Trump signs order giving California farmers more water [Wall Street Journal]
President Trump ordered regulators to give farmers here in California’s Central Valley more access to water, a decision that fulfills a 2016 campaign promise and immediately enraged environmentalists….“A major obstacle to providing more water for the region’s farmers has now been totally eliminated by the federal government,” the president told a crowd of cheering supporters in an airport hangar….Farmers in the Republican-dominated pocket of the largely Democratic state welcomed the news. “Improved flexibility in water management will benefit rural communities throughout the Central Valley,” said California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson.
Trump brings more water — and himself — to Central Valley farmers [San Francisco Chronicle]
…Part of the fury generated by Wednesday’s signing is the belief among opponents that the president has somehow managed to turn a science document into a political football. But farmers in water-starved Kern County were thankful the president was standing up for their water rights and livelihoods….“The science that comes out in these biological opinions says increased flows do not result in more fish,” said John Moore, the president of Kern County Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation farmer. “You can do both conservation and deliver water supplies, but nobody wants to come together and admit that we can work together.”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Trump-brings-more-water-and-himself-to-15069198.php
Trump OKs more California water for Valley farmers. Gavin Newsom promises to sue [ Sacramento Bee]
Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a pre-emptive strike against President Donald Trump, said Wednesday he plans to sue Trump’s administration to block a controversial plan to increase water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley. Newsom’s office said he “will file legal action in the coming days … to protect highly imperiled fish species close to extinction.” The announcement came just minutes before Trump appeared in Bakersfield to announce his administration had finalized an order removing regulatory roadblocks and enabling the giant Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps to deliver additional water to the southern half of the state.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/water-and-drought/article240437356.html
USDA official visits Yuba-Sutter farmers [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey spoke with farmers from the region during a visit to Marysville on Wednesday….Northey is responsible for three agencies in the USDA, which include the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Risk Management. Nicole Van Vleck, president and CEO of Montna Farms and chair of the USA Rice Farmers board, said Northey’s visit to the area is a testament to the current administration’s dedication to its mission of supporting farmers through programs that mitigate the significant risks of farming, like crop insurance services, conservation programs and technical assistance, and commodity, lending and disaster programs.
An ICE detention center? You picked the wrong town, residents say [New York Times]
…A new law in California outlawing private prisons will cost the city $1.5 million a year in taxes and other fees paid by the prison corporation, the GEO Group, unless the company can convert the two facilities it has operated there into immigration detention centers. McFarland, which gained its only previous measure of fame in the 2015 Kevin Costner movie, “McFarland, USA,” is home to thousands of workers like Ms. Ramirez, who toil in the vineyards and the almond, pistachio and citrus orchards that stretch out in every direction. Up to half of the city’s 15,000 residents, according to private estimates, are undocumented — the very kind of people who might be housed behind bars in the facilities that until now have been sheltering criminals.
Here’s something that stinks: High garlic prices [Wall Street Journal]
Garlic prices are rising. The reason: the widening coronavirus outbreak is causing disruptions in the supply chain in China, the world’s largest producer of the vegetable….U.S. retail prices of garlic are now at their highest levels since 2018, driven by concerns that supplies could run short in the coming months….Christopher Ranch, one of America’s largest garlic producers and suppliers, grows about 100 million pounds of garlic a year on its farms in California….The Gilroy, Calif.-based company has reached out to growers in Argentina, Mexico and Spain to source more garlic in light of the recent China price surge, said Ken Christopher, executive vice president and grandson of the farm’s founder.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/heres-something-that-stinks-high-garlic-prices-11582196400
