Judge prohibits California from putting cancer warning on weed killer Roundup [San Francisco Chronicle]
Despite three trial verdicts awarding nearly $200 million to cancer victims who used Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, California cannot require a cancer warning on the product label because it is contradicted by “the great weight of evidence,” a federal judge ruled Monday. In issuing a permanent injunction against the state’s attempt to place a cancer warning on the world’s most widely used weed killer, U.S. District Judge William Shubb of Sacramento did not prevent California from including Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, on its own list of probable human carcinogens.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Judge-prohibits-California-from-putting-cancer-15358663.php
Southeast Asian farmers face total loss in Covid fallout [The Business Journal, Fresno]
… When Covid-19 hit and shelter-in-place measures were implemented, Asian markets and restaurants that readily bought their produce either shut down or saw their business rapidly drop. According to Blong Xiong, executive director of the Asian Business Institute and Resource Center (ABIRC), the Hmong business community in Fresno has been hit particularly hard by the economic consequences of the pandemic. … These small growers, or “micro farmers,” have found their crops expiring in their fields instead.
https://thebusinessjournal.com/southeast-asian-farmers-face-total-loss-in-covid-fallout/
Rancho Laguna Farms raises pay to $2.10 a box, commits to respecting worker rights [Santa Maria Times]
Following weeks of protests and negotiations, employees at Rancho Laguna Farms in Santa Maria have been granted their second pay raise in a month, bringing the wage per box of strawberries to $2.10, with owner Larry Ferini stating the company’s commitment to improving safety and respect for employees. … In addition to the raise, Ferini’s memo acknowledged the rights of workers to discuss wages and working conditions with farm leadership, organize strikes and walkouts, and act without fear of retaliation or firing.
‘Takings’ case closed [Klamath Falls Herald and News]
After nearly two decades, the takings case stemming from the water shutoff to the Klamath Reclamation Project in 2001 is closed. The U.S. Supreme Court made the announcement on Monday that it has denied a petition to review a lower federal court’s decision that ruled that Project irrigators of about 175,000 acres on the Oregon and California border are not entitled to compensation for the re-allocation of water under the Endangered Species Act in 2001. … Simmons said statistically the odds are less than 2% that the U.S. Supreme Court will review a case, but that the lack of a review was “disappointing.”
U.S. honeybees are doing better after a bad year, survey shows [Associated Press]
American honeybee colonies have bounced back after a bad year, the annual beekeeping survey finds. Beekeepers lost only 22.2% of their colonies this last winter, from Oct. 1 to March 31, which is lower than the average of 28.6%, according to the Bee Informed Partnership’s annual survey of thousands of beekeepers. It was the second smallest winter loss in the 14 years of surveying done by several U.S. universities.
Feathers fly; Local poultry growers seek to ramp up production [The Business Journal, Fresno]
Livingston-based Foster Farms is ready to reopen some of those shuttered poultry ranches in Kings County it bought out of bankruptcy from Zacky Farms last year. … In its applications, Foster Farm says it wants to utilize not just the existing hen houses but also the penned area outside, allowing chickens to peck on vegetated land to meet organic labeling requirements. Foster Farms won the bidding on 19 ranches put up for auction, mostly in Kings and Fresno counties last year under bankruptcy court proceedings.
https://thebusinessjournal.com/feathers-fly-local-poultry-growers-seek-to-ramp-up-production/
