Water crisis ‘couldn’t be worse’ on Oregon-California border [Associated Press]
The water crisis along the California-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic this week as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream or to a half-dozen wildlife refuges that harbor millions of migrating birds each year. … “This just couldn’t be worse,” said Klamath Irrigation District president Ty Kliewer. “The impacts to our family farms and these rural communities will be off the scale.” … Ben DuVal, president of the Klamath Water Users Association, urged his members to remain peaceful and not let the water crisis “be hijacked for other causes.”
‘Tough times are coming.’ 60% of Tulare County in ‘Exceptional Drought,’ monitor reports [Visalia Times-Delta]
… Agricultural water supplies have already been dramatically curtailed in the region, forcing local ranchers to cull cattle and farmers to fallow fields. “Tough times are coming,” warns Tricia Stever-Blattler, Tulare County Farm Bureau executive director. “The drought is just beginning, and the impacts and consequences of the irrigation supplies being restricted to nearly zero will have far-reaching implications.” At the same time, domestic wells are drying up at alarming rates, straining nonprofits that serve the rural San Joaquin Valley.
Growers lawsuit over ‘hero pay’ ordinance in Coachella heard in federal court [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in the lawsuit brought by several agriculture growers who are fighting the city of Coachella’s ordinance requiring “hero pay” to farmworkers. But he made no immediate ruling from the bench. The growers — including the Western Growers Association, California Fresh Fruit Association and Growing Coachella Valley — are seeking a preliminary injunction. The city has asked the court to dismiss the case. The ordinance went into effect on Feb. 10 and requires certain agricultural businesses to pay farmworkers an additional $4 per hour, for at least 120 days.
‘It’s about doing food differently.’ Fresno plan marked for $30 million in state budget [Fresno Bee]
The May revision of California’s state budget brings an estimated $30 million to the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation Initiative, according to regional leaders. The initiative funded in the latest version of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget is a sweeping effort to change the way farmers operate in the breadbasket that is the central San Joaquin Valley. Those efforts are aimed at equitable economic benefits for small farms in the region while improving the outlooks surrounding climate change and the drought, according to Josh Viers, a UC Merced professor involved in the initiative.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article251441638.html
Opposition raised against Yolo County’s Cannabis Land Use Ordinance [Woodland Daily Democrat]
The public hearing for Yolo County’s Cannabis Land Use Ordinance to be adopted is set for Tuesday, but residents are still concerned. … Nancy Lea, former president and current executive committee member at the Yolo County Farm Bureau, noted the bureau’s opposition to the plan during the May 4 meeting. “Cannabis is not a typical Yolo County ag crop. There is huge disparities in values. Cannabis is a no residue crop and its value is impacted by its neighboring normal farming practices,” Lea explained. “Traditional crop farmers can be threatened or sued by nearby outdoor cannabis operations. Insurance to protect traditional growers is either extremely expensive or impossible to purchase. And, cannabis characteristics can impact some neighboring crops. ”
Opinion: Why meat and dairy corporations are the Achilles’ heel of Biden’s climate plan [Los Angeles Times]
President Biden cannot deliver on his climate pledges if his administration keeps allowing meat and dairy corporations to emit vast amounts of planet-warming pollutants unchecked. … The world’s top five meat and dairy companies combined are emitting more greenhouse gases per year than ExxonMobil. … It would be foolish to depend on the voluntary efforts of the giant meat and dairy conglomerates to fix this. … Regulating air pollution from factory farms is glaringly absent from Biden’s climate plan.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-16/meat-dairy-climate-change-biden
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