Monterey County moves on water regulation mandate [Salinas Californian]
Monterey
County on Tuesday took the first step toward establishing a regulatory agency
that will have power over water pumping in the Salinas Valley basin….In
Tuesday’s joint meeting of the county Board of Supervisors and the county Water
Resources Agency Board of Directors, supervisors gave clear direction to begin
the task of assembling a committee of stakeholders from all walks of life,
including residents, water suppliers, farmers, county government, members
representing underserved communities, city governments and special interest
water rights groups. This committee will be tasked with devising
recommendations on how the local GSA is structured….Norm Groot, the executive
director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, described the legislation as
another example of an unfunded mandate the state places on local government. He
recognized that with agriculture using an estimated 90 percent of the
groundwater in the Salinas Valley basin, ag will need to play a key role in a
new GSA. “It’s incumbent upon us as a community to come up with a GSA that is
acceptable to the state,” Groot said. “This will require a lot of community
involvement, and to some extent ag needs to own it going forward.”
Merced
County leaders talk about groundwater ordinance [Merced Sun-Star]
Exactly
how Merced County would implement a proposed groundwater ordinance drew concern
from agriculture advocates Monday, when the Board of Supervisors got its first
look at a mandate that would regulate well-drilling and out-of-county water
sales. Merced County’s water committee met with groups throughout the county,
including the Farm Bureau, water districts and other stakeholders, to get
feedback on the proposed ordinance….The new ordinance would put in place a
permit system that would require anyone wanting to add or make changes to a
well to answer several questions about the well and its water use before being
approved….The Merced County Farm Bureau has not taken a stance on the ordinance
but has been engaged in discussion, said Executive Director Amanda Carvajal, who
was also at the meeting….“Implementation,” she said. “That is going to be a big
hurdle.”
Calif.
official: Innovation will enable farms to thrive [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
Despite
the drought’s increasing toll on California’s $45 billion agriculture industry,
the state’s top agriculture official says that water-saving technologies should
enable farms to keep thriving through future dry years — and that state grants
will encourage those investments. Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary
Karen Ross touted dramatic improvements in irrigation efficiency by the state’s
farms over the past few decades, saying additional investments can help bring
about “a new chapter of innovation.” The Department of Food and Agriculture
announced this week that it is awarding $3.6 million in grants for 93 projects
to support upgrades to farm irrigation systems that will reduce water and
energy use. The agency is authorized to provide up to $10 million in grants
under drought legislation signed earlier this year by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Virginia
company buys up Ventura County farmland [Ventura County Star]
Pointing
out that Warren Buffett likes farmland as an investment, entrepreneur David
Gladstone told those listening to his company’s August earnings call that in
his opinion, owning farmland is “better than gold.”…The Gladstone Land Corp.
owns more than 2,000 acres of farmland in Watsonville and Oxnard and is
scouting California for more….Farmland values in California are at historic
highs and the agricultural industry is bullish about what lies ahead, according
to the California Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural
Appraisers. The greater values are attracting outside investors such as
Gladstone, whose purchases aren’t prohibited in California, which has no
anti-corporate farming laws….There is no database that tracks ownership
distribution patterns, said John Krist, CEO of the Farm Bureau of Ventura
County. But Krist said there aren’t a lot of capital investment groups buying
up chunks of land.
The
race is on to find organic pesticides [Wall Street Journal]
Seed
and pesticide makers like BASF SE , DuPont Co. , Bayer AG and Monsanto Co. are
investing heavily to develop new products incorporating organisms like bacteria
and tiny fungi, which executives say can help corn, soybean and other plants
fend off pests and grow faster….The push into microorganisms reflects an effort
by agricultural companies to diversify beyond synthetic chemical pesticides,
amid growing regulatory and consumer scrutiny. Pesticides and other products
incorporating microbes typically can be rolled out faster than man-made
chemical insecticides and weedkillers, which have drawn closer scrutiny from
U.S. regulators in recent years following environmental concerns raised by
consumers, advocacy groups and organic farmers.
Editorial: Sowing the seeds of
an illogical crop ban [Los Angeles Times]
Last
year's half-baked and unsuccessful proposal to ban genetically engineered crops
in Los Angeles has not improved with time. Yet here it is before the City
Council again, complete with wild statements about bioengineered food, chock
full of inconsistent logic and, just like last year, rendered virtually
meaningless because there are no such crops in the city and no plans to grow
them….Scientists are at work on oranges they hope will resist citrus greening,
a disease that threatens to wipe out orange groves throughout the U.S. What if
future projects included drought-tolerant crops that could survive the kind of
prolonged dry spell California has been experiencing? Why would we want to ban
such products without any scientific indication that they're unhealthy or
unsafe?...In other words, making sound policy requires lawmakers to rise above
irrational fears and easy generalizations and to become informed about science.
No comments:
Post a Comment