Jerry Kliewer and his family have been growing kiwifruit in the Central Valley since the 1970s, but they are on to something really BIG now with a new variety they have introduced to America, known as the Mega Kiwi. Watch this brief video interview as Jerry talks about growing this new variety, and read more about it in the November issue of California Fresh Fruit Magazine Here.
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Technological Innovations in Agriculture are playing a key role in helping American farmers succeed in adapting to meet today’s challenges and remaining sustainable well into the future. But these new technologies need to start somewhere, and sometimes ‘somewhere’ can be far away in distant lands. Check out this video featuring several AgTech Startup Companies out of Portugal who visited the Jordan Collage of Agriculture at Fresno State recently, as they each shared a little bit about what new technologies their companies have to offer U.S. farmers.
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The Raisin Bargaining Association and packers came to an agreement on October 19th to establish the highest price ever in California raisin history for the 2018 California raisin crop. Watch this brief interview with RBA CEO Kalem Barserian as he shares the price and update on inventory. Read more about it in American Vineyard Magazine, and be sure to attend the Annual Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo on November 13th at the Big Fresno Fairgrounds for a complete State of the Raisin Industry report.
Today’s order by President Trump will provide welcome relief to Western farmers, cities, rural communities and wildlife refuges that have struggled under water supply rules that are long overdue for an update. Prioritizing national interest and the value of California food production, the president’s order requires the re-consultation of the biological opinions to be completed and fully implemented by August 2019. The deadline will bring to a close the review of rules governing the long-term operation of the federal Central Valley Project and California State Water Project. The review has been underway since August 2016, a process today’s order requires to be concluded by Aug. 31, 2019.
The president’s action today fulfills his campaign commitment to help solve the state’s water supply shortages and will greatly benefit Central Valley communities and the environment. Since 1992, water supply restrictions have caused severe economic consequences for farms and the people who depend on them for work. Many of the state’s most disadvantaged communities have suffered due to scarce water supplies. Wildlife refuges that are a critical component of the Pacific Flyway have had insufficient water to meet the needs of millions of ducks, geese, shorebirds, songbirds and endangered animals in large parts of the Central Valley and the Klamath Basin. An ongoing review of the rules governing these critical water supplies only delays the ability of these important areas to recover.
This action will also help address water shortages that have occurred across the West as the result of federal regulations overseen by multiple agencies. It offers hope to farmers and ranchers served by federal water projects in the Pacific Northwest, including the Columbia Basin and the Klamath Basin. The president’s order places the responsibility of operating the federal water projects with the Department of the Interior, to be supported by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The action prohibits any impacts to threatened or endangered species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
This issue has been scrutinized by the Executive Branch as far back as 2011. At that time, President Obama observed that the Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they’re in freshwater, but the Commerce Department handles them when they’re in saltwater. Those overlapping jurisdictions have only slowed efforts to help the fish.
A committee convened by the National Research Council also studied this matter a few years ago. The NRC found that the lack of a systematic, well-framed overall analysis between the two services is “a serious scientific deficiency, and it likely is related to the ESA’s practical limitations as to the scope of actions that can or must be considered in a single biological opinion.”
Improved coordination between federal agencies will promote more efficient, effective and coordinated management of all ESA responsibilities for anadromous and freshwater fish in Western watersheds, from the highest reaches of our headwaters to the Pacific Ocean.
“This action is an important and common-sense move that will benefit Western farmers and ranchers whose livelihoods depend on federal water projects,” said Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance. “It’s a practical and assertive change to Western water management and species recovery that our membership strongly supports.”
California’s GOP congressional delegation from the Central Valley played an important role in identifying the problems in the state’s water system and worked closely with the Trump administration to produce a solution that is consistent with federal law and will improve the water delivery system.
“There’s no question that the Central Valley has lagged behind the economic recovery experienced in other parts of the state. We’re optimistic that these changes will not only help improve water supplies for farms, farm-related businesses, and disadvantaged rural communities, they will provide the incentive to put science-based solutions to work to help recover iconic native fish species that have suffered under the existing regulatory approach,” said Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition.
“This is a common-sense improvement to a process that has been abused in the past by regulatory agencies seeking to impose a scientifically-unsound regime on water users that ultimately, by design, de-irrigates some of the highest quality farmland in the world. This move by the Administration simply ensures that the process of revising the rules governing Delta water operations will be less vulnerable to regulatory abuse,” said Tom Nassif, president of the Western Growers Association.
“Implementation of the Endangered Species Act can be better for both species and people, and the president’s action moves us in that direction,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Jamie Johansson said. “It’s time to grow beyond the culture of conflict that has governed California water for too long. We need streamlined solutions that benefit species and that benefit both the farmers who provide California-grown food and farm products and everyone who depends on those products.”
Manuel Cunha, Jr., President of the Nisei Farmers League shared, “We want to thank President Trump, Congressman Devin Nunes and the entire Valley delegation for their efforts that will improve the lives of many, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. There will be a strict timetable for rewriting the biological opinion that caused millions of acre feet of water that would have been used in the San Joaquin Valley to be flushed out to the ocean. This action prioritizes building water storage projects that are badly needed. It is a good day for California, for our hard-working families,and for our communities.
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If you missed the CAWG Summer Conference this year, be sure to check out this video presentation honoring the CAWG Grower of the Year, Steve Schafer. Diversified grower and Vintner in Madera, Schafer grew up in the industry and has also been involved in the community. He has served on many grower boards and leadership roles. Watch this video and read more about him in American Vineyard Magazine.
Raisin Bargaining Association Board Members and packers are making progress towards finalizing the high price ever in California raisin history for the 2018 California raisin crop. Watch this brief interview with RBA CEO Kalem Barserian as he shares the progress being made, as well as the recent rainstorm impact on the crop. Read more about it in American Vineyard Magazine, and be sure to attend the Annual Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo on November 13th at the Big Fresno Fairgrounds for a complete State of the Raisin Industry report.
The passing last week of noted claymation artist Will Vinton brought back memories of his highly-celebrated work in agriculture: the California Raisins, featuring animated characters that rocketed to fame in the ’80s.
Vinton himself found fame long before that – winning an Academy Award for co-directing the 1974 short film Closed Mondays. He was the founder of Will Vinton Productions in Portland, Oregon and also created claymation characters for M&Ms.
The California Raisins were so popular that they were commissioned to appear on lunchboxes and t-shirts and even in Nintendo video games.
As for California raisins as a crop, they have a farmgate value amounting to hundreds of million dollars annually, ranking them consistently among the state’s top-20 commodities.
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed legislation to strengthen California’s ability to prevent and recover from catastrophic wildfires, including Senate Bill 901 – authored by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) – which boosts the state’s forest management activities, updates requirements for the maintenance and operation of utility infrastructure to reflect changing climate conditions, and protects ratepayers and utility workers.
“Wildfires in California aren’t going away, and we have to do everything possible to prevent them. This bill is complex and requires investment – but it’s absolutely necessary,” said Governor Brown.
“This new law is the most comprehensive wildfire prevention and safety package the state has passed in decades,” said Senator Dodd, who co-chaired the Legislature’s Wildfire Preparedness and Response Conference Committee. “It will help prevent further loss of life and property while ensuring ratepayers aren’t left holding the bag. By enacting this law, we’ve laid a solid base to build on as California continues adapting to the ‘new normal’ caused by climate change.”
“Senate Bill 901 is the right response to the devastating wildfires that ravaged our state,” said Assemblymember Chris Holden, who co-chaired the Legislature’s Wildfire Preparedness and Response Conference Committee. “The bill provides comprehensive safety solutions to protect ratepayers, makes our electric system safer, and helps stabilize the utilities.”
Following some of the most deadly and destructive wildfires in state history last year, Governor Brown joined with legislative leaders in March and committed to making California more resilient against future natural disasters in the face of increasingly extreme weather driven by climate change. Some of the significant highlights of SB 901 include:
“The Senate worked diligently this year to find commonsense solutions to wildfires that have now become a regular feature of life in California. Every Senate district is touched by the consequences of a warming climate and the wildfires that come with it,” said Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins. “Of particular significance is SB 901 which prevents future catastrophic wildfires across the state while protecting utility ratepayers from unfairly bearing the costs of wildfire impacts. I thank my colleagues in the Senate and the Assembly for the diligence in tackling this issue. And I thank Governor Brown for his engagement throughout the process.”
“The forestry management funding in SB 901 makes broad changes that will encourage local communities to better plan for wildfires and ease landowners’ efforts to conduct fuel treatments on their land. The $1 billion provided for that effort will go a long way,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.
“This year alone, 1.3 million acres of California have burned. The loss of life and property has been staggering. We are taking steps to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. SB 901 is a necessary first step,” said Assembly Republican Leader Brian Dahle.
“Catastrophic wildfires have disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Californians due to decades of neglect and failure to manage our forests and wildlands. This legislation is an important step toward safeguarding lives, property and the state’s watersheds,” said Senator Jim Nielsen.
The 2018 wildfires are already approaching last year’s total acreage burned – 1.4 million – with several months left in the calendar year. Four of California’s five most destructive wildfires on record have burned in the last 15 years.
In addition to working with lawmakers on a solution, Governor Brown in May issued an executive order to improve the health of the state’s forests and help mitigate the threat and impacts of deadly and destructive wildfires, which hinder the state’s progress toward its climate goals. Forests serve as the state’s largest land-based carbon sink, drawing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in trees and shrubs and in forest soils. But even a single wildfire can immediately cancel all those benefits.
In addition to SB 901, the Governor also signed the following bills today:
SB 30 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) requires the Insurance Commissioner to convene a working group to assess new and innovative investments in natural infrastructure and insurance products in light of California’s worsening fire vulnerability due to climate change.
SB 821 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) authorizes counties to enter into an agreement to access the contact information of public utility customers for the sole purpose of enrolling county residents in a county-operated public emergency warning system.
SB 824 by Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) prohibits an insurer from canceling or refusing to renew a homeowner’s insurance policy for one year from the date of a declaration of emergency and requires insurers to report specified fire risk information to the Department of Insurance.
SB 833 by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) requires the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with specified stakeholders, to develop voluntary guidelines for alerting and warning the public of an emergency.
SB 894 by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) provides assistance to survivors of major disasters or catastrophic events, including requiring insurers to renew a residential insurance policy for at least two renewal periods (24 months), requiring insurers to grant an additional 12 months of additional living expenses and allowing combined payments for losses to a primary dwelling and other structures so homeowners can apply those losses as they see fit, such as rebuilding the main home.
SB 896 by Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) extends the sunset date on the state’s aggravated arson statute to help ensure law enforcement agencies maintain a valuable deterrent to prevent arson-caused wildfires.
SB 917 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) requires insurers to cover a loss resulting from a combination of disasters (landslide, mudslide, mudflow or debris flow) if an insured disaster is the proximate cause of the loss or damage and would otherwise be covered.
SB 969 by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa) requires residential automatic garage door openers manufactured for sale, sold, or installed in California to have a backup battery that is designed to operate during an electrical outage and prohibits replacement garage doors from being installed without backup batteries.
SB 1079 by Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) authorizes the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to make advance payments to grantees receiving funds from the healthy forest and local fire prevention grant programs.
SB 1181 by Senator Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) authorizes the Office of Emergency Services to enter into an agreement with one or more certified community conservation corps to perform emergency or disaster response services.
SB 1260 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) authorizes federal, state and local agencies to engage in collaborative forestry management, creates new opportunities for private landowners to partner with public agencies to mitigate wildfire risk and enhances the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s role in identifying wildfire hazards as local governments plan for new housing and neighborhoods.
SB 1261 by Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) ensures that one-time death benefits are provided to eligible survivors of pilots fighting an active California fire even if they fly their own aircraft or one owned by an entity other than the state.
AB 1772 by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) extends from 24 months to 36 months the period of time within which an insurance policyholder is entitled to collect full replacement benefits under a replacement cost fire insurance policy.
AB 1800 by Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-Marin County) prohibits, in the event of a total loss, a residential property insurance policy from limiting or denying payment based on the fact that the policyholder has chosen to rebuild or purchase a home at a new location.
AB 1875 by Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) connects consumers who need residential property insurance with agents and brokers to help ensure they obtain plans and coverage that suit their specific needs.
AB 1877 by Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Goleta) requires the Office of Emergency Services to create a library of translated emergency notifications and translation style guide and requires authorities to consider using the library and translation style guide when issuing emergency notifications to the public.
AB 1919 by Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) expands the scope of criminal price gouging by including rental housing that was not on the market at the time of the proclamation or declaration of emergency and defines the rental price of housing for purposes of price gouging.
AB 1956 by Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Goleta) establishes a grant program to support fire prevention activities, including vegetation management, grazing, prescribed burns, creation of defensible space and retrofitting structures to increase fire resistance.
AB 1981 by Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Goleta) requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Forest Management Task Force to coordinate with the California Environmental Protection Agency to promote the use of forestry material in compost.
AB 2091 by Assemblymember Tim Grayson (D-Concord) requires the Forest Management Task Force, in coordination with the California Department of Insurance, to develop recommendations to reduce the cost of conducting prescribed burns.
AB 2126 by Assemblymember Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) requires the California Conservation Corps director to establish a Forestry Corps Program by July 1, 2019. The program would provide corps members with job training and placement in forest health projects.
AB 2380 by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) requires the state to develop standards and regulations for privately contracted fire prevention operations that are conducted during an active fire incident.
AB 2518 by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to explore markets for innovative forest products and mass timber consistent with the state’s climate objectives.
AB 2551 by Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) allows the director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to enter into agreements with landowners to conduct joint prescribed burning operations.
AB 2594 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) extends the existing statute of limitations for a homeowner to sue an insurer from 12 to 24 months if the loss is related to a state of emergency.
AB 2889 by Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide assistance and develop guidance documents to reduce timelines for timber harvest plan review and approval.
AB 2911 by Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) makes various changes to fire safety planning efforts, defensible space requirements and vegetation clearance requirements for electrical transmission and distribution lines to improve the fire safety of California communities.
AB 2990 by Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Campbell) provides surviving dependents of a deceased firefighter or law enforcement officer free tuition and fees within the California Community College, State University and University of California systems.
For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov