Mario Santoyo: Hold Environmental Water Use Accountable!

By Laurie Greene, California Ag Today Editor

California Ag Today met with Mario Santoyo, executive director for the California Latino Water Coalition at the recent Clovis drought forum organized by Assemblymember Jim Patterson to talk about how serious the current drought situation has become.

“We are definitely in one of the worst drought situations that has happened in recent times. But the fact is, the 1977 drought was actually worse than where we are now. But this year, we’re at a zero water allocation and in ’77 we were at 25% for both the Eastside and Westside. So what’s the difference? Well, it boils down to the differences that are now dedicating a whole bunch of water to environment use, but the environment is not being held accountable for its usage,” Santoyo said.

“Cities and agriculture have had to be very accountable for their water usage and efficiency. It’s not the same for the environment, and so I’m hoping people will understand this discrepancy when we push to reallocate some of the water back to the cities and farms. We must hold environmental water use accountable!”

Santoyo noted the critical importance of building new water storage projects. “We have been working on this for a long time, and we just can’t afford to continue losing millions and millions of acre-feet of water to the ocean during times like this, when we could use that water. We need everyone to understand they have a role in communicating to the state government that we must advance our storage capacity.“

Santoyo noted, “Farmworker communities are doing a lot worse because, again, zero allocation on both the Eastside and Westside quickly translates into fallowed land, which means there are fewer jobs available. So farmworkers now find themselves in an extremely difficult position in which they either stick around and hope for the best or they leave. But once they leave, they aren’t coming back,” he said.

And, that makes life tough for the farmworkers, but it also makes it tough for the farmers because they need water and labor. You can’t do without both, and the lack of one causes problems with the other; if you don’t have water, you lose the labor, and then what do you do? So, it’s unfortunate that some changes in the way we are using water today have changed the entire landscape of agriculture here in the Central Valley.”

In terms of what we can do, Santoyo urged Californians never to give up. “There’s no reason why we all cannot write letters to our representatives and to the governor! Wake him up! Tell him, ‘Hey by the way, you’re supposed to represent us and step to the plate. Have better control over State Water Resources Control Board because they are making tons of mistakes.’ Governor Brown must start making the right decisions for the people.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:28:12-07:00July 1st, 2015|

California Gas Tax to Affect Ag and All Residents

New gas tax threatens to eliminate benefit of lower fuel costs to California farmers and consumers

In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020, California state legislators passed a gas tax law known as AB 32. Starting in 2015, the law’s penalty on carbon emissions will apply to all cars and trucks in the state, meaning that everyone who fills up will pay more. Exactly how much more? Nobody knows yet. It could be as high as 50 cents per gallon with at least a 15-cent increase, beginning in 2015.

Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, keeps a sharp eye on legislation that hurts agriculture. He commented, “It’s scheduled, unfortunately, to be implemented, but at what level we don’t know. Assembly member Jim Patterson (R-23rd District) and Senator Andy Vidak (R-Hanford) are going to initiate some additional publicity on it, and they are going to introduce legislation in January to carefully analyze the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Resources Board (ARB) is implementation of the gas tax.”

“Both Patterson and Vidak recognize, as do we all, that the additional dollars in everyone’s pocket relative to lower fuel prices, help the economy. People have more disposable income, whether they are purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables or something for the holidays; lower fuel costs make consumers’ expenditures higher because they have more dollars,” noted Nelsen. “By implementing this gas tax, you’re going to stifle this economic spurt that we typically see in the last few months of the calendar year. Jim and Andy, I think, are aware of that.”

“It’s an adverse tax in that it just goes to the general fund, with no redeeming value. You know, we already pay a tax that on gasoline that goes to roads and transportation. We pay a tax on cans and bottles that we buy at the supermarket that goes to recycling,” said Nelsen. “When we pay this gas tax, it’s just going to the general fund for a group of individuals to parse out–whether we reap any benefit or not. So this is not a healthy economic approach in my estimation, and this is why we’ll be supporting the Senator and Assemblyman in what they are doing.”

“The governor endorses it because it creates a larger fund for him to underwrite the high-speed rail program.The governor feels that high speed rail helps with cleaner air because it will take more cars off the road as more people ride the train,” Nelsen said. “The newly-generated gas tax dollars thus become a subsidy for high speed rail.”

Nelson said the the ARB has some leeway to decide the size of the gas tax.

“Here we are, all of the sudden we are reaping something positive, paying a whole heck of a lot less for our fuel, and the state wants to make it that much more expensive,” said Nelsen.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:32:13-07:00November 29th, 2014|

TODAY’S MEETING IN FRESNO ADDRESSES ACP

Fresno County on Alert for ACP

Assemblyman Jim Patterson

Assemblyman Jim Patterson hosted the Citrus Industry Town Hall this morning at the Fresno County Farm Bureau office to discuss the current state of the Asian Citrus Psyllid presence in California, the quarantine situation, how Fresno County is preparing for the possible migration of ACP into the county, and how agencies, growers, and the state and federal governments are cooperating to control its spread in California.

Over forty people attended the meeting, including growers, PCAs, local government and industry leaders, researchers, and media.

Fresno County is the fourth largest citrus-producing county in California, having dropped in status due to freeze-damaged mandarin acreage last year, according to Les Wright, Fresno County Ag Commissioner.

Les Wright

“ACP spread is one of the most serious problems facing valley citrus growers especially those in the south valley,” said Wright.

To date, all contiguous counties in southern California are under CDFA Quarantine, as well the Porterville area of Tulare County, to prevent movement of ACP-ridden leaves and plant debris and unsanitary ag equipment into non-infested regions of the state and to bide time for agency mobilization and industry research to catch up. The effort also aims to prevent ACP from finding HLB-infected trees and spreading the incurable disease.

Though presently under quarantine, the effort in southern California to stop the spread of ACP, it was emphasized, was NOT a failure; rather, it bought precious time for other regions to prepare, and while many treatments did not work, other regions are learning from their attempts.

Creative Solutions

Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell

Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell, UC IPM Specialist and Research Entomologist, recently studied ACP found in Texas and Florida and reported that local agencies here are following Florida’s lead in organizing grower groups and local neighbors to treat their trees simultaneously.

She said that researchers are looking for natural processes, among others, to control ACP populations.

Victoria Hornbaker, CDFA, Program Coordinator, gave the example of Dr. Mark Hoddle, Extension Specialist and Director of the Center for Invasive Species Research at UC Riverside, who is working towards the massive release of Tamarixia radiata wasps, a natural predator of ACP, found in Pakistan. In studies of small releases of T. radiata, the wasps were found outside the areas where they were released—a good indication of their hardiness and potential effectiveness against ACP.

Victoria Hornbaker

While there is no cure for HLB thus far, researchers are looking at altering the ACP so it cannot pick up HLB disease, inserting a gene so it cannot carry HLB, and creating disease-resistant plants.

Organic insecticides against ACP are short-lived, so they must be applied more frequently than their conventional counterparts. Thus, organic farmers must be more aggressive in their treatments.

UC Davis is studying new efficacious organic products.

If an organic farm were in an eradication zone, the grower would be required to use conventional products, losing organic status for one year. Without compliance, the property would be abated.

It is recommended that when a grower sprays for a different pest, they should choose a product that also works on ACP.

Eradication and management strategies differ according to season.

Product spraying frequency and product choice are delicate decisions so as not to cause resistance in ACP.

Expert dog sniffers can detect the presence of ACP, and have detected infested shipments that were subsequently destroyed. California is vigilant at all points of entry including airports, border traffic, and ports. Not all counties have expert canines; however, Fresno has one such specialist. The USDA also provides dogs, one of which works in Fresno.

Take Action Now

Start sampling now.

Do not rely on (color-saturated) yellow-sticky traps for detection. Remember that psyllids are attracted to citrus trees, which have both color and scent.

ACP likes an orchard’s edges, so test for their presence around a field’s perimeter, as well as down the center for good measure.

Go to the following websites for information, quarantine maps, crop protection cost-effectiveness:

· CaliforniaCitrusThreat.org

· CDFAWebsite

· UCCooperative Extension Fresno County Citrus Bug Blog

In the event a homeowner or grower suspects ACP on their property, take the bug, if possible, put it in alcohol, and contact the Fresno County Farm Bureau; Sylvie Robillard, Fresno County Grower Liaison; the CDFA Hotline, 1-800-481-1899 or your local Ag commissioner (if outside Fresno County).

Joel Nelson

Joel Nelson, California Citrus Mutual, President, commented, “If it weren’t serious, it would be exciting” due to the talent of the people involved in the fight to suppress the ACP and thereby avoid HLB disaster in the state. With southern California producing $750,000 and the Central Valley producing $1.5 billion in citrus, California is the largest citrus-producing state in the country, providing 85% of the country’s fresh citrus.

Stopping the spread of ACP and eradicating Huanglongbing (HLB) is among the top five priorities of the USDA. The federal government has contributed $10 million to the California program toward that end.

A coalition of groups is conducting a public relations campaign starting in southern California that includes distribution of bookmarks and brochures (in several languages) that have a little magnifying glass inside to detect ACP; enlisting legislators and box stores, among others, to help spread information; and launching a PSA next week featuring Citrus Grower Kevin Severns speaking about this crucial situation.There are 6 versions of the PSA on CCM’s YouTube Channel.

Nelson emphasized that every step this coalition in California takes is globally unprecedented. And the government is flexible and ready to adopt new strategies; using this effort in California as a model for other programs planned to eradicate foreign invading pests.

Assemblyman Jim Patterson concluded by acknowledging, “Agriculture is more than a livelihood; it‘s a life.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2021-05-12T11:06:03-07:00August 24th, 2013|

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