Farmers who abandon orchards or vineyards could face penalties under a new bill in the Legislature. 

Ag commissioners already impose liens on farmland deemed a menace to agriculture for hosting pests. Republican Asm. Alexandra Macedo of Tulare wants to take it a step further. 

Her bill would authorize commissioners to levy a penalty of up to $1,000 per acre if the landowner does not rectify the violation within 30 days. 

Keep in mind: The almond and wine industries are experiencing a rapid downsizing to rebalance the markets after sustaining low prices for multiple years and facing SGMA-induced fallowing. 

This has led to piles of ag waste in the Central Valley and abandoned orchards that likely contributed to a massive rat infestation last fall. 

Read about bills tackling ag waste in the Agri-Pulse West Newsletter hitting inboxes later this morning. 


DWR boosts State Water Project deliveries by 5% 

The Department of Water Resources announced they’ll commit to 40% of State Water Project contracted deliveries, up 5% since February. 

March storm conditions were not the miracle climatologists were hoping for ahead of the April 1 snow survey, but DWR Director Karla Nemeth said the agency will focus on tracking snow melt to allow water managers time to capture and store resources. 

Lake Oroville and Shasta reservoirs now sit at 121% and 118% of average, respectively. 

State Water Contractors said the modest increase demonstrates a need for new infrastructure and adaptive management, given high flows in the Delta. They again pointed to the Delta Conveyance Project as the prime storm capture opportunity. 

On that note: A Delta Conveyance Project hearing was cut short Monday after an illicit outburst from online participants. 

The State Water Resources Control Board acknowledged that “explicit content and hate speech” occurred during the meeting and tentatively rescheduled it to April 3. 

But the State Water Contractors argued that postponing public comment on the project will ultimately add $1 million to project costs and “leaves 27 million Californians' water supply at risk.” 


U.S. faces pivotal moment to secure UK trade deal, analyst tells lawmakers 

The United States' window of opportunity to secure a trade deal with the United Kingdom could soon shrink, a trade policy analyst told lawmakers on Tuesday, as the Labour government mulls closer alignment with the European Union. 

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The UK is in a “pivotal spot,” Meredith Broadbent, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told members of the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee during a hearing on U.S. trade negotiations. 

During the UK general election last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer campaigned on a platform to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU. Since entering office, Starmer’s Labour government has started to flesh out what that might look like and has tapped trade, including a future sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, as a key pillar. 

Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com. 


USDA suspends food bank funding source, cites 'unsustainable' expectations 

USDA has suspended at least $500 million in funding originally destined for food banks nationwide, arguing the Biden administration had created "unsustainable" expectations for supplementing the Emergency Food Assistance Program through the department's Commodity Credit Corporation spending authority.  

A group of 26 Senate Democrats led by the Senate Ag Committee's ranking member, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, on Tuesday challenged the USDA decision, saying that suspending the funding would have a "significant and damaging impact upon millions of people." 

Read our full report at Agri-Pulse.com. 


Lawmakers revive bipartisan effort to add nuts to senior nutrition program 

Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M, will reintroduce legislation today to make pecans and other tree nuts eligible for USDA’s Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., will also introduce a House version of the bill. 

The SFMNP provides low-income seniors with locally grown fruits and vegetables. Tuberville said adding nuts to the program would be “a huge win.” 


Makary cleared by Senate for FDA 

Martin Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon who’s an ally of the Make America Healthy Again movement, has the Senate’s OK to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Three Democrats joined Republicans in voting to confirm Makary Tuesday night. 

One of his top tasks will be tightening regulations for food ingredients. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called for overhauling the process for determining whether ingredients are safe. 


U.S. touts Black Sea deal as Russia insists on lifted sanctions 

The U.S. says Ukraine and Russia have both agreed to halt strikes against each other’s commercial ships in the Black Sea, potentially boosting security in a busy grain corridor. But the Kremlin says sanctions on financial institutions and ag and fertilizer producers need lifting first. 

The U.S. held bilateral talks between both countries’ governments in Saudi Arabia this week. In a statement Tuesday, the White House said the U.S. had agreed to help Russia regain access to world agriculture and fertilizer markets. But the statement made no mention of lifting sanctions as a prerequisite to the deal or when the deal may start. 

But, but, but: The short-term impacts of a Black Sea deal may be minimal, former USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber says. He tells Agri-Pulse that both Russian and Ukrainian ships have been able to move grain through the region, despite an earlier deal expiring in 2023. Lower insurance premiums would benefit local producers, but the short-term impact on global markets would be negligible, he said. 


Final word 

“DPR has done a great job developing the SprayDays website, in making it a user-friendly system.” — Lindsey Carter, executive director of the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association, responding to the launch of a statewide pesticide notification system.