madera county farm bureau - maderafb.com newspapers/july 2013... · amity in an ever-changing urban...

Madera CountyFarM Bureau

July 2013 Vol. 3, No. 9

August6 Executive Committee

Meeting, 2:30 p.m., MCFB Conference Room, 1102 South Pine Street, Madera (559) 674-8871, info @ www.maderafb.com

September3 Executive Committee

Meeting, 2:30 p.m., MCFB Conference Room, 1102 South Pine Street, Madera (559) 674-8871, info @ www.maderafb.com

CAleNdAr

agriculture todayTake special care when operating an ATVPage 3

Stakes are high in water contract negotiations

Page 9

See Voting; Page 6

Voting One Way, Eating AnotherVoters say they want humanely raised eggs. But when they’re in the grocery store it’s a different story.By Lessley AndersonIllustration by Marina Luz

When Liz Coffey, 31, shops for herself and her husband, the Oakland, CA resident typically buys the cheapest eggs. That is, the ones from chickens raised on conventional farms. There are cage-free options available, and when asked, Coffey says she imagines those chickens live better.

“I’m never under the pretense that my money is going to an animal that’s not probably living some crappy life,” says Coffey. “But I just don’t think about it. I don’t make the connection.”

And yet, Coffey cares about farm animal welfare. She was one of the majority of Californians who, in 2008, voted for Proposition 2, the ballot initiative that says farmers must increase cage sizes for chickens, veal calves and pigs by 2015. Somehow, though, Coffey’s voting behavior doesn’t carry over to her shopping trips, where she’s loath to shell out a few extra bucks for a more humanely raised product.

And she’s not alone.Research has shown that a majority

of people, when asked, would like to improve the lives of farm animals. Yet only a fraction of the country will pay for products from those animals, when presented with cheaper options.

For animal rights activists, getting people to care enough to pay more for things like cage free eggs and grass fed beef has long been a challenge. But when animal welfare reform becomes law, that’s when things get really problematic. Voters have increasingly been passing laws allowing for more space for chickens, pigs, and veal calves across the country. Clearly, movies like Food Inc. are making an

impact. But when people vote one way, then vote a different way with their fork, they unintentionally undermine the very agricultural changes they’re rooting for.California: Where the rubber Meets the road

The California egg industry makes an interesting case study of how the politics and economics of animal welfare can clash. Prop 2 requires chicken farmers to build cages that allow chickens to spread their wings freely. (In a conventional cage, which measures a little more than 8 inches by 8 inches per bird, they cannot.)

Yet Prop. 2 only requires California egg producers build bigger cages, and the state gets a third of its eggs from out of state. If you were, say, an egg producer just over state lines in Nevada, you could still sell your conventional eggs at, most likely, lower prices.

So what’s the big deal, you might ask?

63 percent of the state’s voters approved Prop. 2, so doesn’t that suggest there is a healthy market for those more humanely raised eggs that might be a little more expensive? No.

There are many kinds of eggs available now in California, from organic to pasture raised, to cage-free. But they’re not exactly flying off the shelves. According to the United Egg Producers, 85 percent of all eggs purchased in California are conventional eggs. (The national average is 90 percent.)

Because of the dichotomy between what voters say they want, versus the reality of how they shop, the California egg industry faces ruin. The situation was recognized as being so serious, in fact, that state legislators passed another law, AB1437, requiring that all eggs sold in California

2 | July 2013 Madera County Farm Bureau

A local politician in Madera County recently made a statement that agriculture, as an industry, wasn’t able to provide enough “wealth for the masses,” in the County –and that the County would be far better off diversifying its job-based interests by promoting large scale, flashy and cosmopolitan projects (referencing the high speed train). This was a unique statement coming from the heart of ag-land, I thought to myself, as I pondered whether anger was an appropriate reaction. But operating in a world where business, politics, and common sense must by symbiotic –I knew I needed to stow the anger and recognize the duality of needing to have a cost-benefit reaction to this statement. I needed to really understand why the statement was made -and what may lead to its eventual truth (or lack thereof).

As a relative newcomer to the County of Madera, it has become evident to me that the community carries a strong identity rooted in agrarian lifestyles. This identity doesn’t just apply to individual or families directly farming and ranching –it applies to a multitude of associated business partners community wide. Box makers, appraisers, manufacturers, laborers, skilled workers…the list goes on to include our restaurant partners, our local retailers –all of whom support the foundations of this ag-centric community.

As a representative of the Farm Bureau, it is difficult for me to separate my bias towards promoting and preserving this

culture, versus my need to consistently foster amity in an ever-changing urban and technological landscape. Having said that, I contend that in some locational and economic situations –bigger doesn’t always mean better, cosmopolitan doesn’t mean more people, and flashy usually means cluster –disaster to the poor house.

Having this background in my head, I realized the “why” behind what was said. As an ag-centric society, Madera County’s unemployment rate is staggering. It’s easy to deduce that this industry isn’t able to provide “wealth to the masses,” when faced with the reality that people are hurting community wide. What isn’t abundantly true however is that moving away from an agrarian based economic model will lead to prosperity –especially if the County isn’t able to provide the basic foundations for these dreamy, flashy projects. Without a layered approach of enhanced vocational and skilled laborer training laid out well in advance of these projects, the odds of high paying jobs coming to Madera and staying in Madera are slim. Without the complimentary businesses to these glitzy industries, it’s also very difficult to consider the “real” prospect of a

I hope everyone had a fun 4th of July. The heat and the drought seem to be in full swing. It is nice to see the canals full and flowing. Unfortunately, the surface water will not last as long as we would like. We are back to 55% allocation from Friant but, that is still not enough. It’s years like

this that we start to realize just how limited

our Friant water is. On an average water year, Friant produces about 2million acres feet of water but, Millerton Lake only holds about 500,000 acre feet. So Millerton must fill and drain four times in the course of an average year. This does not seem like a very secure water supply. We should be able to store more than just enough water for a month supply. It is time for our senators and congressmen to propose legislation to fund more water storage. We need more water and we need to get started as soon as possible.

Madera County Farm Bureau news new MCFB Members

Farm Bureau Membership Benefits

InsuranceAllied Insurance, Health Net,

Nationwide Agribusiness, State Compensation Insurance Fund,

VPI Pet Insurance

News and entertainmentAgAlert, California Country Mag & T.V.

VehiclesDodge Trucks, Vans and SUV’s, Vehicle Rentals,

Avis, Budget, Budget Trucks, Hertz

do-It-YourselfGrainger, Kelly-Moore Paints,

Dunn Edwards Paints

TravelChoice Hotels, Wyndham Hotels

Business ServicesAnderson Marketing, Farm Bureau Bank,

Farm Employers Laborers Service, Land’s End Business Outfitters

Health ServicesClear Value Hearing,

Farm Bureau Prescription discount program, LensCrafters, Preferred Alliance

Contact the MCFB Office at (559) 674-8871or www.maderafb.com for details.

2012 - 2013 executive CommitteePresident: Tom Coleman

First Vice President: Al SheeterSecond Vice President: Jay Mahil

Secretary/Treasurer: Michele LasgoityAppointed by President: Michael NaitoAppointed by President: Jim Erickson

Appointed by President: Dennis Meisner Jr.Immediate Past President: Tom Rogers

directors at largeMathew AndrewH. Clay DaultonLoren FreemanNeil McDougald

Dino PetrucciPat Ricchiuti

Chris WylieRobert Cadenazzi

Stephen ElgorriagaErick Kuckenbecker

Jeff McKinneyRobert Sahatjian

California Farm Bureau - district 9 director Anthony Toso

California Farm Bureau CommitteePolicy Recommendation – H. Clay Daulton

Air & Environmental Issues – H. Clay Daulton

California Farm Bureau Commodity representativesBee – Ryan Cosyns

Beef – H. Clay DaultonGrape – Jay Mahil

Specialty Crops – Tom Rogers

Office StaffExecutive Director: Anja K. Raudabaugh

Executive Assistant: Normalee G. Castillo

Madera County Farm Bureau1102 South Pine Street

Madera, CA 93637(559) 674-8871; www.maderafb.com

Advertising/PublishingMid-Valley Publishing

1130 D Street, Reedley, CA 93654

Advertising SalesCheri Williams(559) 638-2244

editorNormalee G. Castillo

Periodical PostagePaid at Fresno, California 93706

POSTMASTerSend address changes to:

Madera County Farm Bureau1102 South Pine Street, Madera, CA 93637

The Madera County Farm Bureau does not assume responsibility for

statements by advertisers or for productsadvertised in Madera County Farm Bureau.

President’s Message

Tom ColemanPresident

NAME CITY P/C/BIndegrow Enterprises LLC Madera PJFS Enterprises Madera PBarbara Okano Madera CLeonardo Pedraza Madera CLinda Robinson Coarsegold C

MCFB welcomes the following new Agricultural (producer), Associate

(consumer) Collegiate, and Business Support members who joined in June & July:

To BECoME A MEMBER CALL674-8871

Stanislaus Farm Supply Companyrobert Naden

Sparky electric Inc.Michael C. Horasanian

new MCFB donorsMCFB would like to thank all of our members who help support our

work through their voluntary contributions for the months of June & July.

See Executive Address; Page 8

Anja RaudabaughExecutive Director

Executive Directors Address

To BECoME A DoNoR CALL 674-8871

Madera County Farm Bureau July 2013 | 3

Agricultural Commissioner

CornerMadera County

Agricultural Commissioner Supports Local BusinessSpring officially sprung on May 1,

2013, when the Madera Agricultural Commissioner staff began their annual Pest Detection Trapping program. The Pest Detection Trapping Program responsibilities are the early detection and prompt eradication of non-native agricultural pests introduced into Madera County. This is accomplished through the operation of a county-wide detection trapping program.

During 2012, 63 countries received agricultural commodities from Madera County which required certification that the commodities were free from potentially injurious pests. Over 4,000 phytosanitary certification inspections were performed on Madera County commodities destined for export. In addition to a physical inspection our export partners require that pest detection trapping be performed in the California County of origin. Negative trapping results assure our trading partners that Madera County exports are free of unwanted pests.

By Mike KlimenkoFarm Bureau Group Manager

All terrain vehicles have become an important tool for today’s farmers and ranchers. These small, fuel efficient vehicles can go places that more conventional vehicles find difficult.

But ATVs are not to be taken for granted. It is very important to keep your wits and not get careless when operating an ATV. Every year in California there are reports of serious injuries and sometimes fatalities involving an ATV. And sadly the cause of most of these mishaps can be traced directly to inattention or inexperience with their operation.

In many instances, the victim of the accident is a younger member of the farm or ranch family who lacks the proper training and maturity to operate an ATV in a safe manner.

A good safety program always includes wearing protective gear. A helmet is the most important piece of safety gear and should never be ignored. For eye protection, use a face shield as part of the helmet or ANSI-approved goggles or glasses. Also, gloves, boots, long pants and a sturdy jacket or long-sleeved shirt will help protect the body.

Another important safety practice is

a pre-ride check. Always inspect: air pressure in tires and look for cuts or gouges; controls and cables to ensure they are working properly; lights and electrical system; and oil and fuel levels. In addition, be sure to check and lubricate the chain or drive shaft chassis and also look for nuts and bolts loosened by vibration.

Remember that ATVs handle differently than other vehicles, such as motorcycles and tractors. Operators should become familiar with shifting their weight on turns, the turning radius of an ATV, its performance in muddy or sandy soils and on grass versus gravel, and the effects of going over or through fixed obstacles such as railroad tracks, driveways and waterways.

To stay safe while operating an ATV, follow the ATV Safety Institute’s Golden Rules:

• Read the owner’s manual carefully before operating the ATV.

• Be careful that any attachments are necessary. Many added attachments affect the stability, operating and braking of the ATV.

• Always wear a helmet and other protective gear.

• Never ride on public roads—another vehicle could hit you.

• Never ride under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.

• Never carry a passenger on a single-rider vehicle.

• Ride an ATV that’s right for your age.• Supervise riders younger than 16;

ATVs are not toys.• Ride only on designated trails and at

a safe speed.Today, State Fund is the largest workers’

compensation carrier in California. State Fund has regional offices throughout the state, which provide a full range of services to policyholders and injured workers. We provide coverage to employers of all sizes, from “mom and pop” operations to major organizations.

Since 1943, the California Farm Bureau and State Fund partnership has provided farmers with affordable worker compensation insurance coverage and accident prevention training for agricultural employers and their employees. In addition to providing farm and ranch employers with workers’ compensation insurance protection, we also have taken on the mission of assisting employers in providing safe places to work.

For more information, call toll-free at (800) 773-7667, or check the State Fund Web site at www.statefundca.com.

Take special care when operating an ATV

ATTENTION DEHYDRATORSTRAYWOOD NOW

AVAILABLENOW CUTTING THE FOLLOWING

LAMANUZZI & PANTALEO3636 N Grantland Ave. Fresno, California 93723

Office Phone: 559-275-2633 • Fax Number: 559-275-5892

LAMINATED RAILS 36” & 72”PINE RAILS 36” & 72”PINE SLATSPLYWOOD 3/8” & 1/2” IN STOCKMANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY COMPANYSPECIALIZING IN RAISIN, PRUNE,AND FRESH FRUIT TRAY SHOOKCOMPLETE TRAY ASSEMBLY AVAILABLECUSTOME MILWORK AVAILABLE


See DRoUGHT; Page 7

We know Mother Naturedoesn’t wait.

Together, we’ll help keep California working.statefundca.com

Stat

e C

ompe

nsat

ion

Insu

ranc

e Fu

nd is

not

a b

ranc

h of

the

Stat

e of

Cal

iforn

ia.

The weather starts to change and it brings a whole new list of chores.We understand you’ve got a schedule to stick to – that’s why we’re dedicated to getting those in California ag back to work as soon as

possible through our careful processing of claims. Plus, we o�er eligible Farm Bureau members a 6 percent discount on premiums.

It’s all part of our commitment to California agriculture. Because Mother Nature doesn’t stop, and neither do we.

Stat

e C

ompe

nsat

ion

Insu

ranc

e Fu

nd is

not

a b

ranc

h of

the

Stat

e of

Cal

iforn

ia.

Regulations Bleed California Farmers Dry, as Record Drought ContinuesBy Gabrielle KarolFox Business

As drought conditions and extreme heat continue to plague California, farmers in the Central Valley are struggling to get enough water to feed their land -- the bread basket of the Golden State.

But the weather alone isn’t to blame. Fish and Wildlife regulations tightly control water resources in the state, making it impossible earlier this year for the reservoirs to capture the rain, when it fell late last fall. And because of the endangered species in the region, pumping water is also restricted, leaving farmers high and dry.

“We had a dry winter and spring, and we lost the opportunity in autumn to capture the water, so it’s been worsened,” says Dave Kranz, a spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation.

He adds, “Farmers are only able to buy 20% of the water available to them in their contracts with the Central Valley Project [which controls the water resources]. And unless there’s a wet winter coming up, they might get 0% next year.”

For farmers, this will mean leaving even more fields fallow, leaving out some key crops altogether. Seasonal workers traveling to the Central Valley to pick crops will be turned away. And consumers will get hit where it hurts – at the register.

U.S. Bread Basket Goes HungryPete Lucero at the Central Valley Project

says the 20% water allocation will deliver water to 400,000 acres of land. To make up the deficit and ensure crops don’t die, farmers have to purchase water on the market, which is extremely expensive, given the drought and the heat

“The heat puts an additional strain, because it creates depletion and evaporation. It dries out the land, which isn’t getting natural irrigation,” says Lucero.

Vernon Crowder, senior vice-president and senior analyst in the food and agribusiness group at Rabobank, says water in the water market costs $450 per square acre foot during the last drought in 2009.

“Now, it’s being sold for more than $1,000,” says Crowder.

While some farmers are trying to supplement their water supplies with well water, Crowder says the saltiness of the well water can hurt crops. “You can irrigate


www.seibertsoilco.com

1340 N. Crystal 93728 • Fresno

Serving Fresno & The Greater Central Valley

Ask about our Farm Bureau member’s discount!

FUEL & LUBRICANTS FOR ALL APPLICATIONS

Since 1936

(559) 493-0645

By Felicity Barringer and Kenneth ChangNew York Times

One of the deadliest wildfires in a generation vastly expanded Monday to cover more than 8,000 acres, sweeping up sharp slopes through dry scrub and gnarled piñon pines a day after fickle winds and flames killed 19 firefighters.

The gusty monsoon winds where the Colorado Plateau begins to drop off into the Sonoran Desert continued to bedevil about 400 firefighters who were defending 500 homes and 200 businesses in the old gold mining villages of Yarnell and Peeples Valley.

Scientists said those blazes and 15 others that remained uncontained from New Mexico to California and Idaho were part of the new normal — an increasingly hot and dry West, resulting in more catastrophic fires.

Since 1970, Arizona has warmed at a rate 0.72 degrees per decade, the fastest among the 50 states, based on an analysis of temperature data by Climate Central, an independent organization that researches and reports on climate. Even as the temperatures have leveled off in many places around the world in the past decade, the Southwest has continued to get hotter.

“The decade of 2001 to 2010 in Arizona was the hottest in both spring and the summer,” said Gregg Garfin, a professor of climate, natural resources and policy at the University of Arizona and the executive editor of a study examining the impact of climate change on the Southwest.

Warmer winters mean less snowfall. More of the winter precipitation falls as rain, which quickly flows away in streams instead of seeping deep underground.

The soils then dry out earlier and more quickly in May and June. “It’s the most arid time of year,” Dr. Garfin said. “It’s windy as well.”

The growing season also starts earlier, so there is more to burn.

“The fire season has lengthened substantially, by two months, over the last 30 years,” said Craig D. Allen, a research ecologist at the United States Geological Survey station at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico.

The fire potential is exacerbated by the past policy, beginning around 1900, of putting out all fires. Fires are a natural way of clearing out the underbrush. With that natural rhythm disrupted, the flammable material piled up, so when it did catch fire, it ignited a giant fire that burned hotter and wider.

This total-suppression policy began to ease as early as the 1950s, when scientists began to see fire’s role in ecosystems. It was completely abandoned nearly two decades ago.

But in the 1970s, the Southwest entered a wet period, part of a climate cycle that repeats every 20 to 30 years. “That wet period helped keep a lid on fires,” Dr. Allen said. “And it also allowed the forests to fluff up.”

Since 1996, the climate pattern, known as the Pacific decadal oscillation, has swung to the dry end of the spectrum, and the region is caught in a long-term drought.

Stephen J. Pyne, one of the nation’s leading fire historians and a professor at Arizona State University, said, “How we live on the land, what we decide we put on public and private lands, how we do things and don’t do things on the land, changes its combustibility.”

In many landscapes, he added, “you’ve enhanced the natural combustibility” by building hundreds of thousands of homes in fire-prone areas, and for years suppressing natural fires, allowing a buildup of combustible materials like the “slash” debris left behind by logging.

“The natural conditions, particularly climate, the land-use changes that interact with it and how we add or subtract fire, those are the three parts of the fire triangle. Almost all of those are pointing in the same direction — bigger, more damaging fires,” he said.

While Yarnell is not a new community, and its population remained basically stable between 2000 and 2010, it is representative of the risk involved in the trend around the West for people to move into fire-prone areas in what social scientists call the “wild land-urban interface.”

Those expanding communities, with rural views but more urban economies, have been the focus of concern among federal and state officials for a decade or more. While such regions are more plentiful in the East, it is in the areas west of the 100th longitude, reaching from West Texas and the Dakotas to the Pacific Ocean, where the natural aridity, increasingly exacerbated by climate change, makes fires a common threat.

In the West in the 1990s, more than 2.2 million housing units were added in these fire-prone areas, according to testimony by Roger B. Hammer, a demographer at Oregon State University and a leading authority on the issue. Speaking to a House subcommittee in 2008, he called this a “wicked problem,” and predicted an additional 12.3 million homes would be built in such areas in Western states — more than double the current numbers.

Government and scientific data show that destructive sweep of wildfires covered an annual average of seven million acres in the 2000s, twice the totals of the 1990s. Michael Kodas, who is writing a book on modern firefighting, wrote in On Earth magazine last year that scientists believe that number will rise 50 percent or more by 2020.

Yet in fiscal 2013, more than $1.7 billion, or 38 percent of the Forest Service’s budget, was to be devoted to firefighting in general, with $537.8 million — a slight reduction from the previous year — specifically allocated for wildland fires. The Interior Department’s appropriation for wildland firefighting was $276.5 million, a slight increase over the previous year.

But the federal budget sequester eliminated $28 million from the Forest Service budget, although Interior’s remained nearly level. This occurred even though both agencies overspent 2012 budgets of similar size, and though federal firefighters are often first responders, working alongside their state colleagues during blazes like the Yarnell Hill fire.

“The Forest Service is being treated as a firefighter of last resort,” Dr. Pyne said. This, he added, “is not what the agency was set up for, and it’s not financed for it.”

Dr. Allen said that what was different in the recent fires — hotter, more enveloping — is that they are killing far more trees. “We’re seeing the size of postfire treeless patches merging into thousands of acres,” he said, “sometimes many thousands of acres.”

That could permanently transform much of the Arizona landscape as grasslands and shrubs fill in the empty space.

Fernanda Santos and John Dougherty contributed reporting from Prescott, Ariz., and Jonathan Weisman from Washington.

Experts See New Normal as a Hotter, Drier West Faces More Huge Fires

6 | July 2013 Madera County Farm Bureau6 | April 2013 Madera County Farm Bureau

BestConcreteBlocks.com559-288-7902Call For Free Estimate

BESTBESTBESTBESTBESTBESTBESTBESTBESTCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSCONCRETE BLOCKSInstant & InexpensiveInterlocking Blocks2000 and 1000lb. sizesBuilt-In hooks for easy liftingDelivery available

must comply with bigger cage standards. That would ostensibly take care of the “cheap eggs from Nevada” problem. But it remains to be seen whether this will truly protect California’s egg industry from the reality of bargain hunting shoppers. An amendment being proposed in the federal farm bill would make AB1437 illegal, along with other states that attempt to impose standards on out of state agricultural imports.

JS West is a big family-run, fourth generation California egg farm, with 1.8 million hens, that until recently were all kept in traditional battery cages. Prop. 2 is vaguely written, another complaint of the egg industry, because it sets no clear guidelines on exactly how big to build one’s chicken housing. But after it passed, Senior Vice President Jill Benson and the other JS West executives, took a stab at what they thought might comply. They built two new barns in the style of those found in Europe, where the chickens have almost twice as much space, as well as perching, nesting, and scratching areas.

The construction cost $7.2 million, and the eggs, sold under the name “Comfort Coop,” are sometimes marked up by grocery stores as high as a dollar over conventional eggs. When that’s the case, Benson says, “The sales are drastically reduced.” So much for giving voters what they want.

“We’ve done a lot of outreach, trying to educate people about what they are,” says Benson. That includes taking a replica of the coops with fake chickens inside, to schools and to the state Capitol, and having a live chicken cam on the company’s websites, showing the new barns in action. But at the end of the day, Benson says, price is more powerful.

Egg farmers or for that matter pig or veal farmers, in other states that have passed animal welfare reform laws, may not all be in such a tough spot as California’s farmers. Other states’ egg reform laws, for instance, address the threat of out of state competition the way Prop. 2 failed to do. (To date, five other states have passed laws mandating larger cages.) But if the aforementioned amendment to the federal the farm bill goes through, then those protections will be illegal too, and those states’ farmers will be in the same vulnerable position as California’s.like (Not) Going to the Gym

Some involved in the egg industry have theorized that perhaps the people who vote are not a good representation of your average shopper. Maybe they skew more sympathetic to animal rights issues. But some research shows otherwise.

Jayson Lusk and F. Bailey Norwood, agricultural economists at Oklahoma State University, have been studying the economics of animal welfare for the past decade. They have done experiments where people recruited from different parts of the country were given a crash course in modern farming practices, then were asked, confidentially, by a software program, how much money they’d pay for meat and eggs from happier animals. To make it more realistic, they had to use real money given to them by the researchers for participating in the experiment to pay for those products.

What Lusk and Norwood found was that a majority of people were willing to pay more for humanely-raised foods. Much more, in some cases, than those products typically cost. Lusk and Norwood concluded that in large, people are sympathetic towards animal welfare. So why aren’t more people buying humanely-raised products?

“It is a real part of them, just like it’s real when you say you want to lose weight,” hypothesizes Norwood. “But

then when you actually have to go to the gym or eat the smaller meals, you’re less likely to do it. We always fall short of our ideal self.”

Also, he says, humans are social animals, and in different settings, people act differently. At the store you’re thinking about getting what you need, saving money, acting as an individual. “In the voting booth, you’ve got your ethical hat on, thinking as a citizen,” says Norwood.

That is not to say that nobody wears the same hat all the time. At Safeway, a large chain of grocery stores on the west coast, organic and cage-free eggs sales are growing at a more rapid rate than regular eggs. And at farmers markets, CSAs, and stores like Whole Foods, there are plenty of shoppers willing to pay to ensure their food came from well-treated animals.

“We hear about it in emails, on blogs, the questions that we get – they’re intense,” says Becky Faudree, a global meat buyer for Whole Foods. “They want to know more than ever, and they ask the hard questions: what was that animal’s life like?”

Still, these types of shoppers are the vast minority, whereas desire to help animals appears to be a growing majority.

Egg farmers don’t get to set the price of their eggs at the grocery store; the retailers do, based on a variety of factors. Recently, a California grocery chain put JS West’s Comfort Coop eggs on sale for only a penny more than its regular eggs. JS West is comfortable with this price, and Benson was happy to report that they’re selling very well.

“Where is the tipping point? That’s a real good question,” says Benson. “Will they spend a nickel more? A dime? Where is the tipping point where they say – no, I’m going to go with cheaper eggs, even though I know these are from hens living a more luxurious lifestyle.”

VOtiNgContinued from Page 1


“

DROUgHtContinued from Page 4

MADERA • 1901 West Cleveland Ave • 1-800-948-7228 (across from the Madera County Fairgrounds)

5115ML Low-ProfiLe UtiLity tractor

The tractor that fits your farm.

• 115 hp† PowerTech™ engine• 100 PTO hp• 2WD & 4WD models • 16F/16R PowrReverser™ transmission • 24.7 gpm hydraulic pump standard (rated flow 18.4 gpm)

0% for 48 months*

*Offer ends 7/31/13. Subject to approved installment credit with John Deere Financial. Some restrictions apply; other special rates and terms may be available, so see your dealer for details and other financing options. Valid only at participating U.S. dealers. †Manufacturer’s estimate of power (ISO) per 97/68/EC.

Approved for NRCS & Air Board

MID10X50517CFB-4c

pistachios with it, but almonds are more sensitive to salt. Some farmers are trying to use a blend, but it will do damage to the almond trees,” says Crowder. California is the only place in North America where almonds are grown commercially, and the Almond Board of California says the industry is worth $3.8 billion annually.

Because almond and other trees are a major investment for farmers, Central Valley growers are diverting water resources away from so-called “row crops” toward the trees. Crowder says farmers are most concerned with protecting the trees, because they’re often viewed as the primary support if the farm has taken out a land loan.

“We saw less row crops this year, and we’ll see even less next year,” says Crowder, who adds that the trend has increased over the past two decades. And with the Central Valley Project estimating that water allocation could be at 0% next year, farmers need to make tough choices now about which crops to plant, and which acres to leave fallow.

“Some [farmers] are doing better this year just selling water,” and not planting crops, says Crowder. “With water going for $1,000, they’re taking themselves out of the game a little.”

Farmers Concerned About the FutureDan Errotabare, a small farmer in western Fresno

County, is spending more than $1.5 million on water this summer – and fallowing 600 acres on his 3,000-acre farm.

“We’re in real trouble. It will probably mean most of the profits, and we’ll have to be pretty defensive just to get through the year,” he says. Errotabare grows almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, garlic, tomatoes and more on Errotabare Farms.

At Harris Farms, which has cattle and produce operations in the San Joaquin Valley, EVP William Bourdeau says they’ll have to fallow 66% of the farm’s nearly 14,000 acres if the 0% water allocation occurs.

“It’s going to be very difficult, because we employ lots of people. They’re hard-working and they want to work, but we won’t be able to provide them with jobs,” says Bourdeau.

He estimates that Harris Farms will be able to hire only 500-1,000 of the nearly 4,000 seasonal workers employed by the farm in a good year. This year, he says Harris Farms isn’t growing peppers, broccoli, cotton, cantaloupe and watermelons, in order to preserve the permanent almond, pistachio and asparagus crops.

Both Errotabare and Bourdeau stress that their problems

are manmade, due to government intervention – not the product of the drought alone.

“The government needs to work with real science, both for the environment and the farms. The government is heavy-handed on farming in favor of the environment,” says Errotabare, who claims that the science that supports the crackdown on pumping from the river delta is “kind of suspect.”

Bourdeau agrees, pointing out that cutting back on water hasn’t substantially helped the Delta smelt, one of the protected fish in the region.

A former Marine, Bourdeau believes favoring the fish over the farmers is a national security issue.

“In my opinion, it’s vital to our country. I understand the strategic importance of supply lines, and if we need to rely on other countries, the supply lines will be more easily

disrupted,” he says.“We need to strike a balance between feeding people and

protecting the environment.”Will Prices Go Up?Fresno County alone produced more than $6.5 billion in

crops – a substantial contribution to the U.S. agricultural economy.

While it’s difficult to say whether consumers across the United States will immediately feel the effects of the Central Valley drought because of foreign produce, some experts estimate the price of certain crops will rise.

Dr. Tony Cherin, professor emeritus in finance at San Diego State University, says California crops like almonds, avocado and asparagus may rise as much as 5-10% if the

drought continues.Rabobank’s Crowder agrees: “Because California is the

only place where people get almonds from, if there are shorter crops than usual, the price of almonds will go higher.”

“Like all agricultural economies, a little bit of shortage makes for a big price increase,” he adds.

Unfortunately for farmers, workers and consumers alike, plans to end the “water wars” may not come soon enough. While Governor Jerry Brown is supporting a $24 billion plan that would build twin diversionary tunnels to carry water from the delta to farms, Crowder believes the benefit wouldn’t be felt for years.

“If the people and the U.S. and California governments decide to invest in water infrastructure, it will unlikely bear any benefit for 20 years or more. Farmers are just going to have to do an even better job of using water markets,” he warns.

“We need to strike a balance between feeding people and protecting the environment.”— William Bourdeau, Harris Farms


high tech job gold rush for this area. Why not proffer large scale cosmopolitan

projects that would complement our agrarian society –not fight against it? Why not promote projects that offer tangible, societal benefits that would promote employment stability????

I know it’s always easy to be an outsider looking into a world and offer critique, but

in this case –I do think employment stability is the most critical element of a thriving, robust community. One excellent way to do that would be to support the productive industries present in the County already –not belittle their critical importance for the future. Agriculturalists do feed the masses –but communities feed each other and must remain unified in their mission of common interests.

Together we bargain, divided we beg…

ExECUtiVE DiRECtORContinued from Page 24 locations to

serve our customers FASTER & BETTER

ETTLER TIRE

608 N. Gateway 8 SERVICE BAYS TIRES MOUNTED IN 30 MIN HUNDREDS OF TIRES IN STOCK HIGH TECH EQUIPMENT ALIGNMENT & BRAKES FINANCING AVAILABLE OAC

Since 1934SERVING THE LOCAL FARMERS FOR OVER 75 YEARS

22800 Ave. 181/2ACCROSS FROM PILOT TRUCK STOP

6 SERVICE TRUCKS 3 ACRES OF ROOM 24 HOUR ROAD SERVICE NEW ACCOUNTS WANTED

1539 Robertson Blvd - Chowchilla711 E. Childs Ave. - Merced

674-4678 674-6236

559-665-3704209-723-1823

SCH

VALUE, SERVICE AND QUALITYSafety Glasses and Gloves

Coveralls and FootwearIgloo Products

Pole and Chain SawsTools and Equipment

Pruning ToolsPersonal Protective Equipment

Hours: 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday • 8 a.m. – Noon on Saturdays2880 Falcon Drive (in Airport Business Park) • Madera • 559-665-2300

A diverse range of products for all your farming and safety needs!

By Diana Aguilera and Quinn WesternFresno Bee

Two Valley congressmen from different parties found some common ground Monday on one of the most divisive issues facing the nation: Immigration reform.

Reps. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and David Valadao, R-Hanford, told more than 80 people at a town hall meeting at Fresno City Hall that immigration reform is needed.

The Senate last week passed a bipartisan reform bill by a 68-32 vote, but it faces an uncertain future in the House of Representatives, where a number of leading Republicans have announced their opposition.

During Monday’s two-hour town hall, hosted by Radio Bilingüe and broadcast live, Valadao gave Valley residents hope for what’s ahead.

“I’m here to listen. I want to see immigration reform move forward that will be good for our district,” he said.

Valadao said the Senate version of the bill is not likely to get a hearing in the House. He said fellow House members link the bill with “amnesty,” but the first step to move the debate forward is to have an open dialogue.

“Once you talk to the members and explain to them it’s a process, where they can work for it, appreciate it and someday become citizens -- just like my parents did

-- most members begin to understand,” Valadao said.

Costa, who has made clear his support for immigration reform, called it the “right thing to do for the dignity of mankind.

“We must give the 11 million people that are currently living in the shadow the opportunity they deserve to become a part of this great country of ours,” Costa said.

Valadao’s remarks surprised some in

the audience, who expected the Hanford Republican to balk at reform.

Martha Cornejo of Fresno was one of them. She said she went to the forum to speak directly with the congressmen about the Senate’s reform bill.

“I thought since Valadao is Republican he was going to be against it. But after listening to both, they inspired me,” Cornejo said. “I know it’s not going to be easy but we have to work together and move this bill forward.”

The first hour of the bilingual forum provided a platform for residents to ask a panel questions about immigration reform and the Deferred Action for Children

Arrivals program. The program does not grant legal residency, but accepted youths who meet the criteria receive a two-year reprieve from the threat of deportation, temporary authorization to work in the country and, in many states, the ability to apply for driver’s licenses.

The panel included Diana Tellefson of the United Farm Workers Foundation, Fowler Mayor David Cardenas, and Santiago Avila-

Gomez of California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, among others.

Earlier in the day, supporters of immigration reform held a news conference outside of Costa’s Fresno office to thank him for supporting reform, and to urge him to keep pressing to get it passed.

Clarita Cortes, the community outreach coordinator for the United Farm Workers Foundation, spoke at a podium with signs held up behind her that read “Keep Families Together” and “Thank you” directed at Costa for his immigration reform support.

Farmworkers are the backbone of the agriculture industry, Cortes said. Children

brought by their farmworker parents to the United States at a young age know this as their home and live in fear of being deported.

The Senate bill includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, increasing border security by completing a 700-mile fence and adding more border security officers. Young undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children could receive a green card in five years.

This is what Olga Solorio has striven for to help her students. She is a volunteer with Organizing for Action -- the group that organized Monday’s news conference -- and a teacher at Annie R. Mitchell Elementary School in Visalia.

Solorio said she told the mother of one of her second-grade students how bright the child was, and how the girl had the potential to some day go to college.

The child’s mother said college isn’t an option because she is not a citizen, and her daughter will grow up to work in the fields.

“That just broke my heart because I could see the potential in this little girl,” Solorio said.

Solorio said that child was just one example of students who can’t get financial aid or who face other barriers because of their residency status.

The reporters can be reached at (559) 441-6330, [email protected] or [email protected].

Reps. Valadao, Costa offer support for immigration reform at Fresno forum

““Once you talk to the members and explain to them it’s a process, where they can work for it, appreciate it and someday become citizens

— just like my parents did -- most members begin to understand,”— David Valadao, R-Hanford


Steve Barsotti674-85361643 N. Schnoor Ave • Madera

www.fosterparker.com CA Lic. #0551757

Foster & ParkerINSURANCE

Complete Insurance Solutions

• Home • Farm • Business • Auto • Health • Life

FREE Outdoor Replacement Lighting for Pacific Gas & Electric Company Customers in Rural and Agricultural Communities: rha’s light exchange Program (lcP)

Replace your inefficient mercury vapor yard light fixtures for immediate energy savings at no cost to you.

RHA’s Light exChange Program (LCP), in coordination with PG&E, is offering to replace existing mercury vapor yard lights with more energy efficient high pressure sodium yard lights at no cost to you! This program is a special energy savings service designed for qualifying PG&E customers that live in a rural agricultural community with a population of 50,000 or less.

In addition, RHA’s Light exChange Program serves as a fundraiser for the Madera County Farm Bureau.

Here’s how it works:1. Call 1-866-455-0898 (toll free) to see if you

qualify and to schedule an appointment.2. RHA’s Light exChange Program will install a new

dusk-to-dawn replacement high-pressure sodium yard light fixture for each operating mercury vapor yard light fixture.

3. For every yard light referred by the Madera County Farm Bureau, RHA’s Light exChange Program will donate $7.50 to the Madera County Farm Bureau.

For more information or to find out if you qualify, please contact:

RHA’s Light exChange Program: 1-866-455-0898 or visit our website at www.lightexchangeinfo.com

Your new High Pressure Sodium Light will look something like this:

Typical mercury vapor yard lights look like this:

Stakes are high in state, federal water contract negotiationsBy Matt Weiser Sacramento Bee

Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to build two massive water diversion tunnels in the Delta has hogged the spotlight in the crowded theater of California water issues. But contract negotiations going on backstage could prove just as significant.

The state and federal water agencies that control most of Northern California’s water are negotiating new contracts with their 279 farm and urban water buyers. These contracts will govern those relationships – and extend the government’s obligation to provide water – for decades.

How the new contracts are shaped will affect water rates for millions of Californians. It also will change how taxpayers at large continue to subsidize the many dams and canals that deliver water.

The process is a kind of house-cleaning for the giant financial investment required to build the proposed tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. If the $25 billion project is approved next year, the state will be selling bonds for decades to pay for it; and the bond buyers, before committing, will want to see that the state has a solid contractual foundation with water agencies.

“There are a lot of issues on the table,” said Patricia Schifferle, a consultant to the Planning and Conservation League, an environmental group monitoring the

process. “But mostly it is about how can we extend these contracts, and is it going to be a blank check or are we going to know exactly what the public is being charged.”

New contracts will set many of the terms for repaying any bonds issued to fund the tunnels. Even if that project does not proceed, new contracts are needed to finance billions of dollars in maintenance and investment. Among the projects in the works:

• Earthquake strengthening for the dam at San Luis Reservoir, a crucial storage point for Delta diversions. Cost: At least $300 million.

• Earthquake strengthening for the dam at Lake Perris, a State Water Project reservoir in Southern California. Cost: At least $150 million.

• A plan to raise Shasta Dam by 18 feet for more storage. Cost estimate: $1 billion.

• Another new water storage project, on the west side of the Sacramento Valley, called Sites Reservoir. Cost: $3 billion to $4 billion.

The negotiations are led, in separate processes, by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, operator of the Central Valley Project, which includes Shasta and Folsom dams; and by the California Department of Water Resources, operator of the State Water Project, including Oroville Reservoir.

Both agencies also operate massive diversion pumps in the Delta, and canals

that deliver that water to the Bay Area and Southern California.

A big reason DWR wants new contracts with its 29 water contractors is that existing contracts begin expiring in 22 years. This means DWR already cannot sell the bonds typically used to finance major projects with standard 30-year terms. Shorter-term bonds boost borrowing costs, which the contractors pass on to millions of household and farm water ratepayers.

“Right now, the contractors aren’t feeling much of a financial pinch,” said Scott Jercich, DWR program manager for contract extensions. “But as time goes on, gradually the debt service is going to increase to where it’s going to be

financially challenging.”DWR hopes to wrap up negotiations

by August and release an environmental impact study on the contracts by the end of the year.

Cost divisions complexThe Bureau of Reclamation process

is different. Rather than extending and renewing contracts now, it is engaged in a “cost allocation study.” This will determine how water system operating costs are split among water users, hydroelectric power customers and taxpayers at large.

How these costs are divided is a contentious subject that hinges on

See Stakes; Page 11


Free ClassifiedsTo advertise in our classified section, please fill out the form below.

Name:

Address: City:

Phone:

Email:

Ad Copy:

o YES! I am a Madera County Farm Bureau MemberMember #:(see address label) Send ads directly to: Mid Valley Publishing, 1130 G Street, Reedley CA 93654 or fax 559-638-5021.

MCFB MEMBER RATES: Classified ads are FREE to all Madera County Farm Bureau members and must be of a NON-COMMERCIAL nature. Ads are limited to five lines per member, for a maximum of THREE MONTHS. Send ads directly to: Mid Valley Publishing, 1130 G Street, Reedley CA 93654 - Cheri Williams 559-638-2244 or fax 559-638-5021.

NON-MCFB MEMBER RATES: Classified ad rates are $25 for 20 words. Each additional word is $1. Ads must be paid in advance and sent directly to Mid-Valley Publishing, 1130 G Street, Reedley CA 93654 - Cheri Williams 559-638-2244 or fax completed form to 559-638-5021.

Madera County Farm Bureau reserves the right to reject, edit or cancel any advertisement at any time in accordance with its policy. Submission of an advertisement to a sales representative does not constitute a commitment to Agriculture Today to publish the advertisement, nor does publication of an advertisement constitute an agreement for continued publication. All ads must be checked for errors the first day of publication by the advertiser. All advertising is subject to the terms of the current rate card. Classified Ad Deadline for the August issue is Friday, August 2, 2013.

for sale for sale for saleVINeYArd TO leASe WIll provide all Equipment. Terms Negotiable. Call Kelly Duley 559-709-7540 11/12

Farm Bureau Member?Run your free classified ad on this page every month.

7120 CIH TrACTOr MFWD, good condition, $20,000 Call 559-260-6572 12/12

8 FT. Pull SCrAPer GOOd TIreS, $800 Call Eric Prieto at 559-458-8396 12/12

PICkerS FIeld reAdY $75K ea. Call 559-647-7995 10/12

PAlleT JACk 2.5 TONS $200 + Pickup rack 70x65 $150. Call 559-486-3699 7/13 CATTle rACkS FOr SAle 16’ x 8’ pipe and angle iron frame w/marine grade 3/4” plywood. $450 / oBo. Racks will fit most flat beds. Contact G. Todd at (559) 960-4160 6/13

VINeYArdS FOr 2012-2013 season, Short or long-term leases, Any size is acceptable. • Excellent lease rates • Professionally farmed • Will consider lease/purchases Call: Diamond West Farming, Co., Inc. 559-970-0125 And let’s talk 10/12

wantedlOCAl FArMer Seeking Raisin, Wine Vineyards or orchards to lease. Long or short term. Please call Kelly Duley 559-709-7540

wanted

House passes low-cal farm bill but sows seeds for a possible compromiseBy Michael DoyleFresno Bee

WASHINGTON — House of Representatives Republicans on Thursday rammed through a newly revised farm bill designed mostly to solve a vexing political problem that has divided their party and frustrated farmers nationwide.

On a largely party-line vote, the House approved 216-208 the unusual bill that includes crop subsidies and other farm benefits but excludes nutrition programs, including food stamps, which have long been part of the legislation. It was a tactical maneuver, designed to mollify conservatives and secure passage, and it was the latest turn in a legislative process often likened to sausage-making.

While a dozen Republicans opposed their party and voted against the bill, not a single Democrat voted for it.

By itself, the revised 608-page measure unveiled Wednesday night and approved Thursday afternoon will not become law. The Obama administration immediately threatened a veto, and the Democratic-controlled Senate won’t go along with it.

Instead, House Republican leaders contrived its passage so that House and Senate negotiators can get to work on a more politically realistic version that will include both farm and nutrition programs and can win approval in both chambers.

“It’s fraught with long-term consequences,” Dan Haley, a lobbyist for California fruit and vegetable growers, said of the unusual tactic, “but it’s the only chance we have if we want to move ahead.”

Farm-wise, the new House bill largely hewed to what lawmakers considered earlier this year. It would, in time, eliminate the direct payment subsidy for commodities like wheat, cotton and rice, while boosting subsidized

crop insurance. It would retain specialty crop research and export promotion programs aiding fruit and vegetable growers. It also extends a helping hand to industrial hemp research and a proposed Christmas tree promotion program, among others.

Much of what happened Thursday, though, broke new ground.

Republican leaders limited debate to one hour and prohibited amendments. The last time the House debated the farm bill, in June, 29 different amendments got recorded votes and dozens more were debated.

Democrats wanted nothing to do with the latest version largely because Republicans stripped out, for now, the supplemental nutrition programs that have been a fundamental part of federal farm bills since at least 1973. Republicans did so to make the bill palatable to enough of their caucus for passage. But GOP leaders said the change is temporary.

“I’m a practical guy, and I came to the realization that I had to think outside of the box,” said Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

Texas Republican Pete Sessions, chair of the House Rules Committee, added that “we have to find a way to pass a bill.”

So far, the Republican-controlled House has been stymied.

Last Congress, the Senate passed its latest farm bill, but the fractious House never acted. This Congress, the Senate approved its bill in June 66-27. But in an embarrassment to GOP leaders, the House rejected its own version 195-234, with 62 Republicans joining 172 Democrats in opposition.

Several reasons accounted for the earlier defeat. Some staunch House conservatives object to crop subsidies as a matter of both cost and free-market policy. Many

Democrats oppose changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, still commonly known as the food stamp program, that under the original House bill would be cut by a total of $20 billion over 10 years.

“All people are asking for is just a little help,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said Thursday of the absence of food assistance programs in the Republican farm bill.

Underscoring the widening divide, members of the Congressional Black Caucus actively protested the bill, and Democrats used delay tactics and adjournment motions to convey their displeasure.

Traditionally, farm bill authors have combined the farm and nutrition components as a way to rally a combined rural and urban coalition behind the costly legislation. Over 10 years, the Senate’s unified bill has a projected price tag of about $955 billion, with nutrition and food stamp programs accounting for about three-quarters of the total.

Selected House and Senate negotiators will now convene to work out their differences, if they can. There are many details to resolve, but the biggest challenge is likely to be efforts to reconcile the Senate’s proposed $4 billion in nutrition cuts with the House’s $20 billion.

“The farm bill,” said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, “is usually one of the most bipartisan things we do around here. Not today.”

Valley roll callHow central San Joaquin Valley representatives voted on

the farm bill:Yes: Devin Nunes, R-Tulare; David Valadao, R-Hanford;

Jeff Denham, R-Turlock; Kevin McCarthy, R-BakersfieldNo: Jim Costa, D-Fresno; Tom McClintock, R-Elk

Grove


StAkESContinued from Page 9

RAISIN PAPER ROLLSRAISIN GROWERS

GuaranteedQuality & Pricing!

Call Chad Today!Ph: 237-3819

IRRIGATING THE VALLEY SINCE1967

DESIGN THROUGH INSTALLATION559-673-4261559-674-4078

19170 HWY 99MADERA, CA 93637

Product Sales [email protected]

Phone: 209.725.2828Cell: 559.341.5158Fax: 209.725.2848Synagro - Central Valley Composting13757 South Harmon Road • Dos Palos, CA 93620

Quality Compost & Soil Amendments

BOB MURDOCH

Valley Feed

Tree & Vine Supplies

121 N. Gateway DriveMadera, CA 93637

Ph: (559) 674-6735 • Fax: (559) 661-7200

1300 S. Gateway DriveP.O. Box 1263Madera, CA 93639

• Fuels• Lubricants• Propane

(559) 673-3597(800) 421-3370(559) 673-6608 fax

Royal Construction“Quality that allows pride in our product”

James B. CuddLicense No. 669259

673-4804 • Cell 479-0571

royalconstructionmadera.com

METAL BUILDINGS

Manufacturing and supply CompanySpecializing in Raisin, Prune & Fresh Fruit Tray ShookGeneral Millwork

Lamanuzzi & Pantaleo L.L.CSINCE 1939

3636 N Grantland Ave.Fresno, California 93723

Office Phone: 559-275-2633Fax Number: 559-275-5892

at your Service

YOur Ad HerereACH OVer 1,100

MAderA COuNTY FArM BureAu MeMBerS FOr JuST $45 A MONTH

CAll CHerI AT 638-2244TO PlACe YOur Ad

irrigation

Farm Supplies

Raisin trays

Fuel

Raisin trays

Quality Compost & Soil Amendments

Air Conditioning

ConstructionManufacturing

complicated economic modeling.For instance, in recent years, more of the water storage

capacity behind Folsom Dam was assigned to flood control during winter months to protect the city of Sacramento. This meant less water was available to water contractors. Water agencies argue they are subsidizing this benefit for Sacramento because their water contracts were not adjusted to reflect the change.

By calculating the financial gains and losses of such changes, the cost allocation will change how much each project beneficiary pays to operate dams and repay federal taxpayers for the dam construction debt that remains.

As a sign of how complex this process is, the bureau estimates the study will not be done until 2016. Only afterward can it begin to negotiate new contracts.

“We need that study completed to know exactly what each contractor’s unpaid balance is going to be,” said Dick Stevenson, acting regional resources manager at the Bureau of Reclamation.

The bureau was required by federal law to complete the cost allocation study by 1988, a failure that has been criticized by federal oversight agencies. Both the bureau and DWR, in their contract updates, must deal with a

number of serious management problems identified in recent investigations. Among them:

• A March report by the Interior Department Inspector General found the Bureau of Reclamation is not collecting enough money from its water contractors. As a result, it is likely to miss a congressionally mandated 2030 deadline to repay the taxpayer debt that built the Central Valley Project facilities, starting in 1937. That debt was $627 million in 2011.

• Despite this problem, bureau contractors actually get large cash refunds when water deliveries exceed projections. An obscure contract provision requires the bureau to refund water payments that exceed delivery projections made at the start of each year.

• DWR was criticized by the Legislative Analyst’s Office in 2009 for categorizing too many water system costs as recreation-related. As a result, costs that should be borne by water users are, instead, covered by the state general fund and taxpayers at large.

Talks are civil but tenseThe contract negotiations have been civil so far – but

they are still in the early stage.As an example of the tensions that can emerge, DWR

and its contractors are haggling over something that seems relatively simple: How much cash operating reserve DWR should keep on hand in case of emergencies.

DWR proposed a $200 million reserve, equivalent to 120 days of operating expenses common in the utility industry. Currently, it holds a $27 million reserve, equal to about two weeks of expenses.

A larger reserve would increase water bills, because the water contractors would have to pay into the reserve. Contractors objected and countered with 90 days, proposing to achieve this partly with accounting maneuvers.

In a negotiating session Wednesday in Sacramento, DWR compromised on 90 days, and its negotiators insisted it be all cash. But they decided they like the accounting tricks, too, including eliminating the grace period for payment of water bills so the money comes in more quickly.

“You add all that up and it looks to me like a lot more than a $200 million reserve,” said Deven Upadhyay, a negotiator for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, DWR’s largest urban water contractor. “Did this proposal just grow, and are we trying to just beat each other?”

DWR negotiators disagreed, saying 90 days is a significant compromise, and noting the accounting shifts don’t increase water bills.

“Our intent was not necessarily to grow anything,” said DWR Deputy Director Carl Torgersen. “Our responsibility, at the end of the day, is to be the steward of California’s water supplies. That will always be our first priority.”


Serving Kings & TulareCounties Since 1963

ROCHE OIL INCAgriculture • Commercial

Industrial • Bulk Pricing

, INC.

GASOLINE • DIESEL FUEL • BULK OIL LUBRICANTSFILTERS • FOOD GRADE LUBRICANTS

GREASE, SOLVENTS, KEROSENE

1120 E. Paige Ave. • PO Box 89 • Tulare, CA 93274www.rocheoil.com

We Deliver

686-5837Commercial Cardlock System

AN INDEPENDENT FRANCHISE OF

Serving San Joaquin Valley Agriculture Since 1963

today’s water battles merely are warm-ups for the futuregunner ranch west Project indicatiVe of what’s ahead.Fresno BeeEditorial

If someone polled San Joaquin Valley residents on the importance of preserving prime agricultural land, we are confident that respondents overwhelmingly would favor protecting the soil that drives our region’s economy.

Supporting a concept is easy -- especially when you don’t have skin in the game.

The rub comes when farmers are offered big money for their acreage, or their water, by developers intent on turning dirt into subdivisions and new towns.

Which brings us to the proposed Gunner Ranch West project in Madera County. Plans call for a 3,000-home community with offices, shops, schools and an expanded Children’s Hospital Central California.

On Tuesday, the Madera County Board of Supervisors wisely delayed a vote on the project because it wanted to pin down details of how developer Richard Gunner

would provide water for the project.Project critics contend that there isn’t

sufficient groundwater in the area to allow the project to solely rely on wells.

In addition to being a developer, Gunner is a grower. He wants to redirect irrigation water from his orchards to the project. If that water isn’t sufficient to meet the needs of the project’s 8,500 residents and its accompanying enterprises, he proposes buying more from an irrigation district.

As the Valley grows, battles over (and competition for) water -- already fierce, already clogging the courts and already expensive -- will become more intense.

There undoubtedly will be more instances of agricultural water districts selling water to developers, even as a good

number of farmers, their lands parched by drought and environmental restrictions to protect fish, bemoan their reduced irrigation deliveries.

A challenge for the Valley’s farm bureaus, all of which champion the preservation of prime ag land, is convincing the public that the need is legitimate when farmers and irrigation districts have no qualms about selling off two of their biggest assets -- soil and water -- to the highest bidders.

Unless something changes, we’ll see much of the Valley’s great farm land -- praised as the most productive in the world -- paved over for subdivisions and its intricate web of irrigation canals rendered mere funnels for suburban household taps.

Madera County Farm Bureau Membersdiscounts for Business memBers

• Earnthelowestadvertisingrate• Freespotcolorinyouradvertising• Nochargeforaddesign• Firstadatdiscountedprice• Businesscardlistinginour

“AtYourServiceDirectory”whileadappearsinnewspaper

• Runyournoncommercialclassifiedadatnochargefor3months

CallCheriWilliamsformoreinformation.LetMidValleyPublishingassistyouinprofilingyourbusinessandservicestoitsgreatestpotential.

559-638-2244

madera county farm bureau - maderafb.com newspapers/july 2013... · amity in an ever-changing urban...

Documents