Daybreak West March 14: DPR comes up short with replacing fumigants

No direct alternatives are currently available for 1,3-D and chloropicrin, forcing farmers to rely on combinations of options tailored to specific crops and pests if California were to ban the products. 

The Department of Pesticide Regulation shared these results Thursday from an independent study on alternatives. DPR Director Karen Morrison said the findings “highlight key challenges with identifying and replacing higher-risk pesticide uses with alternatives and the critical need for continued research.” 

Take note: DPR commissioned —and taxpayers funded — the study after the department issued its Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap in 2023. While DPR has yet to list the priority pesticides to eliminate by 2050, the two controversial fumigants have faced increased regulatory scrutiny under the Newsom administration. 

Next: The second phase of the study will expand the scope to other preplant fumigants, such as methyl bromide, along with postharvest and structural fumigants. 

Farm groups tap into Ag Day for overtime fix 

The industry is planning its own twist on California Ag Day at the Capitol next Wednesday. After CDFA Secretary Karen Ross celebrates the state’s farmers, ranchers and farmworkers with lawmakers, trade groups hope to seize the momentum and build support for their policy priorities. 

Industry leaders plan to outline the stark trends. The most recent USDA Ag Census showed a 10% drop in farms and farmland from 2017 to 2022, with a loss of 120,000 irrigated acres. A new study has detailed a 1,400% jump in regulatory costs in California over the last two decades. 

The groups are calling for relief through SB 628. The bill revamps the push for a tax credit to compensate employers for ag overtime wages. They are also pushing to maintain investments for climate-smart grants through the state’s cap-and-trade fund. 

Speaking at the press conference will be California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass; Michael Miiller, who directs government relations at the California Association of Winegrape Growers; and Roger Isom, president and CEO of California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association and Western Tree Nut Association.

Study: Better forecasting boosts flood protection, water supply 

Northern California irrigators have pushed for more investments in Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations, or FIRO. A new study now backs up the benefits of the new approach to water management. 

The approach taps into historical forecasts, reservoir monitoring and river flow data. The Department of Water Resources, Army Corps of Engineers and Yuba Water Agency found the predictive monitoring tool could reduce flood risk and boost storage in Lake Oroville. Yuba Water Director of Resource Planning John James equated the benefits to building new infrastructure. 

More funding for smoke taint 

A new House bill proposes $33 million for research into smoke taint in winegrapes. 

The California Association of Winegrape Growers supports the bill. It asserted that filling research gaps will be vital to protect the industry against the threat of future wildfires. 

Sen. Alex Padilla of California ca-authored the measure with Rep. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, with support from Reps. Mike Thompson and Doug LaMalfa of California. 

Trump’s latest tariff threat: European booze 

There’s a new twist in President Donald Trump’s trade wars. He is threatening to impose steep duties on wine and alcohol from the European Union if the bloc doesn’t drop its retaliatory tariff on U.S. whiskey. 

The EU responded to new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum by hiking the duty applied to U.S. whiskey. Trump hit back in a Truth Social post Thursday, calling the EU “one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the World.” 

The president added that “the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS.” 

The reaction: France’s trade minister, Laurent Saint-Martin, accused Trump of “escalating the trade war he chose to unleash” in a post to X. But he later added that the EU is open to finding solutions to deescalate. 

House Ag Committee Democrats wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday raising concerns over the administration’s tariff “whiplash.” They argued the back-and-forth has left farmers uncertain about future input prices. 

Take note: USDA is looking at a way to compensate farmers for Trump’s trade wars without waiting for Congress to replenish its borrowing authority under the Commodity Credit Corporation, a congressional source tells Agri-Pulse. 

This source says the department is considering using its Section 32 authority. During the last trade war, USDA used its Section 5 authority under the CCC, but the agency would only have about $4 billion available unless Congress replenishes the account. 

Section 32 is typically used to purchase surplus commodities for feeding programs. But the law can also be used to “reestablish farmers’ purchasing power by making payments” to them. 

McKinney: Give the administration time to create fair trade 

Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, says it’s important to give Trump time to carry out his trade policy. 

“We’re starting to perhaps feel the bumps,” McKinney says on Agri-Pulse Newsmakers this week. 

Trump “is fulfilling what he said he would do, and so we’re just going to have to take our sedatives and buckle up a couple extra times and see how it goes. 

Newsmakers will be available today at Agri-Pulse.com. 

RIP: Raul Grijalva 

Rep. Raul Grijalva, a southern Arizona Democrat who once chaired the House Natural Resources Committee, died Thursday of complications from cancer treatments. He was 77. He was the son of a migrant farmworker. 

Final word:

“We want toasts, not tariffs.” — Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, responding to Trumps 200% tariff on European alcohol. 

Trade associations for wine and liquor producers have put more energy into the Toasts Not Tariffs Coalition this year. The advocacy initiative began under Trump’s first term and was mostly quiet during the Biden administration.