California Farmers, Worried About Water, May Be a Force in Recall Vote [New York Times]
Craig Gordon, the owner of several dairy farms near Los Angeles, is a lifelong Democrat. He supported Senator Bernie Sanders for president, he doesn’t like former President Donald J. Trump and he voted for Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2018. But lately, he said, high taxes on milk, coronavirus shutdowns that have cut into his sales and state-imposed limitations on water for agriculture have made him so angry at Mr. Newsom that he has paid for seven billboards throughout the state — most of them in the Central Valley, which produces a quarter of the nation’s food — urging people to remove the governor in Tuesday’s recall election. Farmers are a key constituency in California, where the $50 billion agricultural sector makes up about 3 percent of the state’s gross domestic product. During this year of exceptional drought, they are feeling the pinch of water restrictions, prompting many to support the recall of Mr. Newsom and choose a successor who they feel supports small businesses and will fight hard for their water needs. That anger spiked last month when the State Water Resources Control Board passed an emergency curtailment order for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, barring many farmers from using water from rivers and streams.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/13/dining/california-recall-election-farmers-drought.html
Fresno County towns with no drinking water drown in debt while hope fades for new well [Fresno Bee]
The longer it takes for two new wells to be dug in Cantua Creek and El Porvenir in western Fresno County, the deeper in debt the towns are mired. Now, with the drought, those well projects are in a race against dropping groundwater levels as farmers, cut off from surface water supplies, are leaning more heavily on the aquifer. The well projects started in 2018 and aren’t scheduled to be completed until sometime next year. Cantua Creek and El Porvenir currently get water through Westlands Water District, which buys it on the open market. The last drought caused water prices to skyrocket. With the towns already in debt for water by more than $245,000, the wells can’t be drilled fast enough. And residents are just hoping water from the proposed wells will be drinkable. “It’s a terrifying situation,” said Leslie Martinez, community engagement specialist for advocacy nonprofit Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “We frankly don’t have a plan.” Meanwhile, residents are paying above top dollar for water they can’t even drink. In Cantua Creek, resident Dolores Diaz pays about $190 a month for water, compared to an average cost per customer of about $50 a month in the city of Fresno, 40 miles northeast.
https://www.fresnobee.com/fresnoland/article254077153.html
Growing appetite for vegan dairy, meat products propels Northern California producers [Santa Rosa Press-Democrat]
Finding vegetarian and vegan food in a grocery store is no longer like a scavenger hunt. That’s good news for its producers but leaves the traditional meat and dairy industries less than thrilled. Sales and new products are up, say industry experts, because people want alternatives to animal products for health and environmental reason and the industry is offering a greater variety of non-meat choices, with flavors and textures often mimicking animal products. “I think it’s important to showcase plant-based options to an audience who may not be seeking them,” Kalie Marder, co-owner of Renegade Foods, with production facilities in Sonoma County, said. “One way to normalize vegan food is to put it in the grocery store where you will find its animal counterpart.” Anja Raudabaugh, CEO for Western United Dairies, said any weakening of the standards around butter fat, for example, threatens to weaken the formulaic price, “or at least it has the potential to.” “Take it to its logical conclusion. If products can fill shelf space that claim to be butter, you’re not only losing shelf space, but you’re losing value at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (which sets the price for butter),” Raudabaugh said.
Point Reyes adopts controversial ranch, elk plan [Marin Independent Journal]
Fifty-nine years to the date since President John F. Kennedy signed the legislation establishing the Point Reyes National Seashore, the Biden administration approved a controversial plan on Monday to allow the park to kill some of its tule elk and to extend how long commercial cattle ranchers can rent parkland. However, the National Park Service plan includes several changes from what was released under the Trump administration in 2019. These changes include new mandates for ranchers to make specific plans and investments to protect wildlife, water quality and the environment; reducing the number of tule elk that park staff would be allowed to kill; and limiting the ability for ranchers to diversify their livestock. Ranch leases would still increase from five-year terms to up to 20 years as originally proposed.
https://www.marinij.com/2021/09/13/point-reyes-adopts-controversial-ranch-elk-plan/
The role of rootstocks in establishing more resilient vineyards [Napa Valley Register]
Steve Matthiasson often consults with fellow Napa Valley winemakers and vineyard owners, putting their heads together each year to troubleshoot environmental problems that occur. But now, as continued drought conditions further exacerbate these problems in California, he says he is being called upon more and more frequently. “We are always trying to conserve water in Napa because we have a limited aquifer and that is really important for the health of the rivers to get more flow,” he said, “[But] I have had a few more people reach out about water than normal.” Matthiasson — who is at the helm of Matthiasson Wines alongside his wife, Jill — predicts yields are going to be “way off” this harvest season. To those in the industry, these drought conditions have been and will continue to be frightening. “A lot of vineyards worry about the long-term health of the vineyard on top of the loss of crop this year, and there’s no guarantee we are going to get rain this winter … It’s a scary time.” A major suggestion that Matthiasson has for those with impacted crops is to, if financially and physically possible, replant their vineyard with more drought-tolerant rootstocks. Different varieties of grape have different levels of tolerance against salinity, saturated soils, disease, pests, and the like, so the chosen variety planted affects much more than the flavor, but also the viability of the vine.
California apple farm that flouts coronavirus rules received $1.2 million from feds [San Jose Mercury News}
The harvest is better without commie distancing” reads a full-page newspaper ad for an Oak Glen apple farm which has received $1.2 million in federal loans meant to help businesses weather the coronavirus pandemic. The advertisement, which ran in the Aug. 27 edition of a local weekly paper, was placed by Riley’s Farm in Oak Glen, known for defying state and local COVID-19 rules. Owners held gatherings during state stay-at-home orders, have not required guests to wear masks and, as its newspaper ad states, do not care for social distancing that public health experts say slows the spread of the virus. Despite the apple farm’s approach to pandemic protocols, the business received at least $1,198,356 in coronavirus-related loans from the U.S. government. Co-owner James Riley said he sees no contradiction in defying coronavirus health rules and accepting federal COVID-19 relief money. “It’s not really COVID relief money, it’s COVID damages money,” he said over the phone. “The incredible ineptitude of the public health elites have damaged the economy maybe beyond recovering.”
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