- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
National Public Radio's Planet Money pointed out that many U.S. farmers who are losing their crops due to drought won't suffer financially because they have government-subsidized crop insurance.
U.S. taxpayers spend about $7 billion a year on crop insurance, the story said.
Daniel Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center and professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at UC Davis, said he isn't in favor of the government giving farmers subsidies.
Ski resorts suffered last winter when there wasn't a lot of snow. The...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A story about USDA milk production forecasts for 2012 and 2013 included commentary from Leslie "Bees" Butler, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics as UC Davis.
Rising feed prices have caused some producers to sell cows rather than bear the expense of feeding them. Another option is to slaughter cows. Dairies have been doing that a lot -- to the chagrin of glut-wary beef producers -- since 2009 when the all milk price dropped to as low as $11.30 per hundred pounds, the story said.
A strong dollar at the time made foreign goods cheaper and domestically produced goods more expensive, Butler told reporter Courtenay Edelhart....
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Pamela Creedon, executive officer of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the state of California failed to protect San Joaquin Valley residents' drinking water from fertilizer, dairy and septic contamination, according to a report in the Fresno Bee by Mark Grossi.
Creedon spoke yesterday at a conference arranged by Fresno State's International Center for Water Technology. Also on the panel was Thomas Harter, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources at UC Davis, who described his recently released research report on...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Pumping up water contaminated with nitrate and using it to fertilize crops is one way the agriculture industry can deal with the groundwater contamination detailed in a UC Davis report released last week, reported Mark Grossi in the Fresno Bee.
By itself, pump-and-fertilize won't be enough, said Thomas Harter, the lead author of the report, Addressing Nitrate in California's Drinking Water. It won't work in areas where there is too much salt in the groundwater, for example. Also, more fresh water must be allowed to seep into the underground...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A report released March 13 by UC Davis, "Addressing Nitrate in California Drinking Water," is being covered by a wide variety of media outlets. Following are links to the stories:
Drinking water risk in the Central Valley
KGET - TV, Bakersfield
Canella statement on report about nitrates in drinking water
Sen. Anthony Canella, The Merced Sun-Star