This week I'm continuing my
diary series about the California Farm Bureau, and its weekly newspaper,
Ag Alert, and how the newspaper is used to push Republican talking points on rural Californians. Here's what's in the news for October 4.
Ag Alert continues its series on the election, this week focusing on candidates. They don't endorse for every race, and I was surprised to note, while most candidates are Republicans, they do choose a few Democrats. Most notably, they endorse Senator Feinstein, who clearly has someone in her office who is very effective at communicating with the Farm Bureau. Other Democratic candidates may be able to learn something from her success at that. (Of course, the state Republican party is in enough disarray here that I don't even know who is running against her for that seat.)
They save a big, juicy yellow box to highlight the importance of reelecting Richard Pombo, our favorite.
Interestingly, while Schwarzenegger's and Poochigan's endorsements are online, Pombo's is not. So I will have to type it myself.
Richard Pombo: Veteran congressman faces toughest race ever
A key figure in Congress known for fighting for balance and fairness on behalf of farmers, ranchers, and other property owners, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, has plenty of challenges as he seeks his eighth term representing the 11th Congressional District.
Facing a re-drawn district and opposition from environmental groups for his work to modernize the Endangered Species Act, Pombo and his re-election team are fully engaged in a battle to maintain his seat in Congress.
Excuse me while I interrupt this little underdog boo-hoo to point out that this is his third election since his district was redrawn, and that the fact that his district is becoming more suburban is directly related to development - which he and his family and supporters have encouraged and benefitted from.
"Although not a statewide campaign, the Pombo race is very important for our state. It is particularly challenging because of efforts by Democratic party leaders and environmentalists to wrest control of the House from the Republican party," said California Farm Bureau Federation President Doug Mosebar. "We must continue supporting Richard Pombo, who has been a leading voice on issues that matter to family farms."
Pombo faces Jerry McNerney, an engineer from Pleasanton, in the November election. This is McNerney's second run against Pombo; he unsucessfully challenged Pombo in 2004.
(Ah, see: McNerney's status as a wind power engineer, which would likely make him more interesting to farmers, is hidden to make him look like a city slicker. And, he challenged before - see, he's a loser! Nothing to see here folks, just move along, Pombo's our guy....)
A member of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, Pombo chairs the House Resources Committee and is vice chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture.
Over the years, the seven-term incumbent has introduced a number of bills to change the ESA. Most notable is Pombo's work to update the act to put the focus on recovery.
(See? He's not gutting it. He's making it better! Yeah, that's it! Note, no mention oil drilling off the California coast.)
Pombo's high profile work on resource issues, including reform of the ESA, has earned him the ire of the environmental community. Following the introduction of the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 -- which he designed to update and improve endangered species laws -- Pombo became the center of attack from environmental groups.
"The goal is to try to take species from a threatened and endangered status and to recover those species. What we are doing now is not working, so we need to change the law," Pombo said.
Why even list species that aren't worth recovering? It just makes our statistics look bad.
Pombo also appointed a bipartisan task force on "Updating the National Environmental Policy Act" to ensure that the original intent of NEPA--that federal decisions are made in an appropriate, environmentally sound manner, rather than being focused by litigation -- will become the way the statute will be implemented going forward.
The Pombo campaign has been busy developing a grass-roots campaign--a campaign that some Farm Bureau members have been supporting by walking precincts or attending fund-raisers.
Pombo has long been a friend of Farm Bureau, as a fourth generation rancher himself. In April, the California Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors endorsed the congressman for re-election.
"Richard Pombo has spent the time, paid the dues and finally got into leadership positions where he can accomplish what he went to Congress to do--to make our system better and more equitable for everybody," said CFBF Second Vice President and San Joaquin County rancher Kenny Watkins.
During his tenure in Congress, Pombo's subcommittee assignments have covered specialty crops, agricultural marketing, farm credit, public lands and water policy. He also served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
For his service on behalf of agriculture, Pombo has received the Golden Plow Award from the American Farm Bureau Federation and Friend of the Farm Bureau award from CFBF and several county Farm Bureaus. He has also been honored for his activism in reducing government regulation, taxation, and spending.
Pombo first entered politics as a city councilman in Tracy in 1990. The district he represents includes portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Santa Clara counties. The four counties produce nearly $1.9 billion worth of agricultural crops and commodities annually.
So there you have it, what California farmers read this week about Richard Pombo. Here's hoping his rediscovery of the grass roots is met only with herbicide.
Also this week is a story about legal action in Colusa (north and west of Sacramento) concerning the purchase of a conservation easement and the Farm Bureau's contention that Fish and Game's conversion of farmland back to wetlands and habitat required a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.
This year's California processing tomato crop is lighter than normal, due to a rainy spring and an absurdly hot July. A tomato truck that typically holds 27 tons of fruit is this season holding only 18 tons of fruit, because many of the tomatoes are hollow. Tomatoes are behind in general, and the question is whether the last crops will ripen before frost - shorter days extend ripening time. I'm experiencing this in my own garden, with tomato plants covered with green sauce tomatoes that look terrific but are stubbornly failing to ripen. I've got about 20 days before the frost will come and kill off the plants, so here's hoping.
Processing plants are currently operating at below capacity because the crop is ripening unevenly, he said, addingn that there is some concern among growers that if the canneries cannot get enough product to operate economically, they may close before all farmers have their tomatoes picked.
So as you can see, the weather and the light crop ripples thoroughout the economy, hurting workers in the processing plants as well as creating higher prices for consumers.
There is an interesting "technical" article about cover cropping that I'd like to highlight. I realize that this isn't glamorous or particularly political, but I think this article conveys some of the considerations and challenges of farming management that most non-farmers miss. Farmers are stereotyped as being violently conservative, always doing things as they've always done, but you can see that even in Ag Alert, new approaches are always being presented and evaluated.
Cover cropping is one focus of long-term trials
Farmers who plant winter cover crops usually chop them and incorporate them into the ground before they plant their cash crop in the spring. But current University of California trials indicate it may be possible to make the process more efficient by simply rolling or crushing the cover crop.
So what, you're thinking. Why is this important? Here's why:
It takes 150 horsepower to drive a tractor with a flail chopper across a field at a speed of 1.5 miles per hour. Yet it takes only 100 horsepower to drive a tractor with a roller going three times that fast.
They also mention that if the next crop is wheat, that irrigation will increase yields, but in many cases, only modestly, not enough to pay for the irrigation, and that earlier findings that suggested additional fertilizer was helpful were instead affected by stripe rust disease. And finally:
Another recent trial at the Russell Ranch fields shows that farmers who do irrigate should consider an investment in the efficiencies of subsurface drip systems.
There was also an environmental bonus in that trial, as the drip system led to a reduction in gases that are of concern to air quality officials. The drip irrigation fared significantly better at reducing both carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from the soil during the hot summer months.
"Subsurface drip irrigation had a water use efficiency 49 percent greater than furrow irrigation during the 2005 tomato growing season and was found to decrease both annual CO2 emissions and N2O emissions during the summer," said Willie Horwath, UCD professor in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources.
OK, just wow - irrigation practices can change CO2 emissions? That's fascinating. I had no idea.
I also think there's some traction to be had among this group when talking about taxes and spending priorities if one talks up the importance of supporting the UC system.