Midwest
lures California dairies with lower costs, wide open spaces [Kansas City Star]
Kansas,
Nebraska and other Midwest states are pitching themselves as a dairy heaven,
hoping to attract frustrated dairy owners and looking for a windfall of jobs
and money in rural economies. Ample land, a robust feed supply and ag-friendly
towns across the prairie stand in contrast to the urban development and high
prices challenging dairy owners in California, the nation’s No. 1 dairy
state….California is home to many frustrated dairy owners. Though it remains
the top dairy state, dairymen there are being squeezed by encroaching urban
development, high feed costs and persistent drought. A full quarter of
California dairies have been shuttered since 2007, according to Michael Marsh,
CEO of the California farm group Western United Dairymen. “They’ve just closed
their doors, and they’ve decided to make their investment in other states,”
Marsh said.
Border
opens to Mexican trucks [U-T San Diego]
The
United States is preparing to open the border to Mexican long-haul truckers,
allowing those who qualify for permits to make direct deliveries from Mexico to
U.S. destinations — a measure stipulated more than two decades ago under the
North American Free Trade Agreement. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration is expected to publish a formal announcement this week inviting
Mexican companies to apply. Supporters in United States and Mexico are praising
the move as an important step toward the economic integration of the two
countries and Canada that was envisioned at NAFTA’s signing in 1994.
Farmers
in dry California decry decision involving appeals [Associated Press]
The
U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider appeals by Central Valley farmers
and California water districts that want to pump more water from a delta that
serves as the only home of a tiny, threatened fish….Farmers contend that under
the smelt regulations, vast amounts of water from the Sierra Nevada snow pack
are sent through the delta and into the ocean, exacerbating hardships endured
by the growers in the three-year drought. Farmers say their economic interests
have been ignored while officials protect the fish. Roadside signs throughout
the Central Valley decry the lack of leadership while warning of a second Dust
Bowl.
More
properties eyed for high-speed rail condemnation [Fresno Bee]
Twenty-eight
more pieces of property in Fresno and Madera counties are in line for
condemnation by the state to make way for California’s high-speed train project
following a vote Monday in Sacramento. The state Public Works Board, which
oversees land acquisition for state projects, adopted 24 resolutions declaring
a public need to take the properties — totaling less than 32 acres — through
eminent domain on behalf of the California High-Speed Rail Authority for the
proposed bullet-train route. Twenty of the resolutions call for taking parts of
the affected parcels, while the other four seek full parcels. Among the notable
properties affected by Monday’s resolutions are…part of the Marquez Brothers
International dairy product facility on Golden State between Shaw and Ashlan
avenues,
China
bans imports of U.S. poultry amid bird-flu concerns [Wall Street Journal]
China
banned imports of U.S. poultry and eggs following the detection of avian flu in
noncommercial flocks in the U.S. late last year, according to a U.S.
poultry-industry group.
The
ban follows the discoveries last month of a strain of H5N8 influenza in wild
birds and in a so-called backyard flock of guinea fowl and chickens in Oregon,
as well as the detection of another strain in California and Washington. The
cases were confirmed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. China’s ban affects
shipments of breeding stock, including live chicks and hatching eggs, as well
as poultry and eggs, according to the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council on
Monday. The group criticized China’s decision, saying the bird flu outbreaks in
the U.S. have occurred far away from the major U.S. commercial
poultry-production regions.
Blog:100,000 fewer
headaches [Stockton Record]
Westlands,
600,000 acres of arid farmland with an addiction to Delta water, has cut a deal
with the Obama administration to retire 100,000 acres. In exchange, Uncle Sam
would write off $342 million in federal debt Westlands owes for extending
Central Valley Project canals to the Westland’s 600 farms. The proposed deal
has its critics. According to the S.F. Chron, “Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San
Rafael, criticized parts of the deal that could give Westlands farmers more
secure water rights, and accused the district of “a three-decade strategy (of)
endless litigation, endless lobbying and endless PR” to “leverage concessions
from taxpayers.”
Ag
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