California farmers could get fire insurance help under proposed bill [inewsource, San Diego]
State lawmakers are moving forward with a bill that would give farmers in high fire risk areas like San Diego County’s backcountry an insurance option if no company is willing to cover them. … The new legislative proposal, SB11, would clarify that only crops are excluded from being insured by the FAIR Plan, allowing farmers to insure their buildings and equipment under the policy. State Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, introduced the legislation amending the FAIR Plan on March 1 after being lobbied by the California Farm Bureau Federation.
California targets critical farmworkers for vaccinations [Associated Press]
… California is vaccinating farmworkers on a large scale by taking the shots to where they live and work, protecting a population disproportionately hard hit by the pandemic. Advocates said an initial slow rollout in California has gained momentum in the past few weeks as the flow of vaccine increases and mobile clinics pop up at farms and food processing centers. … California was the first state to make agricultural workers eligible for vaccinations … It is unclear how many farmworkers have been vaccinated so far because California doesn’t collect data on recipients’ occupations.
‘None of us are safe until all of us are safe’: Efforts to vaccinate SJ farmworkers slow [The Record, Stockton]
… Though some progress has been made, obstacles such as inconsistent supplies of vaccines and misperceptions about the importance of vaccinating the agricultural community remain. With San Joaquin County remaining in the purple tier, being surrounded by red-tier counties could not only become a population health concern but a complication for the agricultural and food industry, too. … Additionally, vaccine supply has been unreliable. Dr. Maggie Park, San Joaquin County public health officer, told The Record the county supply (given by the state) was delayed before the 15 million Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses mix-up in Baltimore.
Farmers call for federal action on shipping bottlenecks [Bakersfield Californian]
Kern County farmers are calling for federal intervention in an international shipping bottleneck that has dramatically increased their export costs during the pandemic and jeopardized sales contracts with buyers overseas. Growers whose almonds, pistachios and citrus have too often languished at California docks in the past year are working with federal legislators including Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, to pressure the Federal Maritime Commission to take action against shipping companies they say should be doing more to facilitate U.S. ag exports.
Gray wolf’s trip enters Monterey County as experts watch [Bay Area News Group]
… The journey of a 2-year-old male gray wolf from rural Oregon has turned from wondrous to worrisome, with authorities reporting late last week that he has arrived in Monterey County, land of Esalen hot tubs, the manicured Pebble Beach Golf Course and more than 400,000 wolf-wary humans. For now, California Department of Fish and Wildlife has decided not to meddle by moving him to an area more suitable for his single status. … OR-93’s arrival in Monterey County is a sign of positive habitat management and application of the right regulations and management plans, said Traverso.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/04/the-wolf-that-is-exploring-monterey/
Column: Drought is upon us. California’s Senate leader has a plan to keep it from becoming a crisis [Los Angeles Times]
… Here’s an idea: Spend some windfall money on no-brainer, quickie public works projects to help us confront the drought and prepare for an unstable climate future. Credit state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego). It’s her idea. … She proposes to swiftly spend $2 billion on strategic, non-controversial waterworks. … She isn’t thinking about building dams. Those are too controversial and costly. And the projects drag on for years. She envisions major groundwater replenishment.
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