Valley Headlines

CA’s Big 3 top $25 billion

Western Farm Press. Three counties make up half of CA’s ag output.
Source: The Big 3 ag counties are Kern, Fresno and Tulare, who swap the top rank among themselves each year depending on what crop is fetching the highest prices. In 2023, those three counties produced $25 billion in ag receipts. For the record, Kern was No. 1 at $8.6 billion, followed by Fresno at $8.5 and Tulare at $7.8. And yes, the counties do brag about who is No. 1.

Gray: It’s the Valley’s people

Valley Solutions. Adam Gray on importance of Valley’s people to agriculture.
Source: As much as the soil, the sunshine and water, it’s the people that make our Valley the world’s most productive food-production center. Strong representation in Washington can help the lives of California’s farmers and farmworkers. Weak leadership can get in the way, as we’ve seen by the failure of this past Congress to even pass a Farm Bill.

Bird flu sickens another human

Farms.com. CA probes likely H5 infection in another dairy worker.
Source: A third bird-flu infection in a human was reported on Oct. 5; like the other two infections in CA, it was found in a dairy-farm worker. There were mild symptoms, including conjunctivitis. Updated numbers say infected cows have been found on 82 California dairies – a significant expansion from the 37 cases just 5 days ago. It means California is the most impacted state, surpassing Colorado (64).
MAD Note: There are roughly 1,100 dairy farms in the state, meaning 0.7% of all farms have had at least one sick cow.

KVPR. Possible bird flu cases in humans in CA rise to 3; they’re all in the Central Valley.
Source: The Tulare County Dept of Public Health said Friday that 2 dairy workers showed symptoms, but only one tested positive. By Saturday, the number was 2 again, but it remains unclear if these were the third and fourth cases or just the third in the state. Both worked on dairy farms. Officials reiterate that pasteurized milk is entirely safe for consumption.

Two views of Kamala

GV Wire. Big Fresno Fair rejected Kamala Harris portrait in art contest: Artist.
Source: Ma Ly, a well-known artist in the South Valley with his work hanging at Fresno State and the county office of ed and elsewhere, says his flattering portrait of Kamala Harris was rejected by Big Fair officials. They responded that the painting was based on a copyrighted image. By Ly says many of his previous submissions were also based on images. “I can only think that they made a political statement, you don’t want any, in this case, a Democratic figure at the Fair,” said Ly. Apparently, he found out that his painting was rejected when he realized it wasn’t on display; fair officials didn’t bother informing him.

Fresno Bee. Chowchilla councilmember shares Facebook post using sexist vulgarity about Kamala.
Source: Chowchilla councilmember John Chavez apparently feels being unopposed gives him license to share drawings on Facebook with titles like “Say No to the Ho” and worse. There were more, but The Bee opted not to share. Apparently, Chavez also frequently offers religious content. Mayor Kelly Smith refused to comment. Some of the stuff Chavez posts appears racist as well.

Council incumbents rake it in

Modesto Bee. Council incumbents outraise challengers 5-to-1 for November election.
Source: Rosa Escutia-Braaton has raised $40,003 as of Friday, more than any other Modesto City Council candidate, including her opponents Joel Campos and John Gunderson. In fact, her total is nearly 6x more than Campos and Gunderson combined. Among REB’s big contributors are Lynn Dickerson, Lynn Zwahlen and Nick Bavarro. David Wright has raised $30K. His opponent, Austin Grant, has raised $6,255. More interesting are the endorsements. Chris Ricci didn’t report any contributions, but then he is running unopposed.

One side of ‘Dirty Delta’ debate

Cal Matters. ‘Dirty Delta’: CA’s largest estuary is in crisis; is the state discriminating against the people who fish there?
Source: Rachel Becker starts a very lengthy story writing about people fishing off Pier 7 in San Francisco. They complain of dirty water. Eventually, she connects a dirty San Francisco Bay to the “dirty Delta.” She blames both on “low flows, algal blooms, urban and farm runoff and a legacy of mercury contamination that dates back to the Gold Rush.” Becker says the state is investigating claims that it has mismanaged the Delta based on “race, color and national origin” most evident in the state’s “failure to update Bay-Delta water quality standards.” Her story is entirely based on complaints filed by Restore the Delta and five activist tribes from Northern California. The problem, writes Becker, “involves how much water is diverted to cities and farms.” That statement is straight off the Restore the Delta website.
MAD Take: Becker begins by writing about San Francisco but inexplicably ignores the 47 water-treatment plants surrounding the Bay that have been cited by state and federal authorities within the past year for dumping inadequately treated or non-treated effluent into the Bay. Blaming the dirty Bay on the Delta, Becker forgets that the Delta is considered one of the greatest striped-bass fisheries in the world or that non-native bass make up 97% of the Delta’s biome, pushing out native species and contributing to many of the Delta’s problems. Instead, she parrots Restore the Delta’s mantra that recent algal blooms are more prevalent in the Delta than other bodies of water – ignoring frequent blooms on Clear Lake, Isabella, Anderson and Merrit to name just a few. She never mentions that the eruption of algal blooms is due more to a warming climate (40 days of 100+ temps compared to 10 in the 1990s) than to change in water quality. Instead of quoting scientists or anyone with a viewpoint in opposition to her POV, Becker relies on Restore the Delta’s advocates and the Shingle Springs Miwoks all singing from the same hymnal. About those Shingle Springs Miwok: The tribe has 140 members living on its El Dorado County rancheria, which is a 100-mile drive, dropping 1,420 feet in elevation, to the Delta. They operate the Red Hawk Casino, Plaza Shopping Center, convenience stores and gas stations and are major landowners in the county; recently the tribe bought a 15-story building in downtown Sacramento. Frequent critics of the Delta, the tribe has faced its own complaints over environmental degradation around its casino and other developments.

Helping those hurt by Helene

Ag Daily. Here’s how to help farmers affected by Hurricane Helene.
Source: Reporters relied on Charity Navigator to recommend various non-profits in each state in Helene’s path. Among those listed are the Hurricane Helene Relief Fund (whose website offers lots of links),the North Carolina Farm Bureau, a group called FarmShare and the Tennessee Dept of Ag website where six charities are listed (though none in the most heavily impacted community of Erwin).

On Last Week: Missiles & tacos

Sacramento Bee. KCRA gets John Oliver shout-out for Taco Day segue amid breaking news.
Source: KCRA is “Where the News Comes First.” But on Tuesdays, apparently, also tacos. Emmy-award winner John Oliver found the taco-hat worn by Tamera Berg sort of humorous – especially when the morning news anchor inserted Berg’s Taco Tuesdays segment into the midst of coverage of the Iranian missile attack on Israel.