Valley Solutions

Pig farmers hate Prop 12

Morning Ag Clip. Millions-strong farmer coalition urges Prop 12 relief in Farm Bill. 
Synopsis: A coalition of 400 ag groups sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johson and others demanding that the new Farm Bill prohibit states from setting their own standards for food production. They’re still angry over California’s Prop 12, under which voters demanded that any pork sold in California must be raised in humane conditions. In a practical sense, it means pigs have to be raised in enclosures that provide enough room to walk around. Pork producers say the proposition makes food more expensive, citing a study from North Dakota saying pork prices are up 20% in CA.
MAD Take: Unmentioned in the story is who is actually behind this effort. The National Pork Producers Council’s single largest member is Chinese-owned Smithfield Farms. And Smithfield Farms wants to bring Chinese production methods to the U.S. In China, pigs are raised in enormous multi-story buildings known as “hog towers,” not on farms. The pigs are packed in so closely that disease spreads like wildfire in a high wind. When African Swine Flu hit China in 2019, half of nation’s pig population perished. Diseases evolve faster in “hog towers” than any open facility, says the National Institutes of Health. Is it a coincidence that the COVID virus emerged in the city of Wuhan, which is China’s pork production hub and includes the world’s largest single-building hog tower in which 1 million pigs are raised and slaughtered every year? Of course, the folks demanding an end to Prop 12 don’t mention any of this.

Carmakers afraid of China

Wall Street Journal. House lawmakers urge Trump to prohibit China’s automakers from US.
Synopsis: Faced with Chinese-made electric cars that are superior in range, quality and price to US models, some American lawmakers are begging Donald Trump to continue the Biden-era ban keeping them out of US markets. In addition, they don’t want Chinese carmakers building factories in the US or even allowing Chinese cars to be driven in from Canada or Mexico. Along with a handful of Republicans, Democrats Jamie Raskin, Jasmine Crockett and Debbie Wasserman Schultz have signed a letter calling Chinese EVs an “existential threat” to the US car industry. Meanwhile, Chinese cars in Europe, Mexico and Canada are selling at half the cost of US cars. China’s BYD is already the world’s largest EV maker.  
MAD Take: What makes Chinese cars so much less expensive? They have developed a sodium-ion battery that is safer than flammable lithium-ion batteries used in the US. Made of salt, it recharges to 85% in 5 minutes and can go 800 miles while costing 40% less than a lithium battery. American consumers shouldn’t be penalized for the failure of GM, Ford and Tesla to develop better technology.

CA fees strangle farming

Ag Alert. Study measures regulatory costs for Napa vineyards. 
Synopsis: The Napa County Farm Bureau worked with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to document the regulatory costs of farming in wine country. Regulatory fees now represent 12% of production costs, equating to $1,700 an acre. It costs large growers more due to the state’s requirement that they pay for medical coverage for employees. “Both growers and policymakers need to understand the impact of regulatory costs on the viability of farming,” said Prof. Lynn Hamilton. “Our members have said continually that regulation is driving them out of business,” said Napa Farm Bureau CEO Peter Rumble. Cal Poly has been studying regulatory fees for more than three decades.
MAD Take: Some broader context: A farmer in Texas pays an average of $31 an acre for regulatory compliance on grazing land, the lowest in the nation. In Kansas, regulatory fees average $627 per acre, or about 2% of total costs. Most states – the Dakotas, Nebraska, Oklahoma – don’t track compliance fees as a major factor in farming costs.

How fast will Modesto grow?

Modesto Bee. Modesto leans toward most aggressive growth plan; how much population is proposed?
Synopsis: The city of Modesto is considering at least two growth scenarios for the next 25 years. Under the most aggressive plan, the city would add 165,000 new residents, meaning Modesto would have 350,000 people by 2050. For that kind of growth, the city would expand across Hwy 99 into Wood Colony – something that enclave’s current residents despise. Former councilmember Denny Jackman wondered where all those new residents are supposed to be coming from, saying this is reminiscent of the 1990s and early 2000s when the city built beyond demand.

More on Gray, Farm Bureau

Westside Connect. Gray earns key endorsement from CA Farm Bureau. 
Synopsis: The Westside Index picked up the story written last week by Joe Cortez in the Turlock Journal about Adam Gray’s endorsement in CA-13 by the CA Farm Bureau. “No one works harder to deliver for Central Valley families than Adam Gray,” said Bureau President Shannon Douglass. “When results matter, Adam is the one who puts politics aside and makes sure that farmers and ranchers benefit from the decisions happening in Washington.”

Riverbank to re-buy parcel?

Modesto Bee. Riverbank close to buying site of demolished Del Rio Theater for new city hall.
Synopsis: The Riverbank city council will consider buying the vacant lot at Third and Atchison for $840,000 where the old Del Rio Theater once stood. They would build a three- or four-story city hall on the property. Having been a dance hall, movie house and bingo hall from the 1940s through early 1970s, the city originally purchased the space in 2006 for $1.7 million. But asbestos made it impossible to renovate and the city sold the property for $175,000 in 2016. Now it is considering buying it back.
MAD Take: This means the city will have paid $2.32 million (net) for the property.

Dos Palos picks interim exec

Westside Express. Dos Palos selects Gordon Bonds to be new interim city manager.
Synopsis: Public Works director Gordon Bonds has been appointed interim city manager for Dos Palos, replacing the retired Dwayne Jones. “I never realized how busy (city hall) was in the 24 years I have been here,” he told the council at a recent meeting. Jones retired but stayed on until Bonds could be installed and brought up to speed.

San Diego can sell its water

Wall Street Journal. San Diego has so much water that it’s selling it. 
Synopsis: The Carlsbad desalination plant – the largest in North America – is producing so much freshwater that San Diego is able to provide relief for Arizona and Nevada. San Diego has long been reliant on Colorado River water purchased from farming districts in the Imperial Valley. But with Carlsbad producing 56,000-acre feet per year (50 million gallons a day), some of the river’s water can be used elsewhere. “It’s not a silver bullet but several pieces of silver buckshot,” said John Entsminger of the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Metropolitan Water District is working with Nevada and Arizona to build a facility plant to purify 165,000-acre feet of urban sewage. Utah has contacted the state to partner on another desal plant, allowing Colorado River water to stay in its reservoirs. Meanwhile, new technologies such as Oceanwell are lowering the cost of desalination. San Diego once imported 95% of its water from the Imperial Valley but has cut that to only 10%. Meanwhile, San Diegans have cut water use by 50% since 2000.

What water numbers mean

GV Wire. CA water by the numbers; do you know what they mean?
Synopsis: Fresno State Professor Tom Holyoke and CA Water Institute Director Laura Ramos provide some context and explanation of what all the numbers mean in the world of water – even as those numbers seem contradictory. For instance, 0% of the state is in drought but we have only 18% of the water we normally get in snow. The state’s reservoirs are at 120% of capacity for this time of year, but the CVP (which operates some of those reservoirs) is providing only 20% of the water they’re supposed to deliver to some folks and 100% to others. If this is confusing (and it is to most people), perhaps the state should require basic water education.
MAD Take: Water knowledge could be a condition of high school graduation … or running for governor.

PPIC. What CA’s next governor needs to know about water. 
Synopsis: Letitia Grenier continues her series about the importance of water and water policy in CA. She notes that most of the water infrastructure built in the 1960s through 1990s is now at the end of its lifespan. The state is facing degraded facilities, deteriorating water quality and a hotter climate with more wildfires. She writes that It’s time to “protect community, farms and industry throughout the state – and particularly the San Joaquin Valley.”

Hospital buys 277 acres

Fresno Bee. Valley Children’s spent $107M on new land; investment will pay for care, hospital says. 
Synopsis: The nonprofit children’s hospital purchased 277 acres already approved for residential and commercial development, bringing its campus to 700 acres along Hwy 41 in Madera County. The moves are necessary to insure the hospital’s ability to generate funding into the future as federal Medicaid payments are reduced under Donald Trump. “We have to diversify revenue in order to protect our ability to provide patient care,” said spokesperson Zara Arboleda. But, she added, the hospital does not intend to become a developer – just an investor.

e-Dogs will slow their roll

Fresno Bee. Too dangerous for Fresno State? Motorized scooters, bikes banned next semester.
Synopsis: Motorized scooters, bikes, mopeds and even skateboards will not be welcome at Fresno State next semester. While convenient, they are also dangerous and pose “significant safety risks” on sidewalks and campus pathways. Trad bikes, scooters, etc. will still be allowed. In January, a student on a motorized scooter was hit by a car and hospitalized. Starting in August, motorized vehicles will be confiscated.
MAD Take: Not mentioned are the two e-bike collisions at UC Davis this year in which two people were killed – one rider and one pedestrian.

Art project failed the test

Merced Sun-Star. Bogus license plate fails to impress CA cops: ‘Save the arts and crafts.’
Synopsis: CHP officers in the Bay Area couldn’t help but notice the homemade license plate – complete with fake registration stickers – on a car recently. The plate read: Bay Area. Such a plate “screams ‘pull me over,’” read one comment. Wrote the officers: “Let’s save the arts and crafts for things that won’t get you in trouble.”