City of Coachella considers adopting controversial ‘hero pay’ for essential workers, including farmworkers [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
Even as several California cities face pushback for requiring businesses to provide so-called “hero pay” to grocery employees and other essential workers, Coachella is considering following suit and even extending the controversial hazard benefits to farmworkers. A proposed city ordinance would require certain agricultural operations — as well as grocery stores, retail pharmacy stores and restaurants — to provide a premium pay of an additional $4 per hour to their employees in Coachella for at least 120 days. … The city council will consider the ordinance Wednesday. If approved, Coachella would become the first city in the nation to require the premium pay for farmworkers, according to city leaders.
California’s aging dams face new perils, 50 years after Sylmar quake crisis [Los Angeles Times]
… Although the 1971 San Fernando earthquake and the near failure of the Lower Van Norman Dam have given rise to construction improvements — the much newer Los Angeles Dam survived an equivalent shaking in the 1994 Northridge quake — the overwhelming majority of California dams are decades past their design life span. And while earthquakes still loom as the greatest threat to California’s massive collection of dams, experts warn that these aging structures will be challenged further by a new and emerging hazard: “whiplashing shifts” in extreme weather due to climate change.
Biden climate change strategy draws Farm Belt support, concern [Wall Street Journal]
U.S. farmers want President Biden to see them as partners in fighting climate change. Food producers said Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum that they want the new administration to give farmers incentives to cultivate crops in ways that capture carbon dioxide in the soil. … Some farmers have said they worried that Mr. Biden would tighten environmental regulations in ways that would restrict their operations, undoing the Trump administration’s easing of rules governing water quality, meatpacking-plant operations and greenhouse-gas emissions.
Trade deals key to lifting demand for agricultural products, farmers say [Wall Street Journal]
U.S. farmers said new trade deals are critical to help boost agricultural producers after the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration’s trade battles. Firming up existing trade agreements and joining with multicountry trade pacts would give U.S. producers better prices for some products than they can get domestically, farmers said at the WSJ Global Food Forum. … Tom Vilsack, Mr. Biden’s nominee to lead the Agriculture Department, said in his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this month that expanding farmers’ access to new markets is key to stabilizing the U.S. farm economy.
Black farmers unconvinced by Vilsack’s ‘root out’ racism vow [Associated Press]
… Some Black farmers want Biden to sign an executive order they drafted halting foreclosures on Black-owned farms and making other civil rights reforms. During last week’s Senate confirmation hearing, Vilsack told lawmakers he anticipates having an equity commission or task force look at all USDA programs to identify instances of inherent racism and propose solutions. The department’s appeal process for access to program benefits “can’t be a whitewash,” Vilsack said. Vilsack’s nomination unanimously cleared the Agriculture Committee, but the full Senate still must vote to confirm him.
California high-speed rail asks Newsom to release $4.1 billion as cost continues to swell [Fresno Bee]
The California High-Speed Rail Authority is asking Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators to release about $4.1 billion in state bond funds to ensure that there is enough money to complete construction that’s now underway on the bullet-train route in Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties. … The latest edition of the authority’s business plan, in the meantime, reflects an ongoing increase in costs and schedule delays in construction in the Valley, as well as further scaling back the plans. … The pandemic contributed to even more delay in acquisition of more than 2,000 pieces of property needed for construction of the line in the San Joaquin Valley.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article249128160.html
Ag Today is distributed by the California Farm Bureau Marketing/Communications Division to county Farm Bureaus, California Farm Bureau directors and staff, for information purposes only; stories may not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site registration. Opinions expressed in stories, commentaries or editorials included in Ag Today do not necessarily represent the views of the California Farm Bureau. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this message and please provide your name and email address. For more information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.
