Valley farmers see water supplies slashed – again – as California grapples with dry weather [Visalia Times Delta]
Federal water managers announced that an already paltry 5% allocation of water to California farmers and cities may be nixed entirely as the Golden State grapples with another year of dry weather. … “It’s a shame that our most productive California farms and ranches will be shorted water this season. It’s unnecessary and unreasonable to expect our farms to produce the abundant and affordable crops they produce with so little water,” said Tricia Stever-Blattler, executive director, Tulare County Farm Bureau.
Some water suppliers have just 5% amid drought. Oakdale district has surplus to sell [Modesto Bee]
… The Oakdale and South San Joaquin irrigation districts actually have surpluses to sell thanks to storage in New Melones Reservoir from 2020. They have lined up buyers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, where some districts can expect just 5% allotments from the federal and state canal systems. The Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts are capping their growers, but at levels that will still provide roughly 80% of the accustomed supplies. … OID and SSJID have often sold water above their own farmers’ needs, thanks to past conservation efforts and an agreement on New Melones storage.
https://www.modbee.com/news/business/agriculture/article250174105.html
Ag partners unite to protect community [Madera Tribune]
Organizations across the Central Valley have been working hard to vaccinate essential agricultural workers against COVID-19. … Agriland reached out to the Madera County Farm Bureau, which represents a third of the farmers in the county. The Farm Bureau immediately stepped up to help, contacting its members and partners to get farmworkers enrolled in the clinic. Christina Beckstead, Madera County Farm Bureau Executive Director, said that communication was the key to pulling off the event. “During these difficult times, it is important that we work together and partner with our community to maintain the safety of all those we care for,” she said.
http://www.maderatribune.com/single-post/ag-partners-unite-to-protect-community
Conservationists sue to save spotted owl logging protections [Associated Press]
Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit seeking to preserve protections for 3.4 million acres of northern spotted owl habitat from the US-Canada border to northern California, the latest salvo in a legal battle over logging in federal old-growth forests that are key nesting grounds for the imperiled species. … Timber interests, including the American Forest Resource Council, filed a lawsuit earlier this month challenging the delay in implementing the new, reduced habitat protections and say the forest in question isn’t used by the northern spotted owls.
Arvin potato plant orders Kern’s first microgrid to boost energy resiliency, efficiency [Bakersfield Californian]
Microgrid technology promising greater energy flexibility and independence arrived in Kern Wednesday with the start of construction on an integrated power generation and storage system at an 1,100-employee ag facility in Arvin. The 5-megawatt solar, natural gas and battery installation Concentric Power Inc. is building at Tasteful Selections’ specialty potato plant will use advanced computer systems to increase efficiency and allow the operation to continue during external disruptions to its power.
Opinion: Subsidizing ag burning alternative is better air quality bet than paying for high speed rail [Manteca/Ripon Bulletin]
… The technology that exists to grind trees into chips and recycle them into the soil is cost prohibitive for small scale orchard operations. … It is why the greenhouse gas “credits” California collects should go to subsidize orchard removal technology that benefits in-state farmers that can also enhance soil after retention and reduce water use instead of to out-of-state tree farmers. … If Sacramento can use tax credits and such on both sides of the sale of an electric vehicle that makes the venture profitable for manufacturers, they certainly can do the same for California’s farmers.
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.
