Farmers file antitrust lawsuit against big ag companies [Associated Press]
A group of farmers has filed an antitrust case against several big agricultural companies, contending the companies worked together to ban e-commerce sales in order to keep prices artificially high. The farmers are seeking class-action status and they want a judge to force the companies to give up “unlawful profits” and pay compensation to those impacted by the high prices. The Idaho farming operations — B & H Farming, Tyche Ag. LLC, Ceres Ag. LLC and Cedar Draw LLC, all based in Rupert — filed the lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of all farmers in similar situations in Idaho’s U.S. District Court last month. The lawsuit is similar to other federal lawsuits filed around the country. The lawsuit claims that four major manufacturers worked together with major wholesalers and retailers to deprive farmers of a free and open market in order to artificially inflate the price of of seeds, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other agricultural products used in planting and raising crops.
Farmers file antitrust lawsuit against big ag companies (apnews.com)
Drought is upon us. California’s Senate leader has a plan to keep it from becoming a crisis [Los Angeles Times]
…We’re heading into another drought. But Sacramento’s vault is overflowing while Washington is pumping in more dollars. 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….”We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity with one-time available funds and federal stimulus dollars on top of existing bond funds, and I say let’s turn on the tap and get those dollars flowing now,” Atkins told me in an email….Atkins proposes to divert $145 million in bond funds set aside for a more controversial dam project — Temperance Flat on the San Joaquin River near Fresno. The prospects of building that $3-billion-plus dam seem slim. She suggests using the state money for other water projects to help San Joaquin Valley agriculture. An example: Recharging aquifers that have been over-pumped, causing water tables to drop so low that wells have dried up.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/news-services/article250442776.html
Jackson Family Wines accuses Gallo of copying parts of its lucrative La Crema wine trademark [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
Jackson Family Wines sued E. & J. Gallo Winery in federal court, alleging the country’s biggest wine producer infringed on a lucrative trademark by copying elements of its popular La Crema label. Essentially, the two U.S. winemaking titans are clashing over the name “cream” in Gallo’s new Cask & Cream wine label….Jackson filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Modesto-based Gallo. The argument at the core of this legal case goes back to 2013, when Gallo applied for a Cask & Cream trademark. Jackson objected, and Gallo said it would be for distilled spirits, particularly cream liqueurs with some blended with brandy, but not wine. After amending its application, Gallo was granted the trademark. It had been marketing cream liqueurs under the Cask & Cream name since 1996.
Opinion: The ‘right to repair’ is a complicated issue [Wall Street Journal]
Kevin O’Reilly’s “It Shouldn’t Cost the Farm to Fix a Tractor” (op-ed, March 24) gives a small and unfair look at “right to repair” policy, when it’s a much larger issue that affects public safety, environmental regulations, intellectual-property rights and leads to illegal tampering….Equipment manufacturers are in lockstep with farmers and want equipment users and operators to be able to repair their tractors and combines. We also understand that new technology that has helped farmers better use their resources and increase output isn’t as simple to fix as a 40-year-old tractor, which is why, as of this year, manufacturers have provided equipment owners the tools to make the vast majority of repairs. The agriculture industry doesn’t need excessive regulation to operate more efficiently, and “right to repair” isn’t the simple solution that special interest groups make it out to be.
The ‘Right to Repair’ Is a Complicated Issue – WSJ
Solar panels atop canals? UC Merced study finds big potential. What do MID, TID think? [Modesto Bee]
Placing solar panels atop Central Valley canals could get the state halfway to its goal for climate-friendly power by 2030, a new study suggests. And the panels could reduce enough evaporation from the canals to irrigate about 50,000 acres, the researchers said. They are from the Merced and Santa Cruz campuses of the University of California. The idea has already drawn interest from the Turlock Irrigation District, as one of several options for boosting the solar part of its electricity supply. The proposal also has tentative support from spokespersons for the state and federal canal systems that move vast volumes of water in the Valley.
https://www.modbee.com/news/business/agriculture/article250368276.html
Nevada farmers and conservationists balk at ‘water banking’ [Associated Press]
Rural water users are panicking over a proposal to create a market for the sale and purchase of water rights in Nevada, unconvinced by arguments that the concept would encourage conservation. Lawmakers on Monday weighed whether so-called “water banking” would be preferable to prevailing water law doctrines that govern surface and groundwater rights disputes in the driest state in the U.S….One proposal would allow for basins to create “banks” where surface and groundwater rights holders can sell or lease water they conserve. The other would create programs to manage the conserved water, allowing the state to purchase “conservation credits” or pay water rights holders to “retire” their claims. “What we’ve heard all the time for years is that this is incentivizing people to use more water that they need; or they are being punished for not using their entire water right; or they’re forced to sell off what they don’t use. There’s no really satisfying response to that except that it’s how (the law) was written,” acting Nevada State Engineer Adam Sullivan said.
Nevada farmers and conservationists balk at ‘water banking’ (apnews.com)
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