agriculture - Page 6

China’s President Xi Jinping will sign an agreement to open up China’s rice market to U.S. exports as part of his economic charm offensive this week, after signing a $38 billion aircraft deal with Boeing in Seattle.

The raging El Niño Southern Oscillation, a band of warm ocean water in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific, is about to cause droughts in southern Asia–and to bring enough rain to boost California almond production after years of drought-induced decline.

The State of California is planning to use eminent domain law to acquire hundreds of farms in the Delta for a controversial, multi-billion-dollar underground water tunnel project proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown marmorated stinkbugs are hitting agriculturally rich Stanislaus County, infiltrating drought-stricken California with potentially devastating results.

The state of California has settled two lawsuits filed by the families of two farm workers who died of heat-related illnesses while working in the field.

On Friday, California’s top water regulators issued new cutbacks on farmers holding senior water rights dating back more than 100 years.

In a powerfully worded address Thursday, Pope Francis urged the world not to wait for governments and international organizations to end hunger but to take the matter into their own hands.

Pistachios are undoubtedly one of America’s favorite nuts, and a staple export for the Golden State. However, the pending nuclear deal with Iran has created growing concern within the industry that the crop’s otherwise relentless expansion and success in the marketplace could be stifled, should the United Nations end trade sanctions against Iran.

Electronic musician Moby sat down with Rolling Stone this week to discuss California’s four-year-long drought and the steps the state could take to mitigate its effects and finally end it. The musician and activist said California’s water problem could be

On Tuesday night, the City Council of Davis unanimously passed an ordinance requiring every “restaurant that sells a children’s meal that includes a beverage” to offer milk or water to children as their first choice in children’s meals, according to Bay Area public radio station KQED.

Grocery stores are responding to the massive loss of consumer dollars by going all-in for organic foods, which Consumer Reports estimates cost 47% more. Despite clever marketing, most health experts doubt organics are worth the premium price.

The National Climate Prediction Center has raised the probability of an El Niño in the Northern Hemisphere lasting through this summer to 90 percent, and added that there is a a greater than 80 percent probability it will last through all of 2015.

Californians could soon see drones irrigating or dusting crops. Amazon and Google told the Wall Street Journal they have recently seen a major shift in the attitude of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding critical issues to accelerate commercial drone test flights that extend beyond the sight of the operator.

Breitbart News reported in January that farmland prices were estimated to have fallen 3 percent, for their first fall since 1986. But the Chicago Federal Reserve just upped the decline to 8.9 percent, and “Grant’s Interest Rate Observer” warns that farmland

The U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments on April 22 regarding the constitutionality of a federal law that requires raisin farmers to transfer a portion of any raisin crop surplus to the federal government at a severe discount, or pay a fine. The law was passed during the Great Depression as a “New Deal” for agriculture to keep prices up. But the farmers call the law an “illegal taking” under the Fifth Amendment–and they appeared to have a very good day in Court, according to the SCOTUSblog.

There has been lots of hubbub in the last two weeks about California’s economy drying up and blowing away like sagebrush after four years of drought. But the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), which provides budget advice to state lawmakers, announced that “We currently do not expect the drought to have a significant effect” on the state’s budget or overall economy. The reason: agriculture is only a small piece of the economy.

San Diego farmers are calling a foul on Governor Jerry Brown’s new and unprecedented 25% mandatory water regulations, accusing the governor of favoring Central Valley farmers with exemptions and pressing for similar allowances for other California farming regions, including those in San Diego County.

A study from the Limited Government Foundation demonstrates how the federal government’s support programs have harmed the agriculture industry’s competitiveness and made the sector more dependent on government.

California Governor Jerry Brown has received support from an unusual source as he defends the state’s farmers from the charge that they overuse water. The Wall Street Journal editorial page defended California’s farmers in a weekend editorial that takes both liberals and conservatives to task for using agriculture as a “scapegoat.” Brown, meanwhile, visited with farmers north of Sacramento this weekend in a show of solidarity with farmers against accusations of water-wasting.

As I listened to California Governor, Jerry Brown on a Sunday morning talk show this past weekend, he confirmed that the ongoing water “crisis” has nothing to do with water, and everything to do with control. Brown, who took unprecedented

California Governor Jerry Brown warned Americans on Sunday morning that California’s drought was a sign of climate change. However, in his appearance on ABC News’ This Week, with guest host Martha Raddatz, Brown also defended California farmers from charges that they are overusing water, arguing that they feed the rest of the country.

On Wednesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order introducing new mandatory water restrictions in an effort to cut statewide water use by 25 percent.

Farmland prices that had been enjoying a 28-year bull market finally turned down in 2014. Despite real estate, stocks, bonds and commodities crashes over the period, farmland had never had a down year since 1986. However, the Wall Street Journal has reported that farmland suffered a loss of 3 percent last year, “reflecting a cooling in the market driven by two years of bumper crops and sharply lower grain prices, according to Federal Reserve.”

The increasingly bitter labor strife at West Coast ports between employers represented by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), whose members command average wages and benefits of about $1,200 a day, is causing California’s agricultural sector to watch its labors rot away.

Texas State Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) announced this week that he had filed several bills for consideration during this legislative session that were in response to feedback he had received from constituents in his district, a mostly rural area containing Lubbock and San Angelo. The new bills are the latest among the ones that Perry has filed to address specific needs of his district.

Iraq is facing a potential food crisis as increasingly aggressive conquests by the Islamic State has reduced its agricultural industry to producing 40% of its expected output, according to the Iraqi government.

Although Northern California is at 140% average rainfall so far this year, the state is still in the equivalent of one of its worst droughts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently downgraded its estimated probability of El Niño torrential rains developing this winter to approximately 65%.

Farmers in California are worried that President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration will exacerbate a labor shortage problem in the Golden State’s agriculture industry.

The following Christmas wishes were submitted to Breitbart Texas by Texas Agriculture Commissioner-elect Sid Miller.