September 4, 2009

Welcome to Weekly Update, a publication of Western United Environmental Services (WUES). We realize you look to us as a reliable source of information on the Waste Discharge Requirements from the Regional Water Board. We strive to provide your dairy with quality service, while at the same time saving you money as you face the challenges in complying with the WDRs. Previous editions of the Weekly Update can be found at www.wuenvironmental.com.

       Dairy farmers call for price stability in Vilsack meeting

Setting the stage for what evolved into a spirited "town hall" session in Modesto last week, Congressman Dennis Cardoza told U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that dairy issues would take top billing during the latest stop in the secretary's nationwide rural tour. "Mr. Secretary, you will hear today from our dairy producers, many of whom dressed in red to symbolize the red ink that their farms are bleeding," Cardoza said."You will hear that they are not able to sustain their farms with prices far below the cost of production. Sadly, many of them have gone out of business or are on the precipice of going out of business. These are third- and fourth-generation farmers and dairymen. And they are more than just farmers, they are the fabric of our communities." Following that introduction by the Merced Democrat, Vilsack fielded several hard questions from Central Valley dairy producers and others during an open exchange of dialogue between farmers and the nation's top ranking agricultural official. Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, listened intently as one dairy farmer after another appealed for assistance from the federal government to help them survive an economic downturn resulting in an estimated loss of millions of dollars a day by the nation's dairy producers. Their message was strong and clear: Help is needed immediately if dairy producers are to survive. <more> Sept.1, 2009 Ag Alert

California's Man-Made Drought. The green war against San Joaquin Valley farmers

California has a new endangered species on its hands in the San Joaquin Valley—farmers. Thanks to environmental regulations designed to protect the likes of the three-inch long delta smelt, one of America's premier agricultural regions is suffering in a drought made worse by federal regulations. The state's water emergency is unfolding thanks to the latest mishandling of the Endangered Species Act. Last December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued what is known as a "biological opinion" imposing water reductions on the San Joaquin Valley and environs to safeguard the federally protected hypomesus transpacificus, a.k.a., the delta smelt. As a result, tens of billions of gallons of water from mountains east and north of Sacramento have been channeled away from farmers and into the ocean, leaving hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land fallow or scorched. <more> Sept. 2, 200 9Wall Street Journal

State cuts imperil program to preserve farmland

Strolling through emerald groves of orange trees, Tulare County citrus grower Allen Ishida said he reckons he'll have to sell some of his 270 acres to pay higher property taxes should his county pull out of a threatened farmland preservation program. Thirty miles down California 99, third-generation almond grower Don Davis was making similar calculations. Davis figures he could rip out rows of almond trees stretching over 480 acres near McFarland in Kern County and sell the land, if necessary. He'd have no choice, Davis said. His property taxes would probably triple from $44,000. Across the San Joaquin Valley, the richest agricultural region in the nation, the farmers who produce milk, grow crops and raise beef cattle are nervous about the popular Williamson Act program going belly up."We don't want to see it go away because it gives us the ability to just be farmers and to be billed like farmers," Davis said. Tulare, Kern and other counties are facing tough decisions on how to save the program after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminated $28 million last month for the Williamson Act, widely viewed as the state's most significant land-management tool. Created in 1965, the act allows counties to enter into rolling contracts with farmers and ranchers to keep agricultural land in production for at least 10 years. In return, counties value their lands in ways that reduce property taxes by up to 90%. For 38 years, the state has contributed some of the annual property tax revenue that counties lose. Loss of those payments this year is spurring several counties to assess whether they can afford to stay in the program. At stake are about 16.5 million acres -- more than half of the state's farmland -- protected from development through Williamson Act contracts.<more> Aug. 30, 2009 LA Times

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SEPTEMBER

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