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Articles

State Senate hears about response to bird flu outbreak

1 month ago | villagenews.com | Ching Lee |Ag Alert

With California's robust investment and experience in animal disease surveillance and detection, there's little disagreement in agricultural circles that the state was well prepared for bird flu. But agricultural officials, farmers and other industry representatives also acknowledge that the latest outbreak – which began in 2022 and has become the largest in U.S. history – has been no cakewalk.
Kaweah farms find balance under SGMA

Jan 17, 2025 | ourvalleyvoice.com | Caleb Hampton |Ag Alert

Blake Wilbur, whose family has farmed in Tulare County for four generations, grew up hearing stories of his grandfather’s artesian wells, the water bubbling to the surface without being pumped and irrigating the family’s cotton, wheat and barley. “It almost sounds mythical at this point,” said Wilbur, who runs a dairy and grows almonds, pistachios and forage crops.
Kern County immigration sweep halts citrus harvest

Jan 17, 2025 | ourvalleyvoice.com | Caleb Hampton |Ag Alert

Scores of farmworkers stayed home last week amid an immigration enforcement operation conducted in Kern County by U.S. Border Patrol. Immigration experts said it was the largest operation by an immigration enforcement agency in the Central Valley in years. The operation was carried out by Border Patrol’s El Centro sector, which is based in the Imperial Valley along the U.S.-Mexico border and has authority to enforce immigration laws in the country’s interior.
AG ALERT: On the Record: Aaron Fukuda talks SGMA in the Kaweah Subbasin

Jan 15, 2025 | mavensnotebook.com | Ag Alert

By Ag AlertAaron Fukuda is general manager of the Tulare Irrigation District and interim general manager of the Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency. Fukuda spoke with Ag Alert® last month at the irrigation district office in Tulare and during a tour of farms and water projects in the Kaweah Subbasin. The below conversation was edited for length and clarity. Can you give an overview of agriculture in the Kaweah Subbasin? This area used to grow mostly cotton and other field crops.
AG ALERT: Kaweah farms find balance under SGMA

Jan 15, 2025 | mavensnotebook.com | Ag Alert

By Caleb Hampton, Ag AlertBlake Wilbur, whose family has farmed in Tulare County for four generations, grew up hearing stories of his grandfather’s artesian wells, the water bubbling to the surface without being pumped and irrigating the family’s cotton, wheat and barley. “It almost sounds mythical at this point,” said Wilbur, who runs a dairy and grows almonds, pistachios and forage crops.
AG ALERT: State Water Board readopts drought flows for Siskiyou

Jan 15, 2025 | mavensnotebook.com | Ag Alert

By Christine Souza, Ag AlertEven though hydrologic conditions point to a more positive water outlook for the Scott River and Shasta River in Siskiyou County, state water officials last week readopted drought emergency regulations that curtail water rights in the region, affecting farmers and ranchers. At its Jan. 7 meeting, the California State Water Resources Control Board readopted an emergency drought regulation that took effect in 2021 after Gov.
AG ALERT: Annual Farm Bureau meeting workshop takes on navigating SGMA

Dec 18, 2024 | mavensnotebook.com | Ag Alert

By Christine SouzaTen years into the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, local agencies are implementing plans and projects to achieve long-term sustainability in aquifers by limiting overdraft, land subsidence and impacts to drinking water.
COMMENTARY: Farmers should brace for new state water rules, fees

Dec 11, 2024 | mavensnotebook.com | Ag Alert

By Alexandra Biering, director of policy advocacy for the California Farm Bureau California farmers and ranchers who divert water and violate orders or reporting requirements from the California State Water Resources Control Board may feel sticker shock when new increased penalties take effect Jan. 1. The state water board’s powers to issue fines for water rights violations were first established in the 1980s and have remained mostly unchanged. In 1980, the California Legislature and Gov.
AG ALERT: Groups work to widen SGMA engagement

Dec 4, 2024 | mavensnotebook.com | Ag Alert

By Caleb HamptonMakhan Singh had farmed in California for more than two decades when, in 2017, he bought a 300-acre ranch in Madera County. About half the ranch was planted with almonds. The other half was bare. To qualify for a mortgage, Singh agreed to plant almonds on the rest of the land, taking on more debt to make the long-term investment in the new trees. He had little reason to doubt the business plan. Almond prices were high.
AG ALERT: California reflects on SGMA 10 years later

Nov 27, 2024 | mavensnotebook.com | Ag Alert

By Christine Souza, Ag AlertCalifornia water officials, local water agencies and farmers have spent the past decade preparing for the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA, a historic regulatory framework developed to bring overdrafted aquifers into balance by 2040. Under SGMA, local groundwater sustainability agencies must submit plans that show how the basins will achieve long-term sustainability by limiting overdraft, land subsidence and impacts to drinking water.