Almond Industry Headline Environmental News April 25, 2006

   Air Quality

• Regulators get up-close and personal view of environmental stewardship at Hunter Farms - - Scott Hunter believes actions speak louder than words when it comes to farming commercial almonds in an environmentally friendly way. Hunter talks often about the importance of environmental stewardship as former chairman of the Almond Board of California’s board of directors. But he also takes steps at Hunter Farms to “walk the talk” of environmentally friendly farming in his commercial almond operation in Livingston, Calif. Virtually every aspect of his farming operation has been recrafted with an eye toward reducing impacts to air and water quality and improving pesticide use efficiency. <more> April 2006 Environmental Stewardship Newsletter
   

• Activists sue over dust rule. Environmentalists say the EPA approved a weak, redundant measure to control farm pollution. - - Activists sued the federal government this week over a San Joaquin Valley dust control rule, saying powerful farm lobbies swayed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approve a weak measure. Earthjustice filed the suit on Wednesday against EPA in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. EPA officials, who approved the farm dust rule in February, declined to comment on the case. <more> April 21, 2006 Fresno Bee
   

• Draft requirements for ag diesel engines posted by CARB - - The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has posted a public workshop agenda and draft regulatory requirements for in-use stationary diesel engines used in agriculture at http://www.arb.ca.gov/diesel/ag/inuseag.htm.  At the same website, you will find a public workshop notice providing information about the April 26 (Modesto) April 27 (Sacramento) workshop arrangements and about CARB's intention to amend the Airborne Toxic Control Measure for Stationary Compression Ignition Engines to add emission standards and other requirements for in-use stationary agricultural engines.  April 19, 2006 CARB Press Release
   

• New greenhouse gas reporting guidance for farmers - - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced revised guidelines for the Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, known as 1605(b), that will enable farmers and land owners to estimate, report, and register greenhouse gas reductions and carbon sequestration. "These guidelines represent an important milestone in the effort to encourage new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without impairing economic growth," said Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner. "By participating in this program, our farmers and ranchers have a unique opportunity to be part of the solution to greenhouse gas emissions." <more> April 17, 2006 USDA Press Release

Water Quality

• Ag Waiver requirements to increase this summer - - The next phase of the Conditional Ag Waiver for Irrigated Lands program begins this summer, and could have significant long-term impacts on the availability and regulations for many commonly used crop protection products in almonds. Under Phase II of the Conditional Ag Waivers program, watershed coalitions this summer will expand their toxicity sampling procedures to screen for more than 50 commonly used pesticides. The expanded sampling requirement could raise coalition dues as much as 50 percent for almond growers and other farmer members. <more> April 2006 Environmental Stewardship Newsletter

Crop Protection

• Methyl bromide on its way out. Supplies will become critically tight, perhaps sooner than growers think - - Almond growers are working on borrowed time when it comes to fumigating new orchards and should be prepared perhaps within two years to live without Methyl Bromide as a pre-plant soil treatment. Methyl bromide has been on the chopping block under the international Montreal Protocol since 1996. Because the process has dragged in and out of the news for nearly 10 years, growers may have developed “methyl bromide fatigue” when it comes to worrying about the loss of this important fumigant, says Gabriele Ludwig, the Almond Board’s senior manager for technical and regulatory affairs. However, she says, growers need to take notice and realize there is only a limited amount of time Methyl Bromide will be available for both pre-plant and post-harvest treatment. <more> April 2006 Environmental Stewardship Newsletter
   

• DPR proposes nearly 100 pesticide cancellations -- The California Department of Pesticide Regulation today proposed cancellation of nearly 100 pesticide products because registrants failed to provide data to protect the state’s air quality. DPR took action based on a reevaluation notice sent to registrants -- manufacturers and sellers -- on February 16, 2005. The notice required registrants to submit data on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their products by the end of last year. VOCs contribute to ground-level ozone, an air pollutant harmful to humans and plant life. DPR is working to reduce VOCs in pesticides to meet state air quality goals. <more> April 25, 2006 DPR Press Release
   

• Scientists Scramble to Find Alternatives to Banned Pesticide - - Since the 1940s, methyl bromide has served farmers well as a stunningly lethal fumigant, killing off pests such as fungi, weeds, insects and rodents. But amid requirements that farmers stop using it, University of Georgia students are joining an international effort to find an earth-friendly alternative. Alex Cisnos, a plant pathologist, and other researchers at the university's Coastal Plain Experiment Station in south Georgia have been testing an alternative fumigant, metam-sodium, in a one-quarter acre test plot of vegetables, including tomatoes and squash. <more> March 31, 2006 AP
   

Endangered Species

• Feds cut size of frog's 'critical habitat' - - The Bush administration on Thursday dramatically shrunk the land deemed crucial for survival of the California red-legged frog, a threatened species at the center of a national debate. After years of litigation and scientific dispute, the Fish and Wildlife Service formally declared 450,288 acres as critical habitat for the frog Mark Twain once celebrated. It's a sprawling patchwork over 20 California counties, including portions of Merced. The frog's critical habitat, though, no longer includes the county commemorated in Twain's famous "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." It is also 39 percent smaller than scientists had proposed in November, and 89 percent smaller than officials suggested at the start of the Bush administration. That angers environmentalists but gratifies congressional critics who dispute the usefulness of critical habitat.  <more> April 14, 2006 Modesto Bee

General Industry News

• Sustainable farming award nominations sought for California farmers - - For the first time, the Leopold Conservation Award will be presented in 2006 to a California landowner who demonstrates responsible stewardship and management of natural resources. Nominations of California farmers and ranchers are sought for the $10,000 prize. The deadline is July 14, 2006. “We’re proud to bring the Leopold Conservation Award to California in partnership with Sustainable Conservation and the California Farm Bureau Federation to honor the voluntary conservation work of private landowners in the Golden State,” said Dr. Brent Haglund, President of Sand County Foundation, the award’s sponsor. “California has extraordinary natural resources, a strong and diverse agricultural sector, and untold opportunities for effective conservation.” <more> April 19, 2006 Sand County Foundation press release
   

• Schwarzenegger names new CalEPA undersecretary - - Gov. Schwarzenegger has named Dan Skopec, undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. He replaces Jim Branham who left in October 2005 to become the first Executive Officer of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Skopec, 34, has served as deputy cabinet secretary in the Office of the Governor since 2003, handling energy, environment, and resources issues for the Governor and is a member of the Governor’s Climate Action Team. Skopec served as staff director of the U.S. House of Representatives Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to that, he served as Congressman Doug Ose's legislative director. His appointment does not require Senate confirmation. March 30, 2006 Gov. Schwarzenegger Press Release
  
   

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