Valley farmers welcome approaching rainstorm [Fresno Bee]
A
looming storm that is expected to bring high winds and heavy rain to the San
Joaquin Valley has farmers more excited than fearful. “This is absolutely a
godsend,” said Fresno County cattle rancher Mike Hacker. “We have been in a
situation where we have had very little, if any, grass in the hills.”…Wind
gusts could be the strongest on the west side, especially along the Interstate
5 corridor. West side farmer Joe Del Bosque said strong winds, coupled with
heavy rain, could cause some growers to lose almond trees, but he hopes any
damage is minimal. “All in all, rain right now is good news,” he said….Ryan
Jacobsen, Fresno County Farm Bureau executive director, said the rain may slow
harvesting of some crops, including citrus, but it is being welcomed. “I don’t
think there is a single farmer complaining,” he said.
Sustainable groundwater
challenge: Is there enough? [Chico Enterprise-Record]
…It
would need to rain for 150 days before the state has recovered from the past
several years of drought, said Debbie Davis, rural affairs adviser and drought
liaison with Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office of Planning and Research. Davis shared
an update at a forum about groundwater last week in Chico, held by the Butte
Environmental Council….A plan is now in the works for changes to groundwater
management throughout the state. “I think people will look back and recognize
this as the most important water action in 100 years,” Davis said….Water
planners will know much more once the Department of Water Resources comes out
with regulations in 2016. This will give all areas of the state the same rules
and regulations and some definitions of what is sustainable.
Gardeners, nurseries
struggle to adapt as drought cuts their business [Los Angeles Times]
…As
one of California's worst droughts continues, gardeners across the region have
been faced with a choice: Become more water-savvy or risk being left behind.
Higher water rates and more municipal restrictions on usage are bound to force
the entire industry to transform, said Bob Muir, spokesman for the Los Angeles
Metropolitan Water District….It's tough to say how long it will take to phase
out the ideal of a lush, thirsty garden; water policy experts say it could be
decades….Rudolph Zuzow of Z Greens is facing a similar learning curve. Just a
few years ago, his planting staples were water-hungry fruit trees and flowers
such as pansies and snapdragons. Now, having sought advice from
drought-friendly nurseries, he's pushing plants such as coyote bush. That is,
if he can find them.
Even organic strawberries
are grown with dangerous pesticides [Center for Investigative Reporting]
After
our investigation revealed just how much dangerous pesticides it takes to grow
strawberries, many people wrote to us saying they would start buying organic.
But even that won’t fully address the problem: When they are starting out,
organic strawberry plants are grown with the help of fumigants, the
hard-to-control class of pesticides that have been linked to cancer,
developmental problems and the hole in the ozone layer….Regardless of whether
one of these baby plants – known as starts – ends up on a conventional or
organic farm, the nursery soil is pumped with fumigants to eradicate the pests
and diseases that can haunt strawberry farmers. If they’re matured on an organic
farm, these strawberries still can be certified organic. The federal code
allows organic farmers to use strawberry starts grown in fumigated soil if
there are no organic starts “commercially available.” And that’s the case in
California.
Assessor floats changes
to Fresno County’s Williamson Act [Fresno Business Journal]
Fresno
County Assessor Paul Dictos spends a lot of time thinking about the Williamson
Act, and he believes he has found a way to make it work better for family
farmers. Dictos has completed a draft proposal that aims to redistribute tens
of million of dollars among Fresno County landowners who participate in the
program, which gives farmers a break on their property taxes as long as the
property is involved in producing food or fiber….Under Dictos’ proposal, all
Williamson Act participants in Fresno County would receive a reduction from
their property’s Proposition 13 value. Depending on the type of land and how
the supervisors choose to implement the plan, the reduction could range from
10-30 percent. Dictos said Tulare, Merced and San Joaquin counties have already
adopted the change, billed as 423.3 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
Martin J. Zaninovich,
Delano grape grower and industry leader, dies [Bakersfield Californian]
Martin
J. Zaninovich, a Delano table grape grower who helped lead the industry during
the tumult of the 1960s and '70s, died this week at the age of 91. His family
said the co-founder of Jasmine Vineyards and 38-year member of the California
Table Grape Commission died in his sleep Tuesday in Santa Barbara from natural
causes. In the late 1960s, when Americans' consumption of table grapes was low
and declining, Zaninovich was instrumental in persuading industry leaders to
combine resources and promote the fruit as a healthy snack….A proud
conservative, Zaninovich is remembered in some history books as an early
adversary of the United Farm Workers. His company steadfastly refused to
negotiate a labor agreement with the union, and he acted as an industry
diplomat in matters concerning the UFW.
Ag
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