Ag Alert

1 day ago | agalert.com | Christine Souza

By Christine Souza The California State Water Resources Control Board heard an update on implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires local agencies to bring groundwater basins into balance by 2040 and 2042. Under SGMA, critically overdrafted groundwater basins have until 2040 to achieve sustainability.

2 weeks ago | agalert.com | Caleb Hampton

By Caleb Hampton Sheep and goats, deployed to graze flammable vegetation in targeted areas, have become a key part of California’s efforts to reduce wildfire fuels and prevent future infernos like those that have devastated parts of the state during the past decade. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has in recent years awarded millions of dollars in wildfire prevention grants for projects involving targeted grazing.

2 weeks ago | agalert.com | Ching Lee

By Ching Lee At their current pace, California dairy farmers are expected to meet the state’s goal for reducing methane emissions from their farms ahead of schedule. Though methane digesters are often credited for doing most of the heavy lifting, California dairy farmers have been implementing other technologies and conservation practices that help them move the needle toward sustainability.

2 weeks ago | agalert.com | Caleb Hampton

By Caleb Hampton One hundred dollars a week. That’s how much California’s agricultural overtime law has cost farmworkers, according to University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor Alexandra Hill. In 2023, Hill published research showing the state’s 2016 agricultural overtime law had not achieved its goal of increasing earnings for farmworkers.

3 weeks ago | agalert.com | Caleb Hampton

By Caleb Hampton One hundred dollars a week. That’s how much California’s agricultural overtime law has cost farmworkers, according to University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor Alexandra Hill. In 2023, Hill published showing the state’s 2016 agricultural overtime law had not achieved its goal of increasing earnings for farmworkers. On the contrary, she found, Assembly Bill 1066 caused workers to lose hours and pay as farmers shortened the workweek to balance their wage bills.