Valley Headlines

Feeling optimistic over almonds

Ag Alert. Decent almond crop projected despite alarm about bee losses.
Synopsis: Earlier this year growers were concerned that there weren’t enough pollinators to create a crop. Those worries were premature. The USDA is predicting a crop of 2.8 billion pounds, less than average but more than last year. Said Blue Diamond’s Mel Machado, “That’s not an excellent crop, but it’s a nice crop.” He added that growers are “cautiously optimistic.”

Farming the sun

Ag Net West. Stuart Woolf: Solar panels replace crops on Fresno County farmland.
Synopsis: One of the westside’s most prominent farmers continues his conversation with Ag Net West, saying he has switched from growing food to building solar panels to harvest the sun’s power. “Some of our nation’s most diverse and productive farmland is now covered with solar panels.” Why cover that land with solar panels? Because “they don’t need water and they generate long-term lease income. My dad’s probably rolling over in his grave, but we just don’t have access to water.” Woolf said up to 40% of his acreage might not be farmable in the long term. “It’s forcing us to move out of Fresno County, which is our home.”

Western Farm Press. Solar arrays can aid grasslands during drought. 
Synopsis: Cornell and Colorado State teamed on a study that showed soil moisture levels increased 20% beneath solar panels compared to open fields. They also reduce the amount of sunlight reaching plants, which impacts the “complex ecosystems” in the soil. However, researchers “found that during a dry year, grass growth on the east side of panels was up to 90% more productive in some cases than the neighboring open site.” The study’s conclusion was that “though this solar array was designed to maximize energy generation – not to promote beneficial environmental conditions for the grasses grown beneath – it still provided a more favorable environment during a dry year.”

Tax rules need to change

GV Wire. Water scarcity is forcing tough decisions; this legislation can keep our family farm afloat.
Synopsis: Paul Betancourt of Kerman writes about how the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act has curtailed pumping and forced his family to fallow a lot of their farm. That’s why he’s urging support for AB 1156, which allows land to be shifted from crops to solar energy without losing Williamson Act tax relief. This gives his family “another option” to stay on the land. While many are against this change in how tax relief is applied, Betancourt says it is essential for farmers who want to hold onto their land.

Is CA a ‘punching bag’?

McClatchy Newspapers. CA under attack: A weak, failing Donald Trump seeks a punching bag. 
Synopsis: The editorial page editors of McClatchy’s newspapers in Sacramento, Fresno and San Luis Obispo offered this editorial, saying Trump’s policy “agenda” is “on the brink” as the Senate balks at adding trillions of dollars to the national debt. Ordering 4,000 guardsmen and the Marines to LA is nothing but an attempt to deflect attention from his failing agenda. “This feels like nothing short of an attack on California,” write the editors. Adding, “The effects of Trump’s growing war against California will only worsen over time” as he withholds $40 billion needed to rebuild LA, tries to kill high-speed rail, promises to gut Medi-Cal and establishes a ruinous trade regime. “He sought to tear Los Angeles down in hopes of rehabilitating his own shaky standing.”

ICE raids come to Valley

LA Times. ICE expands immigration raids into CA’s agricultural heartland. 
Synopsis: Workers in the South Valley were panicked Tuesday after ICE and Border Patrol agents showed up at “multiple” workplaces. There were reports of arrests made in fields in Fresno County near Kingsburg and in Tulare County near Richgrove. A packinghouse at Boskovich Farms in Ventura County was shut down as agents came in. In two cases, farmers refused to grant agents access. Representatives Julia Brownley and Salud Carbajal, who represent the Oxnard Plain, both condemned the raids. “These raids are not about public safety. They are about stoking fear. These are not criminals being targeted,” read their statement. A US District Court judge has ruled raids earlier this year violated the constitutional rights of those detained without reasonable suspicion of having committed a crime.

Protests come to Valley, too

Turlock Journal. ‘No Kings’ protest coming to Turlock.
Synopsis: There will be a “series” of protests Saturday, with Turlock’s expecting to draw 60 or 70 protesters to Monte Vista Avenue at Countryside. Cathy Doo says that’s a good number for Turlock. Protests across the nation will serve as a counterpoint to President Trump’s birthday parade in Washington. Turlock police chief Jason Hedden says he is worried about a local protest on the heels of the anti-ICE protests in LA. In Modesto, Indivisible Stanislaus is inviting people to Graceada Park. They’ll march to Five Points then return to Graceada for the Juneteenth celebration.

Stanislaus sets ‘cautious’ budget

Modesto Bee. Stanislaus County approves $1.87B budget while watching federal, state plans. 
Synopsis: Supervisors said “pending changes” at the state and federal levels could affect local plans, so the county will freeze positions and “keep an eye on discretionary revenue” in their preliminary budget. It includes $528 million in the general fund and will boost the number of county employees from 4,911 to 4,915. It passed 4-1 with Channce Condit voting no because he wants a better understanding of the balance between managers and “front-line” employees. Vito Chiesa said he feels “secure with where we are” in this budget, including revenue projections. Final approval will be in September.

Pumping rules cause anxiety

SJV Water. Pending state subsidence guidelines give Valley water managers sinking feeling. 
Synopsis: The Dept of Water Resources is expected to distribute new guidelines for managing groundwater pumping. The goal is to halt subsidence in an area now being called the Corcoran Bowl – the region of the Central Valley underlaid by the Corcoran Clay. Due to pumping, the clay has collapsed and the ground above subsided several feet. Estimates are that up to 600,000 acres will have to come out of production to making pumping sustainable. Details have not yet been divulged, but the state has signaled that reductions will be “significant.” If that’s true, many officials are demanding the state provide relief. “Driving farms and dairies out of business through financial devastation should not be the only choice,” said Deanna Jackson, who works with Tri-Counties Water Authority in Tulare County.

Improvements near you

Merced Sun Star. Merced grocery store opens focusing on community needs, family service. 
Synopsis: Merced Valley Food opened its 12,000-square-foot store on Yosemite on May 1. It includes a bakery specializing in decorated cakes, fresh produce, catering and a butcher. The store is special for what it does not carry – alcohol or tobacco. Store owner Abdul Ali has 25 employees; he also runs groceries in Mendota, Sacramento, Riverbank and Planada.

Turlock Journal. Under construction.
Synopsis: Yes, road closures and detours are annoying. But repairs on city streets are still a welcome sight. Some 40 streets will be rehabilitated in the next three years. Among the first will be 7,619 feet of road in northwest Turlock; 20,962 feet in northeast Turlock; 11,518 feet in the southeast and 20,973 feet in the central city. Measure L is covering the costs.

Turlock Journal. Council approves spending ARPA funds on public-safety projects.
Synopsis: The Turlock city council voted 5-0 to spend $1.2 million of its remaining ARPA money on improvements at the animal shelter, the public safety facility and the shooting range. There will be new alarms, drains, lighting, gutters, fencing and more. The shooting range will double in size. During the public comment period, several residents brought up the We Care homeless shelter – 10 speaking on behalf of the shelter, two supporting the council’s refusal to provide support.

What’s dairy worth?

Ag Daily. Dairy delivers $779B in economic impact, supporting 3.3M jobs. 
Synopsis: A study by the International Dairy Foods Assn says 3.05 million American jobs, producing $197.6 billion in wages, depend on dairy farming. The industry pays $83 billion in state, federal and local taxes. “The data is clear: Dairy runs deep in every community across America,” said Michael Dykes, CEO of the IDFA.
MAD note: Dairy is the top commodity produced in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced and Madera counties; it’s No. 5 in Fresno.

Dams gone, but salmon stuck

SF Chronicle. CA’s massive dam removal hit key milestone, now there’s a problem. 
Synopsis: Kurtis Alexander writes about the Klamath River where activists celebrated the destruction of four dams and the return of 2,000 of salmon this year. But 8 miles upstream sits 41-foot Keno Dam in southern Oregon. It has a fish ladder, but that ladder was poorly designed and none of the salmon could reach the top. That means salmon won’t reproduce “in the high numbers anticipated with the project.” Nor will steelhead trout of lamprey. The chairman of the Klamath Tribes says there “wasn’t enough forethought” put into the project. Keno Dam has a powerhouse and provides flood control, so simply tearing it down is not an option. Oregon is spending $4.5 million to repair the fish ladder. Even if activists tear down Keno Dam, what about Link River Dam beyond that? The water behind the dam has been poisoning fish due to algae blooms. It means 2,000 salmon were stuck on an 8-mile stretch of river with one group tearing up the nests of the previous spawners to lay eggs.

Correction

Valley Solutions: A ‘destination’ county park.
Synopsis: The renovations at Cesar Chavez Park in Modesto will cost $17.1 million when completed. An incorrect amount was provided in Tuesday’s Valley Solutions.

Cow makes a run for it

Ag Daily. Chaos unfolds as cow climbs sale-ring seats in Arkansas.
Synopsis: A routine livestock auction in Decatur, Ark., turned chaotic when a cow bolted out of the sale ring and then jumped into the bleachers. People pulled out their phones, and soon it was titled “udder chaos.” Others posted, “If (the cow) still is for sale, I want him.”