U.S. and China resume trade negotiations with slim hopes for a deal [New York Times]
Trade talks between the United States and China resumed on Monday with prospects dimming for a transformative deal, as both sides appeared more focused on preventing tensions from escalating before the 2020 presidential election than on resolving their differences….Even that temporary truce has not unfolded as Mr. Trump planned. China has been preparing to make agricultural purchases, but Chinese officials insist that they did not promise to do so as a condition of the talks and instead saw any large-scale purchases as contingent on a final deal.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/politics/trade-china-trump.html?searchResultPosition=2
Sonoma County vineyard managers spend millions to build on-site housing for pickers [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
Vineyard manager Duff Bevill put the finishing touches last week on the bunkhouse he spent more than $1 million to build for guest workers eagerly awaiting the chance to pick grapes and earn U.S. dollars….After the October 2017 infernos, the winegrowers’ group foundation partnered with the Sonoma County Farm Bureau to launch a housing recovery fund for ag workers and their families displaced by the fires….Dutton, who has participated in the H-2A visa program for 13 years, said he has four dorm-style buildings that range from 10-bed structures up to 38-bed buildings. Last week, Dutton submitted plans to the county’s Permit and Resource Management Department, known as Permit Sonoma, for the construction of a fifth bunkhouse, similar to the one Bevill just completed.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/9826970-181/sonoma-county-vineyard-managers-spend
Should California continue with its high-speed rail system? Influencers weigh in [Sacramento Bee]
Gov. Gavin Newsom, like Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger before him, strongly believes that a high-speed train that whisks passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours is a vital part of California’s transportation future. “Californians have told us loud and clear: They want to invest in environmentally friendly and socially responsible transportation options that will let them go places quickly and safely,” said Lenny Mendonca, Newsom’s appointee as chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. “Fast trains, jobs and a transportation option you can feel good about – high-speed rail is the future.” But other state political leaders are less enthusiastic.
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opinion-influencers/article233080962.html
Avocado prices are the pits for shoppers, but local growers are chipper [Ventura County Star]
With demand possibly at its highest point ever and a smaller-than-normal U.S. crop this year, avocado fans are paying higher prices at grocery stores across the U.S. But growers of Ventura County’s No. 6 crop aren’t complaining….“The spike in retail prices is the result of an extremely small California avocado crop this year, meaning market demand exceeds supply,” said John Krist, CEO of the Farm Bureau of Ventura County. Krist said the small crop is partly due to an extraordinary heat wave in July 2018 that caused trees to drop much of their small fruit. Last year’s small fruit would have been this year’s mature fruit, he said….“Prices can be expected to drop as imports from Mexico and South America increase to fill the supply gap created by the decrease in California production,” Krist said.
5 student farmers choose sanctuary over slaughter for the animals they raised [Orange County Register]
…Instead, the goats, Bruce, Pam, and Kevin, and sheep Shawn and Phry (pronounced “fry,” though not because of any sick humor about lamb chops), are living at a refuge called Farm Sanctuary, in Acton, near Palmdale. It’s where they went instead of the OC Fair’s annual Junior Livestock Auction, which was held a week ago. The animals are getting this option because their young owners — three girls and two boys — made a rare decision: No killing….Orange County has nine high schools that offer FFA livestock programs, rural islands in a sea of suburbs. Students from eight 4-H programs in Orange County also show animals at the fair in Costa Mesa, according to Evy Young, agriculture education supervisor for OC Fair….“I wouldn’t say that this is something that is going to continue to occur,” Young says. “Most students who go into agriculture programs understand the end results off their projects.”
Opinion: Why California needs to buy wildfire insurance [Los Angeles Times]
…But still more needs to be done to protect taxpayers from all other causes of catastrophic wildfires and to ensure that those on the front lines of these wildfires have all the tools they need to both succeed and survive. That’s why it’s critical that the state government explore ways to transfer the financial risk of another catastrophic wildfire season away from taxpayers and ratepayers. Legislators, including state Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), as well as Treasurer Fiona Ma, have lined up behind Senate Bill 290, which would allow California to do just that.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-07-26/california-wildfires-insurance-disaster-prevention
