- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Sacramento Bee ran a brief story in today's paper about new research that is being shared with the ag industry at a Sacramento symposium ending today. The research compared the rate of growth in public funding for agricultural research and the rate of growth in agricultural productivity. Both are dipping.
Reporter Jim Downing wrote in his article that governments around the world invested heavily in ag research from the 1950s through the 1970s, and farm productivity soared. Since the 1980s, though, research spending and productivity growth slowed.
The research Downing reported on, led by UC Davis ag economist Julian Alston, showed that ag...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
News is being made at a well-attended agricultural research and extension symposium being held this afternoon and tomorrow morning in Sacramento. The event is sponsored by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the California Commodity Commission.
Agriculture professionals and policymakers in attendance are getting a first look at new research that shows the rate of growth of public funding for agricultural research and extension has declined and the rate of growth in agricultural productivity is also slowing. The media are also taking notice.
Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Downing interviewed ANR vice president Dan Dooley about the topic this afternoon and USA Today reporter Sue Kirchhoff spoke to ANR...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Fresno-based reporter for National Public Radio's California Report, Sasha Khokha, put together a story for yesterday's program on raw milk. The piece featured an interview with Mark McAfee of Organic Pastures Dairy, 25 miles west of Fresno.
McAfee is opposed to a new law that went into effect in January requiring raw milk producers to ensure their product meets the same coliform standards as pasteurized milk. He likened the rule to requiring yogurt without bacteria.
Michael Payne, the dairy program coordinator of the UC Davis Western Center for Food Safety and Security, disagrees. And so far court...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Former director of Solano County UC Cooperative Extension, Larry Clement, is still sought after by the local press for his expertise on public policy issues. The Vacaville Reporter ran a story last week about so-called ghost maps -- very old, typically hand-drawn maps.
The Solano Board of Supervisors is planning to appeal a decision by the Solano County Superior Court that said the county must honor a map from 1909 that shows a 10-acre parcel in Suisun Valley. The land is owned by Ray Ferrari, who is using the map as a test case for other parcels he owns in the area, according to the story.
"'Ghost maps scare the heck out of me," Clement was quoted....
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A new land-use ordinance under consideration in Monterey County would regulate roosters, which apparently annoy homeowners who are roused at the crack of dawn by the the birds' crowing, according to an op-ed piece in the Salinas Californian over the weekend. The column, by the executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau Bob Perkins, admonishes county staff to seek input from its own agencies, including UC Cooperative Extension, before proposing such restrictions.
Perkins wrote that residents who complained about noisy roosters are actually upset because they believe...
