule elk
compete with cattle on Point Reyes [San Francisco Chronicle]
The
700-pound tule elk’s antlers jutted upward against the backdrop of the sloping,
grassy hills and brilliant blue sea along the Point Reyes National Seashore, a
magnificent symbol of both conservation success and human-wildlife conflict.
The bull was one of dozens of free-roaming tule elk spotted one recent day
enjoying the bucolic Point Reyes peninsula. Their presence on the sweeping hillside
pastures represents the convergence of two great Marin County success stories —
the preservation of historic agricultural land and the reintroduction of a
native species once thought to be extinct. But there isn’t much celebrating
going on in the picturesque hills, where elk can regularly be seen loping
proudly through pastures that seven organic dairies use for their cattle. The
wild elk and domestic cows simply do not mix, according to the ranchers who
lease the fields from the National Park Service, which administers 28,000 acres
of agricultural land in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point
Reyes seashore.…It is a conflict that pits two almost sacred Bay Area
environmental concepts — sustainable organic farming and native wildlife conservation
— against one another.
High milk prices
helping dairies cover past losses [Stockton Record]
Record
high milk prices are helping California dairy farmers recover from five years
of slim to no profits and running losses, experts report, but volatile global
commodity markets and the state’s ongoing drought remain major concerns. “Right
now in the dairy industry, if you’re complaining, you’ve got problems,” said
Hank Van Exel, a Lodi dairy owner.”…Jack Hamm, another Lodi dairy operator and
San Joaquin Farm Bureau president, said San Joaquin County producers are
particularly blessed in having better access to water than many dairies and
farms farther south in the San Joaquin Valley.…“Most people in the dairy
industry are paying their bills,” Hamm said. “Are they going forward as well as
they should. I don’t know.… As you go south, it is tougher on those dairymen.”
Valley raisin growers
seeking higher price for their crop [Fresno Bee]
With
a small crop expected this season, San Joaquin Valley raisin growers are trying
to put pressure on the region’s packers to pay them more for their fruit. The
farmers’ industry representative, the Raisin Bargaining Association, is urging
its members to place their raisins in storage until both sides can agree on a
price for this year’s crop. Last year, raisin farmers were paid $1,650 a ton
for a bumper crop of raisins. This year, poor growing weather and the drought
has produced a much smaller crop. Some farmers estimate their crop may be off
by 10% to 40%....RBA leaders say they are using the tactic of holding onto
their raisins as a way to get packers to the bargaining table quicker.
Opinion: Repairing relationship of farmers, hunters [Modesto
Bee]
The
relationship Ed Gookin and I have is a dying one….Here is how we met: I saw a
gang of mourning doves flying around his ranch about 15 miles north of Oakdale,
so I knocked on his door and asked him if I could hunt his land. Ed let this
armed stranger wander his 200 acres that day, and I’ve annoyed him and small
birds every fall in the decade since. This type of interaction was common in
Stanislaus County and throughout rural America for most of the past
century.…Gookin is like many longtime landowners who now close their gates to
the rare wandering gunner. “There are many reasons I do not allow hunting to
strangers (anymore). No. 1 is the liability.…“No. 2 is they don’t clean up
their messes,” he said, talking about shell casings and empty beer cans that slob
hunters leave behind.
Ag
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