Drought imperils economy in California’s farm country [Wall Street Journal]
Sitting in a pickup truck on his almond farm 100 miles north of San Francisco, Tom Butler pointed to a withered grove he has been planning to bulldoze in order to save his little remaining water for younger trees. … California is gripped in severe drought just four years after emerging from the last one, forcing many farmers to scramble to find enough water. … Local businesspeople and researchers say the economic ripple effects will be felt throughout California’s Central Valley at the same time much of the nation is recovering from the downturn tied to the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/drought-imperils-economy-in-californias-farm-country-11621589407
How a long-dormant Laguna de Santa Rosa well could spare Petaluma dairies from drought [Petaluma Argus-Courier]
Sonoma County water officials plan to revive a long-dormant well in the Santa Rosa Plain, a move leaders say could be key to the survival of Petaluma’s storied dairy industry amid historic drought. The $400,000 effort, approved quietly Tuesday during the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting, promises to inject new water into the county’s system as reserves dwindle and more ranchers turn to hauling water for livestock. … County officials, though, felt this year’s water crisis, which has drawn comparison to the devastating 1976-77 drought, merited the novel approach.
Opinion: Balance pain of drought on farmers and fishermen equitably [CalMatters]
… The State Water Resources Control Board, the agency charged with safeguarding how water is used in California, should step in and order modest reductions in water deliveries to a few agribusiness this summer, but so far they’ve failed to act. Growers have options during droughts and will stay in business. Salmon and fishing families don’t. … It’s clear that in California today, under the current state administration, big ag operations are favored over everyone else. … We need the State Water Resources Control Board to act now in a spirit of compromise and fairness that doesn’t force the majority of the pain of drought on any one group or California’s environment.
Cal-OSHA delays updating COVID mask and vaccine status regulations [KTVU TV, Oakland/San Francisco]
Cal-OSHA’S board heard hours of testimony on Thursday, ahead of possible workplace COVID-19 rule changes. … A plethora of business reps, from farming to the film industry and construction to education, gave testimony. Most decried the mandated N95 mask provision, and requirements they track their employees vaccination status. “We think we need to go back to the drawing board here. The agency and the standards board should seriously reconsider the necessity of any COVID-19 standard, or any infectious disease standard. Outside the context of employees exposed in the normal course of their duties,” said Brian Little of the California Farm Bureau.
https://www.ktvu.com/news/cal-osha-updated-regulations-delayed
California farmworker vaccination clinic administered nearly 30,000 shots in 12 weeks [Salinas Californian]
While mass vaccination clinics in other parts of the state have waned, farmworker vaccination clinics are still going strong in Monterey County. Clinics organized and held by the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California and Clínica de Salud del Valle de Salinas have given about 28,000 shots since Feb. 28 in the county, said Grower-Shipper Association President Chris Valadez. … While the weekly clinics are down from the high of 4,500 farmworker patients a day, up to 1,500 new patients still show up every week, bussed in by their employers or given a half day off work to get vaccinated.
Carbon storage offers hope for climate, cash for farmers [Associated Press]
… All industries are under pressure to reduce emissions, primarily by switching to renewable energy. But farming has something most others don’t: the ability to pull carbon dioxide, the most prevalent climate-warming gas, out of the atmosphere and store it. … The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars helping farmers make environmentally friendly changes. … Pending U.S. Senate and House bills would help farmers get started and provide third-party inspections to verify improvements. … The measures have bipartisan sponsorship and support from industry groups such as the American Farm Bureau Federation.
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.
