China considers next volley in trade fight [Wall Street Journal]
A U.S. move to increase tariffs has China dusting off its options for retaliation, which include a reciprocal increase, piling on new tariffs and punishing individual American companies….By refraining from sharing details of its countermeasures before talks in Washington on Thursday, Beijing appeared to be keeping its options open. One likely move would be to raise tariffs on about $60 billion in imports of U.S. goods including farm products, machinery and chemicals.
Why San Joaquin farmers won’t be changing crops despite a China trade war [KXTV, Sacramento]
Some of California’s top crops were hit by the trade war between China and the United States, but don’t expect farmers to just change crops over the tariffs. “These China tariffs have been a bump in the road, but you don’t simply go out and start pulling out your orchards based on this particular trade scenario,” said Bruce Blodgett, executive director for the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau….Stuart Spencer, executive director for the Lodi Winegrape Commission, said while growers in Lodi’s wine growing area are impacted by the tariffs, they are still maintaining a status quo many months into the trade war.
Trump administration eyes mandatory employment checks for immigration plan [McClatchy News Service]
…The plan to institute a mandatory federal employment verification program, known as E-Verify, would be a key part of an immigration overhaul crafted by a team led by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser. According to three sources familiar with the immigration discussions, the White House has been considering pushing for mandatory employment checks as part of the enforcement measures of the new immigration package….The agriculture industry has been particularly concerned about the implementation of E-Verify without a workable guest worker program that ensures farmers get the seasonal workers they need.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article230111184.html
Court upholds California farmworker union’s right to enter growers’ property [San Francisco Chronicle]
A divided federal appeals court upheld California farm labor regulations Wednesday that allow union organizers to enter growers’ properties at specific times — before and after work and during the lunch hour — to talk to workers….A strawberry-growing outfit in Siskiyou County and a grape and citrus fruit producer in Fresno sued, contending that requiring them to open their doors to union organizers amounted to a government invasion or seizure of their property without compensation….In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the union behavior that the growers described did not amount to a violation of their property rights.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/California-farmworkers-union-organizers-keep-13830641.php
Gavin Newsom administration bans controversial farm pesticide defended by Trump’s EPA [Sacramento Bee]
California officials banned a widely used farm pesticide Wednesday, handing a major victory to environmentalists while depriving farmers of a chemical they’ve employed for decades to protect almond orchards, cotton fields and more. The decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to ban the pesticide, known as chlorpyrifos, is also a significant rebuke to President Donald Trump….The California Farm Bureau Federation, which has argued that chlorpyrifos should be kept legal, said the state’s decision will put agriculture in a bind. “Once again, farmers find themselves caught in the middle of a fight among activist groups, federal and state agencies,” president Jamie Johansson said in a prepared statement. “Food may become more expensive, and California-grown food less plentiful.”
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/environment/article230171634.html
Opinion: Steve Decker: Dealing with local crop aromas [Santa Maria Times]
Local cannabis cultivation is going through its growing pains….Sharyne Merritt, an avocado grower in Carpinteria, wrote a compelling commentary last week about the pesticide spraying conflict between cannabis and avocado growers. She accurately cites the extreme pesticide restrictions that only cannabis cultivators must endure. More so than any crop in California. Many in the cannabis industry rightfully say it is regulatory overkill.
