Agriculture Daily News July 25

Agriculture:

 

*The Illogic of Farm Subsidies, and Other Agricultural Truths -- Last week we solicited your questions for agricultural economist Daniel Sumner. Sumner has answers for questions about organic produce, biofuels, the logic of locavores, whether the U.S.'s attachment to cotton is emotional or financial, and how to talk to farmers about the economics of agriculture. Freakonomics Blog 7/25/08

 

*Tomato Industry Seeks Compensation -- Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Democrat from Florida, a big tomato producer in the U.S., introduced legislation Wednesday night that would give the nation's tomato growers and shippers $100 million to compensate for losses they incurred in the outbreak. The Agriculture Department would decide who qualifies, much like the way disaster assistance is carried out. WSJ 7/25/08

 

Grower-Shipper Association, Salinas, and Monterey County to research rail feasibility -- The Monterey County Board of Supervisors on July 22 approved to match Salinas' investment in a rail feasibility study that will be administered by the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California (GSA). The county and city are each contributing $15,000 to this study which will evaluate the feasibility and industry interest in using rail carriers for the transport of agricultural products. This study will determine whether returning some shipments to a rail delivery system is a more cost-effective method of providing much of the nation and surrounding countries with the Central Coast's fresh produce. Western Farm Press 7/25/08

 

Farm animal rights law would require room to roam -- This fall, California voters will consider the most comprehensive farm animal rights law in the country, a measure that would ban cramped metal cages for egg-laying hens, metal gestation crates for pregnant sows and veal crates for lambs. A showdown between proponents and opponents of the California measure, initiated by the Humane Society of the United States, looms. The egg industry, the fifth largest in the country, is preparing an all-out campaign to defeat the measure. SJ Mercury 7/25/08

 

*Budget cutbacks blamed for lack of study on moth -- State agriculture leaders Thursday blamed budget cuts since the 1980s for setting back study of the invasive light brown apple moth and allowing the pest to establish itself in Northern California. Now, researchers are scrambling to learn whatever they can about the Australian pest that set up residence in Santa Cruz County and parts of the Bay Area last year, as well as the threat the moth poses to crops and other plants. SJ Mercury 7/25/08

 

Food:

 

Garlic beckons health buffs -- Not everyone agrees on the health benefits of garlic.  Christopher Gardner, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford University, said that while there have been "literally thousands" of studies on garlic's purported effects, the medical community has "no consensus" on any of them. SJ Mercury 7/25/08

 

*Schwarzenegger signs trans fat ban -- California will be the first state to ban trans fats in restaurants and bakeries under legislation signed today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The measure requires restaurants to quit using trans fats by January 2010, and for bakeries to follow suit one year later. The legislation, Assembly Bill 97, was proposed by Democratic Assemblyman Tony Mendoza of Artesia and opposed by most Republicans. Sacramento Bee 7/25/08

 

California's Largest Family Owned Restaurant, Scoma's on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, Concerned About State Water Policy and Decline of Salmon -- Yesterday, another report was issued—this time by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), "Fish Out of Water: How Water Management in the Bay-Delta Threatens the Future of California's Salmon Fishery," describing how the State Water Project and Central Valley Project contribute to declining salmon populations. Bennett, who has been with Scoma's for 15 years and is their fish buyer, said that "In the business model when Scoma's started in 1965 and I'm sure for years and years, sea food was plentiful, inexpensive, and it wasn't very popular. Now it's gotten to where seafood is extremely popular, it's expensive. It's extremely hard to come by." California Progress Report 7/25/08

 

Water:

 

*State plans land surveys for possible Delta canal routes -- State water officials today are sending letters to about 1,000 property owners in the Delta – a heads up that surveyors may need to access private land to begin planning a canal to ferry fresh water to Southern California. Surveys won't begin until next year, but the letters confirm the seriousness of efforts to lay a controversial canal around the Delta. Sacramento Bee 7/25/08

 

Senator wants unified federal effort on quaggas mussel invasion of waterways including two Inland lakes -- Federal agencies should take a stronger role in the fight against a species of mussel that has invaded Western waterways, including two Inland lakes, and develop a plan to eradicate the pest, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said. PE 7/25/08