Today's Headlines

Stan Co. farmers made less

Turlock Journal. Falling milk prices lead to significant drop in county crop revenues in 2023.
Synopsis: Stanislaus County’s farmgate receipts fell 10%, the largest 1-year drop since 2016. The county’s farmers brought in $3.34 billion – still the 10^th highest total in county history, but well below last year’s $3.73 billion. Top crops: Almonds ($813 million), milk ($761 million), poultry ($399 million), cattle ($208 million), fruit & nut nursery ($146 million), silage ($121 million), tomatoes ($107 million), walnuts ($55 million) and eggs ($54 million). All other commodities combined were worth less than milk but more than chickens. Crops going up were almonds, poultry, cattle, walnuts and tomatoes.

After 7 years, doctor resigns

Merced Focus. Merced County public health director resigns after nearly 7 years on the job.
Synopsis: Victor Patton reports on Rebecca Nanyonjo’s Aug. 20 departure. She saw Merced County through its generational COVID-19 crisis and was its leader when it received national accreditation. Nanyonjo was fierce in her transparency efforts during COVID: “We’re essential enough to feed the state and the world, but we’re not essential enough to keep from dying,” she said about rules around pandemic reporting. She has noted our Valley is “a forgotten area” with “persisting inequities in access to health care.” A personnel matter, the county would not comment on her exit. The county is turning over the department to Mark Hendrickson, who is not a doctor, until a new director is hired.  

Of figs and raisins and tomatoes

Ag Alert. Fig growers work to expand the fruit’s uses.
Synopsis: “It’s more than a Fig Newton,” says Karla Stockli, CEO of the CA Fresh Fig Growers Assn and CA Fig Advisory Board. Once too delicate to ship, improved varieties are turning the fruit into a “foodie” favorite. Among those quoted is Erik Herman, the state’s largest fig grower with acreage in Merced, Madera and Fresno counties. Canada is our biggest export market. All processors are in Fresno. Marc Marchini of Merced also grows figs, and they’ve been better for him than walnuts or almonds.

Fresno Bee. After some rough years, are Central Valley raisin growers back in the high life?
Synopsis: Reporter Robert Rodriguez says raisins are going for $2,016 a ton – which is a LOT higher than other forms of grapes and the second-highest price on record. In the 20 years since the Dancing Raisins, acreage has dropped from 280,000 to 70,000. Growers will produce 200,000 tons from those acres – worth about $6,000 per acre. It didn’t hurt that the USDA bought $90 million worth of raisins this year, destined for school lunches.

San Jose Mercury News. Record heat is testing Kraft Heinz’s efforts to climate-proof ketchup.
Synopsis: The tomatoes for Heinz Ketchup are all grown in our Valley, with a significant amount coming off farms near Los Banos. Since 2019 the company has been experimenting with more heat-resistant fruit – a “particular point of pride.”

Why hasn’t farm bill passed?

Ag Alert. Commentary: Here’s what farmers stand to lose without a farm bill.
Synopsis: Farm Bureau economists Roger Cryan and Betty Resnick say time is running out … again … for passage of a farm bill. Meanwhile, commodity reference prices get further out of date, research stagnates, and conservation funding evaporates. Five biggest worries: 1) Safety-net pricing for many commodities are out of date and the formula should be updated to include the price of inputs. 2) Help for dairy farmers. They’re more efficient, but aren’t being compensated for production improvements due to outdated pricing formulas; delays will accelerate farm consolidations. 3) Sustainability. Farmers can’t fix all the damage caused by the rest of the nation, but the programs they embrace must be adequately funded. 4) Research. Even as US farmers lead the world in production, our government is putting less into guaranteeing that will continue. 5) Food security is national security; treat it that way.
MAD Take: As the Farm Bureau and others have noted earlier this year, the hold-up is in the Do-Nothing House, which passed a bill removing funding to feed poor kids in schools. Money for that program has been in the farm bill for almost 50 years. And inserting items like the EATS Act – co-sponsored by John Duarte – doesn’t help. Democrats simply won’t vote for either element.

3,000 chase dual-degrees at MJC

Modesto Bee. MJC president reveals plans to elevate education.
Synopsis: MJC President Brian Sanders has finished his first year on the job, and is feeling “terrific” about the school’s progress. Modesto was recently ranked one of the least-educated cities in the nation, and he wants to fix that. Buried in this story is fairly important news: Dual-degree enrollment has skyrocketed, with 3,000 high school students from all over the region taking part. Sanders’ enthusiasm is obvious, considering he is the 18^th MJC president in 23 years.  

Star Trek saw SF’s future

SF Chronicle. This 1995 ‘Star Trek’ episode predicted a 2024 SF crisis with uncanny accuracy.
Synopsis: Commander Sisko and Chief Medical officer Bashir time traveled back to Aug. 30, 2024 to find a city confronting homelessness by forcing the unhoused into “Sanctuary Districts.” The bad guys sound like London Breed and Gavin Newsom, says columnist Peter Hartlaub: “They got it eerily, and alarmingly, correct.” The scriptwriters were Robert Wolfe and Ira Behr, who said back in 2020 that such episodes were “not predictive.” The benediction of this episode came from Commander Sisko: “Eventually, people in this century will remember how to care.”

Fixing up county ‘islands’

Modesto Bee. Projects to improve Stanislaus County islands begin next fall; supervisor wants sooner.
Synopsis: County supervisors voted to spend $55.8 million in federal funds to bring unincorporated “islands” within the city of Modesto up to the city’s specifications so they can be annexed. That would mean the city could begin providing services from wastewater to ambulances. That upgrades would cost half of the county’s remaining American Rescue Plan dollars. Channce Condit is “sensitive” to the issue because of allegations from Marie Alvarado-Gil that Channce’s father, Chad, violated ethics rules to fast-track state funding for the projects. Among them are improvements in Riverdale Park Tract, the Colorado Rouse area and Bret Harte.

Water hot topic in legislature

SJV Water. Bill tracking: More than a dozen new water laws racing to end of legislative session. 
Synopsis: Rebecca Kauer wants higher penalties for those who divert water without a permit. Joaquin Arambula wants to appoint state administrators to oversee wastewater in small communities. Esmeralda Soria wants to help Westlands generate more solar power then get it to the grid. Anna Caballero would require requirements in the CA Water Plan to be updated every 5 years. Caballero also would make the governor’s emergency order about diverting floodwater into recharge basins permanent. This bill has created some interesting alliances. Turlock, Modesto and a few other irrigation districts have joined ultra-green SF Baykeeper in opposition but for different reasons.

Police chief: Data needs context

Modesto Bee. Will Modesto police issue a study on bias toward Black residents? Chief hesitant.
Synopsis: The Community Police Review Board reacts to a Modesto Bee story that said 17% of all use-of-force cases were against Black people, who make up only 4% of the city’s population. Chief Brandon Gillespie worries that such numbers can be misconstrued. For instance, he pointed out that of the 29 incidents in which force was used last year, 23 were on dispatched calls responding to resident complaints and 11 of those involved non-residents. Data, said Gillespie, “should absolutely raise our curiosity, and raise our concerns … but you have to continue to dig into the data to really get to the root.” Board members Nancy Smith agrees, but doesn’t want the study ignored. Wendy Byrd responded: “It’s not about shame and blame; it’s about fix.”

Not just any Port

Fresno Bee. Critically acclaimed ‘perfect Port’ wine made at family-owned Madera vineyard.
Synopsis: Peter Ficklin says his is the oldest Port-making winery in the US. Just off Hwy 99 near Fresno, he has won double-gold for his Old Vine Tinta Port. Wine Enthusiast’s tasting director rated it 100 points, calling it the “pinnacle of the category.” Peter is a fourth-gen winemaker, whose family has made wine for 80 years. He grows Portuguese grapes on his 2.5 acres vineyard, producing a port with an AC of 20%. Expect to pay around $55 per bottle.