Madera County Farm Bureau News

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Ag Today Thursday, September 13, 2012

Valley dairy operators to rally at Capitol seeking help [Fresno Bee]

Hundreds of dairy operators, frustrated over high feed prices and low returns, will descend on Sacramento Thursday to try to convince state officials to give them some financial help. The grass-roots effort, led by several San Joaquin Valley dairy operators, is expected to attract 200 to 500 farmers to the state capitol. Chartered buses will leave the Valley early Thursday and a Facebook page was set up -- facebook.com/ProtestingCdfa/ -- telling farmers about the rally.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/12/2989558/valley-dairy-operators-converge.html

Federal judge upholds constitutionality of Prop 2 [Associated Press]

A federal court judge in Los Angeles upheld the constitutionality of California's voter initiative that gives more room to egg-laying chickens in cages and other farm animals when he dismissed the case with prejudice on Wednesday.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/12/4814519/federal-judge-upholds-constitutionality.html#storylink=misearch

Farm bill backers rally on Capitol Hill [CNN]

Backers of a comprehensive new farm bill held a campaign-style rally Wednesday on Capitol Hill, cranking up the political heat on House Republican leaders struggling to balance competing election year and ideological pressures. "All of us gathered here today ... share one common and resounding message," said Bob Stallman, head of the American Farm Bureau Federation. "Congress, for our farm and ranch families, their communities and for our nation, pass the farm bill now." Stallman was cheered by a boisterous crowd at the Capitol Reflecting Pool….House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, told CNN the House Republican leadership is still "working with the Senate to see what can be done." He conceded, however, that the "timing is definitely short."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/12/politics/farm-bill-rally/index.html?iref=allsearch

Elephant weevil, a grapevine pest, detected in U.S. for first time [North County Times]

There's a new invasive pest for Southern California growers to worry about: A grapevine-attacking bug called the elephant weevil. A living elephant weevil was detected on a container at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport on Aug. 30, according to U.S. Customs & Border Protection, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It was the first time the pest had been detected in the U.S., according to a department press release. However, the weevil was found while still in customs, so there's no evidence it has spread to the wild in the United States.

http://www.nctimes.com/business/agriculture-elephant-weevil-a-grapevine-pest-detected-in-u-s/article_ce118424-3f31-5588-bba0-cf06a59ef3cc.html

Farmers: QSA may pose unreasonable financial burden [Imperial Valley Press]

Environmental attorney Charles DuMars emphasized the need for a concerted on-farm conservation effort when he spoke to the Imperial County Farm Bureau on Wednesday. “If it’s practical, it works, it makes water and it gets you closer to complying with the QSA — you need to do it,” he said. DuMars was hired by the Imperial Irrigation District to study the Quantification Settlement Agreement and propose a Plan B to the agreement, which makes up the nation’s largest ag-to-urban water transfer.

http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/ivp-farmers-qsa-may-pose-unreasonable-financial-burden-20120912,0,7664015.story

Pink slime maker sues ABC News for $1.2 billion: Lawsuit accuses network of defamation [Associated Press]

Beef Products Inc. sued ABC News, Inc. for defamation Thursday over its coverage of a meat product that critics dub "pink slime," claiming the network damaged the company by misleading consumers into believing it is unhealthy and unsafe.The Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based meat processor is seeking $1.2 billion in damages for roughly 200 "false and misleading and defamatory" statements about the product officially known as lean, finely textured beef, said Dan Webb, BPI's Chicago-based attorney. The lawsuit filed in a South Dakota state court also names several individuals as defendants, including ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer and the Departure of Agriculture microbiologist who coined the term "pink slime."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/13/pink-slime-abc-news-lawsuit-defamation_n_1880709.html

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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Ag Today Wednesday, September 12, 2012

High-speed rail agency tries to ease farmers' fears [Fresno Bee]

Will high-speed trains blow away honeybees? Will the state's proposed rail system throw a monkey wrench into ag irrigation systems up and down the Valley? Will the roaring trains stress out cows so much they'll produce less milk? Those were some of the questions the California High-Speed Rail Authority took a shot at answering at Tuesday's board meeting. West side farmer John Diener, chairman of the Agriculture Working Group, an advisory panel for the authority, presented a series of six reports….The Rail Authority says it wants to communicate better with San Joaquin Valley farmers who worry about 220-mph trains racing across their land. Tuesday's presentation aimed at answering those concerns was a start. But not everyone is convinced.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/11/2987804/high-speed-rail-agency-seeks-to.html

Jerry Brown approves tax on lumber for consumers [Sacramento Bee]

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday that charges consumers a 1 percent tax on lumber products starting in January and restricts damages landowners pay for sparking wildfires. The timber industry backed Assembly Bill 1492 for several reasons: Consumers will pay for regulatory costs that landowners previously paid; the liability provisions could restrict payouts in future federal lawsuits; harvest plans remain effective for longer periods, resulting in less frequent environmental reviews; and the tax applies to purchases of imported lumber that comprises the majority of wood sold, in addition to in-state products. "California's laws have saddled our timber industry with costly burdens while giving out-of-state competitors a free ride – but that stops today," Brown said in a statement. "This legislation enacts serious bipartisan reform to even the playing field to protect California's timber-industry jobs."

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/12/4811036/jerry-brown-approves-tax-on-lumber.html#storylink=misearch

Farm labor shortages plague Pajaro Valley growers [Watsonville Patch]

Farm labor shortages this summer have forced those working in agriculture—a $565 million industry in Santa Cruz County—to clock overtime shifts and seven-day-a-week schedules and, in the most-dire situations, abandon crops and plow-in fields. “The labor has been very tight,” said Tom Am Rhein, of Naturipe, a Watsonville strawberry grower. “There’s been some degree of crop loss as a result.” There are no firm figures detailing the size of the worker shortfall. Some farmers in the Pajaro Valley said their labor crews are 10 to 20 percent off previous years. Most blame it on tighter immigration policies that caused fewer migrant workers to come across the border from Mexico.…The problem is pronounced in California, where farmers are reporting labor shortages as high as 50 percent, according to Rayne Pagg, manager of Federal Policy Division at the California Farm Bureau Federation. The coalition released a survey to its members this month asking for data on their labor issues….Growers are already worried about next summer. "I think we're seeing the tip of the iceberg," said Jess Brown, director of the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau. "... What does this mean for next year? That's the scary part."

http://watsonville.patch.com/articles/farm-labor-shortages-plague-pajaro-valley-growers#photo-11319030

Coalition drops opposition to a Dow engineered crop [New York Times]

A group representing fruit and vegetable growers and canners has dropped its opposition to regulatory approval of genetically engineered crops resistant to the powerful herbicide 2,4-D. The group, known as the Save Our Crops Coalition, said Tuesday that Dow Agrosciences, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, the crops’ developer, had agreed to take steps to reduce the chances the herbicide would damage fruit and vegetable crops. Dow is awaiting approval of genetically engineered corn that would allow farmers to spray 2,4-D on their fields to kill weeds without harming the crop. Soybeans and cotton that can withstand 2,4-D are also in the works.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/business/energy-environment/coalition-drops-opposition-to-dows-genetically-engineered-crops.html?_r=1

Editorial: A farm bill, and food stamps [Los Angeles Times]

Midwestern farmers, facing uncertainty about their crops in the midst of the worst drought in half a century, have something else to steam about: Congress' failure to pass a new farm bill, even though the old one is slated to expire Sept. 30. That may not sound so bad, because farm bills are invariably bloated with market-distorting corporate welfare for agribusiness that we'd be better off without. Yet they also fund the federal food stamp program, one of the most important strands of the U.S. safety net….Insiders expect our paralyzed Congress to pass a one-year extension of the old farm bill rather than a new one, but eventually this country will have to address how much it is willing to pay to prevent hunger and to keep poor children nutritionally stable enough to pay attention in class. Even in the face of an economic downturn that's causing food stamp participation to skyrocket, feeding the hungry should be considered a minimum requirement for a civilized, developed nation.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-farm-bill-food-stamps-20120912,0,7732078.story

Editorial: Tulare County takes lead in wire theft battle [Fresno Bee]

Finally, some law enforcement officials are aggressively pursuing the copper wire theft epidemic that has shut off irrigation pumps at farms and darkened neighborhood streetlights. The Tulare County Sheriff's Department cited five metal recyclers after a sting operation revealed they were buying stolen wire. For the most part, officers throughout the San Joaquin Valley had been going after the thieves and only spot checking recyclers who purchased the stole wire. That has been a failed strategy, as metal theft skyrocketed under this timid approach….While state laws have been written to limit the purchase of stolen wire, the regulations do no good if they aren't strictly enforced….Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman deserves praise for the sting operation his deputies conducted with Kern County officials.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/12/2987777/editorial-tulare-county-takes.html

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Ag Today Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Opponents, supporters weigh in on genetically modified food labels [Bakersfield Californian]

Proponents and opponents of Proposition 37, a ballot initiative that would require some genetically modified foods to be labeled as such, are working feverishly to win support for their positions ahead of the Nov. 6 election. In making their respective cases before voters and influential newspaper editorial boards, only one thing is clear: The issue is far more nuanced than it might appear at first glance….Genetically-engineered foods were approved for sale in the United States years ago, so consumers are already eating them. The measure's supporters say that's not because the food is safe, but because many of the regulators in key decision-making roles are former executives from the pesticide industry, which stands to profit mightily from the use of genetically engineered seeds and has contributed millions of dollars to the effort to defeat Proposition 37….Producers of genetically engineered food worry that labels will needlessly scare shoppers who don't understand what, exactly, is done to the foods to make them grow faster or bigger or resist pests, weeds and disease. Moreover, they say, the initiative is far more than a simple matter of informing consumers, pointing out that Prop 37 backers include trial lawyers anxious to cash in on lawsuits against food producers who label food improperly.

http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/business/x2067067263/Opponents-supporters-weigh-in-on-genetically-modified-food-labels

Tulare County Sheriff's Department operation targets copper thieves [Visalia Times-Delta]

A three-week investigation into a recent spike of copper wire thefts in south Tulare County farms netted 25 arrests, including 15 on recent charges, the Sheriff’s Department announced Monday. The details also resulted in five citations issued, nine vehicles towed and 20 recycling centers being contacted. During the detail, which included law enforcement personnel from Kern and Kings counties, five recycling centers were cited for violating the buildings and professional code violations….Sheriff Bill Wittman said the detail was started after his department recorded an increase in copper wire thefts at farm operations within the area of Avenue 96 and Avenue 200 and from Road 192 to the Kings County line. As many as 30 water pumps, which contain copper wire, were hit from June to August, the Sheriff’s Department said.

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20120911/NEWS01/309110012/Tulare-County-Sheriff-s-Department-operation-targets-copper-thieves?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s

Two Nipomo men arrested in connection with fuel thefts from ranches and farms [San Luis Obispo Tribune]

Two Nipomo men were arrested last week in connection with a rash of rural fuel thefts in the Santa Maria Valley. Martin Uvias Jacobo, 28, and Leandro Diaz Perez, 49, were arrested by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office rural crime unit and charged with burglary, grand theft, possession of stolen property, conspiracy, filing a false police report and petty theft. Since June, Santa Barbara Sheriff’s deputies had been investigating some 17 cases of fuel thefts from numerous ranches and farms in the Santa Maria Valley totaling more than $5,600, according to a news release. Approximately 350 gallons of stolen fuel was located on one of the suspect’s ranches in Nipomo.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/09/11/2221983/two-nipomo-men-arrested-in-connection.html

USDA buying meat again from Calif. slaughterhouse [Associated Press]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is buying meat again from a Central California slaughterhouse that's been at the center of an animal cruelty investigation. A statement the USDA issued Monday says that Central Valley Meat Co.'s improved oversight for animal welfare prompted the government to reinstate purchases for federal feeding programs. Officials with the Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded last week that there was no evidence of sick cattle entering the food supply after an undercover video showed workers kicking and shocking downed cattle in an attempt to herd them to slaughter.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/10/4806894/usda-buying-meat-again-from-calif.html#storylink=misearch

Interim dean named to UC Davis agriculture school [Sacramento Bee]

UC Davis named an interim dean of its agriculture school Monday, temporarily filling the seat left vacant by last month's resignation of longtime dean Neal Van Alfen. Mary Delany, an expert in avian genetics and a former chairwoman of the university's Department of Animal Science, will serve as interim dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences until a permanent replacement is found….In a statement Monday, University of California, Davis, provost and executive vice chancellor Ralph Hexter called Delany "a distinguished researcher" whose appointment and long university tenure "ensure stability and continuity" at the agricultural school. That stability was shaken with the sudden resignations in August of Van Alfen and his executive associate dean, James MacDonald, from one of the nation's elite agricultural colleges.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/11/4807516/interim-dean-named-to-uc-davis.html#storylink=misearch

Productive 2011 for Yolo County farmers [Woodland Daily Democrat]

It was a bumper crop for Yolo County's farmers last year, with a nearly 24 percent increase in production over the previous year according to the newly released 2011 Agricultural Crop Report.…Yolo supervisors are scheduled to get a briefing on the report during their meeting today….Despite 2011's record-breaking numbers, the Yolo County Farm Bureau noted in its recent "Agri-News" bulletin that those are gross earnings, not net earnings - and higher production costs are cutting into farmers' profits. "Some people believe farmers must be getting rich!" the Farm Bureau wrote. However, "These past years growers and ranchers have seen extraordinary increases in the costs of production." Rising fuel costs were cited as one example.

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_21511074/productive-2011-yolo-county-farmers

Monday, September 10, 2012

Ag Today Monday, September 10, 2012

Congress Comes Back to a Face-Off With Angry Farmers [New York Times]

When Congress returns to business this week, it will be met not by the Code Pink antiwar protesters or the Tea Party supporters who often gathered near the Capitol last year. Instead, farmers will be out in force, rallying for a bill that lawmakers failed to pass before they recessed five weeks ago. That unfinished bit of business threatens to cut off aid to farmers across the nation. But lawmakers, fresh off their parties’ conventions, appear to favor action on other bills that emphasize their political agendas over actual lawmaking…The fate of the current farm bill, which expires at the end of the month, has preoccupied many voters in agricultural states and has haunted lawmakers at constituent meetings, debates, and local and state fairs…On Wednesday, the National Farmers Union and the American Farm Bureau Federation will hold a rally near the Capitol to press for the approval of a bill.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/us/politics/congress-to-face-angry-farmers.html

National Park Service assessment of Drakes Bay Oyster Company called into question [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]

Millions of commercially cultivated oysters in Drakes Estero may improve water quality and a resident colony of harbor seals may have grown accustomed to eight decades of oyster farming, a federal panel of scientists has concluded. The scientific report challenges key findings of a National Park Service assessment of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company's impact on the 2,500-acre estuary in the Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County. The National Research Council's 53-page report concluded that there is a “moderate to high level of uncertainty” associated with most of the adverse environmental impacts cited in the Park Service assessment.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120908/ARTICLES/120909651

$1,900 a ton sought for raisins, a record high [Fresno Bee]

California's raisin farmers, who enjoyed record prices last year, could get a 12% raise this season. The grower-based Raisin Bargaining Association has voted to sell the Thompson seedless raisin crop for $1,900 a ton, or about 95 cents a pound -- the highest amount ever for California raisins. Last year, growers received a record-breaking $1,700 a ton. At least one of the industry's major packers has already agreed on the price and the other 12 have until Friday to accept the offer… Raisin Bargaining Association officials say that the factors driving raisin grape prices higher this year include competition from the region's wineries that will cut into sales to packers.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/09/07/2982766/1900-a-ton-sought-for-raisins.html

Central Coast grape harvest kicking into gear [Santa Maria Times]

As Santa Barbara County’s 2012 grape harvest kicks off, winemakers and vineyard managers are anticipating both quality fruit and tonnage more aligned with what one viticulturist called a “long-term average.”

This year’s growing season incorporated more seasonal warmth, average rainfall and an ideally timed heat spike in mid-August…

While some grape varietals, including the pinot noir and chardonnay used in sparkling wines, were picked as early as mid-August, most berries growing on vines in the Santa Maria Valley and Sta. Rita Hills appellations will require more “hang time” before they reach maturity.

http://santamariatimes.com/news/local/central-coast-grape-harvest-kicking-into-gear/article_31912060-fa43-11e1-b9d6-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true

More Choice, and More Confusion, in Quest for Healthy Eating [New York Times]

Like many people who are seeking better-tasting, healthier food, Ms. Todd had heard about a recent study on organic food from Stanford University’s Center for Health Policy… For Ms. Todd and countless other shoppers, the study just added to the stress of figuring out what to eat. And it underscored the deep divisions at the nation’s dinner table, along with concerns among even food purists about the importance of federal organic standards… Over the last couple of decades, food has become a platform for social issues and environmental causes, a rallying point for improving schools and a marker of cultural status. Farmers’ markets are seen as an indicator of community revitalization, and visiting them is a regular weekend activity for families… But organic food, especially products processed by large corporations, has become less a player in the front lines of the movement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/us/would-be-healthy-eaters-face-confusion-of-choices.html?src=rechp

Ventura dairy farmer pleads guilty over raw milk [Sacramento Bee]

The Ventura County dairy farmer who was arrested in a dramatic raid on a Venice health food store where officers dumped gallons of unpasteurized milk products was sentenced to community service and a $1,300 fine on Friday, prosecutors said. Sharon Ann Palmer, 52, and her business, Healthy Family Farms of Santa Paula, pleaded guilty to one count of selling her goat milk stored in unsanitary conditions to Rawesome market, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office. Superior Court Judge David Horowitz ordered Palmer to serve three years' probation, complete 40 hours of community service and pay a $1,300 fine. Eight other counts against Palmer and the business were dismissed.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/07/4798775/ventura-dairy-farmer-pleads-guilty.html