Agriculture Daily News June 24

Water:

 

Delta's aquatic junkyards polluting waters -- The sheriff's office has removed more than 300 derelict recreational vessels from the county's waterways since 1987, according to a recent Contra Costa County Grand Jury report. No agencies have started to tackle the growing number of abandoned commercial vessels, mostly due to a lack of funding, the report says. To rid the county and its 200 miles of waterways of all the abandoned commercial vessels and debris would cost millions of  dollars. SJ Mercury 6/24/08

 

Supreme Court to consider sonar versus whales -- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether the military's assertions of national security trump the need to protect endangered species, when the justices decide whether the Navy must limit its use of sonar in training exercises off Southern California because the sound waves might harm whales. SF Chronicle 6/24/08

 

Immigration and labor:

 

Supreme Court rejects challenge to border fence -- The Bush administration's controversial fence along the Southwest border escaped a potentially devastating legal roadblock Monday as the Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge by environmental groups and more than a dozen members of Congress. Without comment, the justices refused to consider pleas that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had overstepped his constitutional authority by waiving laws and regulations in order to expedite construction of 670 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Sacramento Bee 6/24/08

 

Agriculture:

 

*Tomato growers anxious -- Bay Area eateries are putting juicy red Romas and round red tomatoes back into pita sandwiches, cheese burgers and tortilla salads. Supermarkets are once again stacking them toward the ceiling. But California tomato growers are anxiously wondering whether consumers will shun raw tomatoes the way they did raw spinach a year and a half ago. The warning has not been lifted. But supermarkets and restaurants now have a clear idea where their tomatoes are grown. SJ Mercury 6/24/08

 

*Despite high wheat prices — producers not rolling in the dough -- Ethanol demand has not driven wheat prices to record high levels, wheat industry leaders told a congressional subcommittee. World fundamentals, extreme market volatility and lack of technology development are to blame, they said. In testimony before a House Small Business Committee hearing to examine food prices and small businesses, David Cleavinger, president, National Association of Wheat Growers, and Ron Suppes, chairman, U.S. Wheat Associates, said historically high wheat prices are the result of a number of factors. Western Farm Press 6/24/08

 

Apiary study shows U.S. honey bee situation remains in perilous state -- This year, the problem has largely moved to the West Coast. Beekeepers there "lost tens of thousands of colonies last winter." It seemed to have happened just before, during or after they moved bees into almond pollination in California. A lot of colonies were empty and had to be transported back to the beekeepers' homes after almond pollination. Western Farm Press 6/24/08

 

California growers appear ready for "official" drought -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's June 4 declaration of a statewide drought – the first in 17 years – makes official what the state's farmers have been grappling with daily for too long – a dire water shortage that has already led to a first-ever water rationing this summer for some farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. Western Farm Press 6/24/08

 

Health:

 

West Nile detection has state officials concerned, but not alarmed -- California health officials are concerned with the large number of dead birds due to West Nile virus found in the state so far this year but caution that it is too early in the season for alarm. PE 6/24/08

 

Food:

 

*At California's Asian fish markets, freshness is everything -- New immigrants kept demand high for the dozen California fish farmers who raise product for the state's Asian customers. Small neighborhood markets catering to Asian tastes have expanded outside traditional Chinatowns to suburbs such as the Sunset District in San Francisco and Monterey Park in Los Angeles. LA Times 6/24/08