Immigration bill sparks hope for farmers, worker advocates [Bakersfield Californian]
Supporters of a farmworker immigration bill awaiting introduction in the U.S. Senate say chances look better than they have in years that soon the federal government will address one of the thorniest issues in Central Valley agriculture. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021, passed by the House March 18 with bipartisan support, offers a path to legal status for ag laborers and their spouse and children under age 18. Permanent residency would be available to those who pay a $1,000 fine and put in additional years in farm work….”Certainly I think there’s a stronger chance this year than (in) recent years past,” said the president of the California Farm Bureau, Jamie Johansson, a Butte County citrus and olive grower. It and hundreds of other ag groups view the legislation as an opportunity to begin to solve the industry’s chronic labor shortage.
Immigration bill sparks hope for farmers, worker advocates | News | bakersfield.com
U.S. farmers vie for land as a grain rally sparks shopping spree [Wall Street Journal]
In a resurgent American Farm Belt, the hottest commodity around is dirt. Across the Midwest, prices to buy and rent farmland are climbing as demand is driven by rallying grain markets, historic government payments and low interest rates, according to economists, agricultural lenders and land managers. The battle for farmland is playing out in small town community centers, online portals and parking lots, where bids in Covid-19-era auctions are placed with a wave from the window of a pickup truck or a quick flashing of headlights….Now, a sharp turnaround in the farm economy is breathing new life into the land market. Farmland values rose during 2020 as soaring grain prices last fall revived farmers’ fortunes, according to February reports from three regional Federal Reserve Banks. Land prices in the Chicago Fed region, which covers parts of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin, climbed 6% last year, the largest such increase since 2012, the bank said. Many agricultural lenders surveyed by the banks expected farmland values to rise this year as well. A March survey of Iowa farmland specialists showed a statewide average of farmland values was up nearly 8% since September, according to Iowa’s chapter of the Realtors Land Institute.
U.S. Farmers Vie for Land as a Grain Rally Sparks Shopping Spree – WSJ
Nearly half a million California farmworkers could gain legal status under new bill [KQED, San Francisco]
…“The truth is, we all need (legal status). Because now with the pandemic, we can’t shelter at home,” Carrillo said. “Who does the work? We do.” For every large plastic bin he can fill with mandarins, Carrillo will make $53. He and the other workers are out in the orchard, or in another field, nearly every day, he said. “We don’t stop unless it rains,” Carrillo said. “If we shelter in place, the crop goes to waste. Who harvests it? The food, the vegetables … who is going to put it on the table, if not us?” Carrillo has worked on U.S. farms, without legal status, for five years, he said. Another man nearby said he has worked in the country for 18 years. When asked about a bill to grant legal status to undocumented farmworkers, Carrillo said the law should already exist.
Nearly Half a Million California Farmworkers Could Gain Legal Status Under New Bill | KQED
Continuing the fight for farmers [Marysville Appeal-Demoract]
Clad in green scarves and clothes, women and families joined together on Saturday at a local Yuba City park to support the farming industry and what they claim is in injustice done to the small farmer at the hands of the Parliament of India. The Parliament of India passed three bills in September of last year that opposition groups have called “anti-farmer” and likened them to a “death warrant,” according to a report from BBC.com. ccording to the report, thousands of farmers have been camped out on highways in Delhi demanding a repeal of the legislation.
Continuing the fight for farmers | News | appeal-democrat.com (appeal-democrat.com)
Bullet train contractor warns of further two-year delay as state struggles to secure land [Los Angeles Times]
A major construction team on the California bullet train project notified the state rail authority this month that it will not complete a 65-mile section of the future route in Kings County until at least April 14, 2025 — nearly two years after the date that the state included in a business plan adopted Thursday….The notification of the new delay came in a letter dated March 9 to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. A construction team led by the Spanish firm Dragados described a chaotic system for projecting future construction progress because of state delays in securing land for construction. The Times obtained a copy of the letter, which complained that the rail authority’s failure to accurately predict land acquisition has tangled construction schedules and caused fitful conditions along the route.
Contractor warns of more delays for California bullet train – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
Life-changing journey remembered at Redding farmworker benefit [Redding Record Searchlight]
The living conditions Larry Licker saw in the San Joaquin Valley farm labor camps during the 1960s changed his life — and more than 50 years later led the Redding man to pitch in to help farmworkers. Licker was among the first people to drop off a box of supplies at a collection site for Shasta County farmworkers on Sunday. Several community groups collected supplies, such as clothing, food and hand sanitizer. But Licker’s trip to the drop-off location began many years ago when he was a 19-year-old college student working with a Quaker organization called the American Friends Service Committee. He was sent to a farm labor camp in Farmersville, near Visalia, to teach migrant children who fell behind educationally because their families moved around the country working in the fields, he said.
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