Immigration Issues

Western agriculture remains at the forefront of the illegal immigration debate: farm labor rules, AgJOBS, H2-A program, and State Workforce Agencies (SWA).

May 25, 2012

News

Honey bees susceptible to fungicides?

Research results suggest that two common fungicides — chemicals used to protect crops from fungal infections — apparently have more influence on bees than previously believed....More
May 25, 2012

News

EPA declares west Pinal County short on dust standard

EPA declared a portion of western Pinal County, Ariz., to be in nonattainment for the 1987 federal PM10 coarse particulate matter standard....More
May 25, 2012

News

California bees help with Maine’s blueberry harvest

Field studies done in Washington County and elsewhere in Maine have shown that yields can be increased by as much as 1,000 pounds an acre for each hive servicing that acre, up to five hives per acre....More
May 25, 2012

News

Collegiate FFA seeks agriculture ambassadors

Collegiate FFA is now accepting applications for its National Collegiate Agricultural Ambassador program. Twenty selected students will serve during the 2012-2013 school year....More
May 25, 2012

News

Forty-year nematode fighter retires

McKenry said his research focus changed with the times. The first two decades, he studied the movement of fumigants and other pesticides in soil, and the timing and placement for nematode congregation under trees and vines. Equally important were his activities to develop newer methods to assure that California’s nursery stocks would remain nematode-free....More
May 25, 2012

News

Aviation industry heads down biofuels road

USDA's support of the Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative builds upon USDA's ongoing work to further the development of biofuels. USDA already has several memorandums of understanding (MOU) on the subject and several programs to fund biofuels research and development....More
May 25, 2012

News

Plant disease battle gets $50 million in funding

The USDA will support 321 projects in all 50 states that help to prevent the introduction or spread of plant pests and diseases threatening U.S. agriculture and the environment. The funding, totaling $50 million, is provided by Section 10201 of the 2008 Farm Bill....More
May 25, 2012

News

Farmer Mac's income up 29 percent

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation reported strong first quarter 2012 results, as increased earnings benefited from growth in program assets and credit quality remained high....More
May 25, 2012

News

Agriculture contests veracity of nitrate study, urges review 3

California's agriculture community called for peer review of a UC Davis study on nitrates in groundwater, emphasizing it did not use existing data from authoritative sources and contains material deficiencies that should be examined before the State Water Resources Control Board uses the report as a basis for policy decisions....More
May 24, 2012

News

CCA role grows in era of regulations

California farmers, dairymen and ranchers must comply with the most demanding regulations in the nation, far more onerous than any of their counterparts in other states. However, California agriculture has not only survived this dubious distinction but has thrived. In 1975, California agriculture gross farm income was $8.5 billion. Now, as the No. 1 agricultural state in the nation, it’s roughly $38 billion and growing....More