Agriculture/Food System – Page 39

SuzanneMarch 4, 2014Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable Livinganimal welfare, chickensLeave a comment

Missouri files suit to block California's egg standards

Stephanie Strom, NEW YORK TIMES

Hens in California are living the good life. Many can now lay their eggs in oversize enclosures roomy enough to stand up, lie down — even extend their wings fully without touching another bird.

Hens in most other states don’t have it so good. Their conditions, as the head of California’s egg trade group explained, are “like you sitting in an airplane seat in the economy section all your life.”

So if you’re a hen, you want to live in California. Short of that, you want California-size leg room. And that’s precisely what lawmakers in California are demanding of out-of-state farmers who sell eggs in California — setting off a feud over interstate commerce that has spilled over into the farmyard at large.

The Missouri attorney general has filed a lawsuit to block the California egg rules, and at least three other states are considering doing the same. The beef and pork lobbies are also lining up against the California rules in an effort to prevent any new restrictions on raising livestock.

Photo

New rules require egg layers to have more capacious cages. Credit Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

via Wishing They All Could Be California Hens – NYTimes.com.

SuzanneMarch 4, 2014Agriculture/Food System, Land Use, Sustainable Livingschool gardensLeave a comment

Student farm and garden program loses land

Kerry Benefield, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Four Santa Rosa schools are scrambling to find land to continue their farm and garden programs after losing a long-term lease negotiated through a nonprofit group.

Students from Montgomery and Cardinal Newman high schools, as well as Village Charter School and Roseland Collegiate Prep, have in some cases spent years planting and harvesting crops on about two acres of land on Angela Drive near the former Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa.

The deal, coordinated through the nonprofit Cultivating Impact program, gave students access to a certified organic farm while allowing some stud

via Santa Rosa, school garden, Cardinal Newman, Cultivating Impact | PressDemocrat.com.

SuzanneMarch 1, 2014Agriculture/Food System, WaterwastewaterLeave a comment

Farmers question bill offering treated wastewater to cows

Panel report on using tertiary treated wastewater for livestock consumption

Derek Moore, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Organic dairy farmers greeted proposed legislation to use treated wastewater for livestock consumption with skepticism Thursday, saying it risks the health of their animals and could jeopardize their businesses.

“I’m not going to risk our animals or our customers to an idea that’s not tested,” said Albert Straus, president of Straus Family Creamery in Marshall.

Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, authored AB 2071 ostensibly to provide drought relief to California ranchers as supplies of potable water dwindle from lack of rain. But Levine mainly heard doubts about his proposal at a public hearing Thursday at Petaluma City Hall.

via Farmers question bill offering treated wastewater to cows | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneFebruary 28, 2014Agriculture/Food System, WaterwastewaterLeave a comment

Healdsburg use of treated wastewater delayed

Clark Mason, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Healdsburg’s offer to help grape growers and farmers weather the drought by offering them reclaimed water was welcomed by the agricultural community.

But two weeks after the City Council took action in a special meeting to start making millions of gallons of highly treated wastewater available, the spigot remains turned off.

via Healdsburg use of reclaimed water delayed | The Press Democrat.

SuzanneFebruary 24, 2014Agriculture/Food System, WildlifebeesLeave a comment

Bee colony collapse viruses spreading to bumblebees

Geoffrey Mohan, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Infectious diseases linked to the colony collapse of honeybees appear to be spreading among wild bumblebees that pollinate crops worldwide, dealing a potential double blow to agriculture, according to a new study.

Studies at 26 sites in England found that 1 in 5 bees suffered from deformed wing virus, which can ground and eventually kill the insects, according to a report published online Wednesday in the journal Nature.

More than a third of the honeybees were infected, and about 11% of the bumblebees carried the virus – figures that researchers called highly conservative. Evidence of another deadly parasite, the Nocema ceranae microspore, was less prevalent.

Although the path of the infection could not be determined with certainty, researchers said it very likely spreads from the honeybees, 88% of which carried actively replicating virus. Foraging from the same flowers probably accounts for the bulk of infection, while raiding of competitors’ hives could contribute as well, the researchers said.

via Bee colony collapse viruses spreading to bumblebees – latimes.com.

SuzanneFebruary 14, 2014Agriculture/Food System, Local Organizationssustainable agricultureLeave a comment

Sonoma County Environmental Awards Dinner

EARLY BIRD TICKETS are $40 UNTIL FEBRUARY 14; $60 after February 14.

The 38th Annual Environmental Awards Dinner will be held Sunday, March 16, 2014, at the Sebastopol Community Center, from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m.
The Dinner is sponsored by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter and Sonoma County Conservation Council and benefits the Environmental Center of Sonoma County.
This year’s topic is, Building a Stronger Coalition between Agriculture and Environment. Farm and grazing lands represent 58% of Sonoma County’s land area. How these lands are stewarded is of critical interest to the public, the land owner/manager, and to the plants and animals that are found there. As Sonoma County looks ahead it is faced with needs that often appear to conflict: to preserve the economic viability of agriculture and protect the integrity of the many ways everyone benefits from healthy ecosystems. In this short and provocative talk, Joseph McIntyre, President of Ag Innovations Network, will share his thoughts on how to build a strong coalition between agricultural and environmental interests that can address the public’s need both for healthy food and a healthy environment.
Also featured is live music by Duo Giuliani – Terry Mills, guitar, and Richard Heinberg, violin. Their repertoire spans five centuries and includes tangos, hot jazz, and renaissance dance music.
A silent auction, many non-profit displays, a delicious dinner by A la Heart Catering, and of course, the Environmental Awards, will fill out this festive evening.
Tickets are $40 UNTIL FEBRUARY 14; $60 after February 14.
Purchase online at envirocentersoco.org or send a check payable to SCCC to PO Box 4346, Santa Rosa, 95402. Please see web site for student ticket and group rates as well as work trade information. Sponsorships welcome to support discounted tickets and Environmental Center operations.
For more information, contact Wendy at 707-544-4582; wlk@sonic.net
via Sonoma County Environmental Awards Dinner, SONOMA COUNTY GAZETTE.

SuzanneFebruary 12, 2014Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable Livingfood processing, local foodLeave a comment

Petaluma slaughterhouse ceases operations

Robert Digitale, Jamie Hansen & Kevin McCallum, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A Petaluma slaughterhouse at the center of a growing recall has voluntarily ceased operations while it attempts to track down and retrieve every shipment of beef from the facility over the past year.

The enormous scale of the recall raised questions about the future of the North Bay’s last beef processing facility and set off criticism of federal regulators by local ranchers who rely on Rancho Feeding Corp. to slaughter their cattle.

The recall, which began Jan. 13 and was initially restricted to meat processed on a single day, expanded Saturday to include all 8.7 million pounds of meat processed at Rancho in 2013.

Robert Singleton, who owns Rancho with partner Jesse “Babe” Amaral, on Monday night said the company undertook the recall out of “an abundance of caution” and regrets any inconvenience to customers.

via Petaluma360.com | Petaluma Argus-Courier | Petaluma, CA.

SuzanneFebruary 12, 2014Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable Livinglocal foodLeave a comment

Rancho recall: The end of Sonoma County beef?

Biteclub, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Petaluma’s Rancho Feeding Corp. is under fire after two recalls, the latest involving millions of pounds of “possibly diseased meat” according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). It received one of the most serious warnings, a Class 1 Recall, a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.

But here’s the thing…no one is saying the meat actually was diseased. And no one has reported any illnesses from the beef, most of which has already been sold and consumed according to producers.

via Rancho Recall: The End of Sonoma County Beef? | Restaurants and Dining in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County and Wine Country.

SuzanneFebruary 7, 2014Agriculture/Food System, Sustainable Livinganimal welfare, chickensLeave a comment

California egg law under attack by egg-exporting Missouri

David A. Lieb, ASSOCIATED PRESS, CSMONITOR.COM

Missouri’s attorney general has asked a federal court to strike down a California law regulating the living conditions of chickens, setting up a cross-country battle that pits new animal protections against the economic interests of Midwestern farmers.

The lawsuit by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster takes aim at a California law set to take effect in 2015 that prohibits eggs from being sold there if they come from hens raised in cages that don’t comply with California’s new size and space requirements.

Koster said Tuesday that the California law infringes on the interstate commerce protections of the US Constitution by effectively imposing new requirements on out-of-state farmers.

via California egg law under attack by egg-exporting Missouri (+video) – CSMonitor.com.

SuzanneFebruary 4, 2014Agriculture/Food System, Waterdrought, water conservationLeave a comment

Drought conditions stun North Coast grape growers

Derek Moore, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The North Coast needs an additional foot of rain between now and May just to get back to drought conditions seen in 1977, and even then Lake Mendocino could still go bone dry by autumn for the first time in recorded history, water officials said Tuesday.

The warning stunned North Coast grape growers who packed a Cloverdale meeting hall Tuesday to discuss ways of saving their crops amid the worst drought any of them can recall.

None of the strategies, which ranged from installing more wind machines to covering ponds with plastic tarps to reduce evaporation, compared with what everyone agreed is the most pressing need: more rain and lots of it.

If Lake Mendocino runs dry, it could be disaster for growers, in particular those with vineyards along the upper Russian River. Many rely on water from Lake Mendocino for irrigation, as well as for frost protection.

“If you’re below Dry Creek, it’s going to be a bad year. If you’re above Dry Creek, it’s going to be a biblical year,” said Sean White, general manager of the Russian River Flood Control District.

via Drought conditions concern North Coast grape growers | The Press Democrat.