President of California Farm Bureau speaks on water allocation cuts [KRCR TV, Redding]
Federal regulators with the Bureau of Reclamation have issued new numbers on the Central Valley Water Project, cutting agricultural water allocations to zero. The president of the California Farm Bureau, who is a citrus and olive farmer in Butte County, says this cut in allocations will have a negative impact on farmers in the Northstate and we could possibly lose thousands of acres of crop production. … Jamie Johansson President, California Farm Bureau: “It’s the final frustrating blow because zero is the ultimate when you get a zero water allocation for use. …”
https://krcrtv.com/news/local/president-of-california-farm-bureau-speaks-on-water-allocation-cuts
‘Ammon Bundy coming soon.’ Federal water cutoffs igniting rebellion in Northern California [Sacramento Bee]
…The Klamath Basin is 200 miles west of Burns, Ore., where armed right-wing activists, led by Bundy, seized control of a federal wildlife refuge for 41 days in 2016 to protest government land policies. … Local agricultural leaders worry a similar revolt could attract outsiders like Bundy this summer to the drought-crippled Klamath Basin where anti-government sentiment and frustration over endangered species protection runs high. “That’s one of my biggest fears,” Ben DuVal, the president of the Klamath Water Users Association, said in an interview last week inside his farmhouse outside Tulelake.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/water-and-drought/article251710398.html
Valley growers air concerns over climate change [KFSN TV, Fresno]
Valley farmers dealing with a dwindling irrigation supply had plenty to say about adapting to climate change during a public session online. … Helm Grower Don Cameron explained, “Sustainable Groundwater Management is already putting controls on groundwater pumping in many areas and will lead to land being permanently fallowed. We’ve heard anywhere from 500 to a thousand acres to a million acres.” Congressman Jim Costa, (D) Fresno, hosted an online meeting to hear from growers and climate experts on how the ag community was adapting to long-term change in our average weather patterns.
https://abc30.com/valley-growers-climate-change-central-farmers-irrigation/10705194/
People near Fresno-area farms aren’t told about pesticide sprays. Some want that changed [Fresno Bee]
Advocates for people living in rural communities on Thursday organized a statewide effort to get agriculture commissioners in Fresno and surrounding counties to begin notifying residents before pesticides are sprayed nearby. Organizers held news conferences in Modesto, Salinas, Shafter and Tulare, and others organized in Fresno, Los Angeles and many more cities to raise concerns over chemicals that can cause respiratory irritation, kidney effects and convulsions, among other illnesses. … The advocates said they want local ag commissioners to post on their websites each day where the pesticides will be applied.
https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article251730723.html
To get better control over California’s wildfires, lawmakers push 11 bills aimed at reducing threats [San Francisco Chronicle]
A group of California lawmakers on Thursday touted 11 bills they’re advancing to get better control of the worsening wildfires that have razed towns and neighborhoods across the state in recent years. The legislative package moving through the state Senate covers four areas: wildfire prevention, workforce training, home insurance and funding. Those areas are outlined in a policy blueprint from a subset of Senate Democrats who have been working on wildfire issues for the past two years.
Most dairy cows are kissing cousins, and scientists are worried [Wall Street Journal]
… Selective breeding—allowing farmers to mate only animals with the most desirable traits—has led to so much inbreeding that virtually all Holsteins in the U.S. and abroad descend from just two bulls. So, while there are roughly nine million Holsteins in the U.S., the breed’s effective population—a measure of genetic diversity—is just 43, according to an estimate published last year in the peer-reviewed Journal of Dairy Science. … Holsteins, whose breeding cycles are strictly managed by the agriculture industry, aren’t on the verge of disappearing, but their level of inbreeding concerns some geneticists.
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