Federal mediators sail into dispute at ports including Oakland [San Francisco Chronicle]
Enter
the mediators, “prepared and ready to render prompt assistance” to end a
six-month standoff between shippers and dockworkers that has worsened
congestion and problems at the Port of Oakland and across the West Coast. The
acting director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service made the
announcement Tuesday, after receiving what the agency called “a request for
assistance” from the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents shipping
lines and terminal operators at 29 West Coast ports, and the International
Longshore and Warehouse Union, representing 20,000 West Coast longshore
workers. “The announcement shows that both sides understand the importance of
arriving at a contract settlement,” Port of Oakland Executive Director Chris
Lytle said in a statement. “The impasse has affected port operations up and
down the West Coast and the sooner it’s resolved, the sooner we can resume the
normal flow of trade in and out of the U.S.”
OID
approves fallowing program and water sales [Modesto Bee]
Pasture
owners around Oakdale willing to go without water will be paid for fallowing
their land this year, Oakdale Irrigation District directors decided Tuesday.
The water saved by idling fields will be sold to thirsty out-of-county water
agencies. OID landowners volunteering for the deal could collect millions in
“cash incentives” and funds to pay for conservation practices on their private
properties. The publicly owned irrigation district expects to sell the saved water
for a whopping $400 per acre-foot. OID customers have been paying an average of
only $4.30 per acre-foot to irrigate, but water-starved farmers elsewhere –
such as those in Fresno County’s Westlands Water District – apparently are
willing to pay 93 times more than that.
Opinion: Fallowing used to be
a dirty word, but not anymore [Bakersfield Californian]
A
few years ago, no one in the ag or water worlds would dare utter the
"f" word, even amongst themselves. Yesterday, I heard it used openly.
On the radio, no less. I'm talking about "fallowing," or purposely
retiring productive farmland…."The ag community has known longer and
better than anyone that our groundwater is not sustainable. The basin is
greatly over drafted. We aren't putting water back in the bank as fast as we're
taking it out," said Tricia Stever Blattler, director of the Tulare County
Farm Bureau, who told Joe Moore on Valley Public Radio's "Valley
Edition" Tuesday that land fallowing will have to be a part of how
groundwater is managed in the future. I was struck by Stever Blattler's
matter-of-fact summation of such a delicate topic. So I called to ask her more
about this heretofore heretical thinking. She's not in favor of fallowing, she
stressed. But it can't be ignored in this new age.
Six
things to know about Central Valley agriculture in 2015 [Valley Public Radio,
Fresno]
2014
was a year of ups and downs for the valley's largest industry, agriculture. The
year began with virtually no rain and snow and fears of another dust bowl. And
while farmers and ranchers had a tough year, most survived and some even
thrived. Rising milk prices boosted the bottom line for California dairymen and
women and crops like tomatoes actually set new records. So what will 2015
bring? We asked two industry experts to join us and offer their perspectives on
six issues that will help define the valley's largest industry in the new year:
Ryan Jacobsen, Executive Director for the Fresno County Farm Bureau, Tricia
Stever Blattler, Executive Director for the Tulare County Farm Bureau
County
adopts emergency ordinance to revisit poultry farm zoning issues [Red Bluff
Daily News]
Worried
about the possibility of large-scale chicken operations setting up shop next to
residential areas, the Tehama County Board of Supervisors Tuesday adopted an
urgency ordinance requiring new or expanded operations with more than 3,000
birds first obtain a use permit….County Planning Director Sean Moore said within
the past few months around a dozen operations from outside the county and the
state have contacted his department in regards to moving their operations
here….The interest in California and Tehama County has been raised as the
voter-initiated Proposition 2 Prevention of Farm Animals Cruelty Act took
effect Jan. 1. The law requires animals to be able to turn around fully, lie
down, stand up or extend their limbs fully while in cages. Food produced in
such an unrestricted environment has seen steady market demand. Moore said two
operations are already being built in Tehama County.
Editorial: State to double down
on AB 32’s failure? Really? [U-T San Diego]
Gov.
Jerry Brown’s decision to double down on AB 32 — the state’s landmark 2006
anti-global warming law — is stark testament to the power of the green religion
among California Democrats. It is also a rejection of basic economics and
logic….The laws required California to get 33 percent of its electricity from
cleaner-but-costlier sources by 2020, using a cap-and-trade system in which
emission rights were bought and sold. The risk this posed was acknowledged by
then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, AB 32’s loudest supporter, and confirmed by
economists hired by the state air board to analyze the law. They warned that
negative effects were certain if California had higher energy costs than rival
states and nations….Against this backdrop, Gov. Brown’s announcement Monday
that he wants half of the state’s electricity to come from cleaner-but-costlier
sources by 2030 — continuing with the failed unilateral approach of AB 32 — is
incomprehensible….A policy that is supposed to be about global warming but that
doesn’t do anything to stop it is odd. But when that policy has the side
effects of driving away heavy industries, destroying jobs and making the cost
of living higher, it is madness.
Ag
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