Environmental Information for the
California Almond Industry

Almond Industry Headline Environmental News  June 6, 2007

   Air Quality

  • Ban on burning old orchards takes effect. Clean-air regulation meant to stop half the agricultural smoke in valley - - Starting Friday, farmers will have to cease another part of the burning that has long sent smoke into the San Joaquin Valley sky. The ban will apply to most of the wood waste created by the removal of orchards. It is part of a burning phaseout that already has affected disposal of some of the pruned limbs from living trees and residue from field crops. The orchard-removal ban will take care of about half the agricultural burning in the region, according to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Growers will have to use alternatives, mainly chipping the wood into mulch or power plant fuel. This is already a common practice because of the clampdown on burning pruned limbs. "In general, the industry is ready for this," said Gabriele Ludwig, senior manager of global technical and regulatory affairs for the Almond Board of California, based in Modesto. "If you're doing an orchard removal in the San Joaquin Valley, most growers are doing some kind of chipping." <more> May 31, 2007 Modesto Bee
     

  • New rules tighten fumigant restrictions to improve valley air. Proposed regulations would limit when and how all fumigants are applied - - Stricter rules for use of soil fumigants by California farmers have been proposed by the state's Department of Pesticide Regulation. The agency is taking action to comply with a federal court order to reduce smog-forming gases resulting from pesticide use. Targeting the biggest producer of such gases - soil fumigants - the state hopes to reduce emissions by more than 50 percent in areas with the worst air quality. This action comes as the state agency complies with a 2006 federal court order that requires the Department of Pesticide Regulation to enforce a 20 percent reduction in pesticide volatile organic gases, compared to 1991 levels. The court order stemmed from a lawsuit that claimed the state failed to meet its obligations under the federal Clean Air Act. <more> May 31, 2007 Capital Press
     

  • Growers Could Take Financial Hit in Pesticide Crackdown -- State officials are hoping to clean up the air by cracking down on the use of fumigant pesticides widely used on some of San Joaquin County's biggest crops. The state's action comes in response to a federal court order. But it will be growers who take the hit: The state Department of Pesticide Regulation estimates farmers across the state may have to pay an extra $10 million to $40 million a year to use new, low-emission methods of applying the pesticides. <more> May 20, 2007 Stockton Record
     

  • DPR proposes fumigant rules to clear the air -- The Department of Pesticide Regulation today proposed rules to sharply reduce fumigant air emissions that contribute to smog. Acting under federal court order, DPR will begin allocating fumigant use in areas with poor air quality. The rules also would eliminate some fumigation methods that permit high emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. While farm chemicals comprise only about 2 percent of California's overall VOC emissions, pesticides are among the top ten VOC sources in the San Joaquin Valley and Ventura air attainment areas. The Southeast Desert area also fails to meet pesticide VOC goals. The Department predicts its plan will reduce emissions by more than 4.5 tons per day statewide. Proposed rules would reduce fumigant emissions from about 38 to more than 50 percent within the three large areas. <more> May 18, 2007 DPR Press Release
     

  • Farm air pollution targeted. The state plans strict, costly rules on the use of fumigants in soil. - - California plans to enact the most costly pesticide regulation in state history as it cracks down on use of fumigants in farm fields to comply with a court-ordered deadline to combat smog. Under the proposed regulation, to be unveiled today, California will be the first place in the nation to target the widely used chemicals, imposing statewide restrictions on how fumigants are applied as well as limits on use in three farming regions. State officials warned that the cost will be extremely high — estimated at $10 million to $40 million a year — and that growers of strawberries, carrots, tomatoes and peppers will bear the brunt of it. The biggest burden will fall on Ventura County's strawberry growers, who will face strict caps on emissions and may have to resort to pulling thousands of acres out of production to meet the smog targets. <more> May 18, 2007 LA Times

Water Quality

  • Watershed Coalition newsletter available online - - The latest edition of the Watershed Coalition News is now available from the Coalition for Urban/Rural Environmental Stewardship (CURES.) Developed by CURES with funding from the Almond Board of California, the project’s goal is to link growers to the watershed coalitions. The Winter/Spring 2007 edition features stories about the boost in watershed coalition memberships; the new scrutiny facing those applying for membership after the Dec. 31, 2006 deadline; a UC Davis study that says high E. Coli levels in many Central valley waterways may be coming from human sources; ongoing surveys to document grower use of Best Management Practices; and new methods to determine orchard sprayer coverage. The newsletter can be download as a PDF file at the CURES wesbite www.curesworks.org/newsletter.asp  April 2007 CURES Press Release

 

Sustainability

  • House panel short on money for land stewardship - -  Members of a House Agriculture subcommittee were thwarted by a lack of money on Tuesday from expanding "green payments" to farmers and from creating a $305 million program to combat asthma-causing dust. Lawmakers put the ideas on the table during the first bill-drafting session for the farm law being written this year. But they withdrew them without a vote in hopes that money will become available this summer to pay for the programs. California Democrat Dennis Cardoza said stewardship programs must be expanded so that fruit, vegetable, nut and nursery crop growers can meet a mounting regulatory burden and so that specialty crop growers get a more equitable share of supports. He proposed a $305 million air quality program to combat dust and ozone but withdrew it because there was no money. "This is one of the most important issues we have," said Cardoza, who said 300 congressional districts violate federal standards for clean air. "Air quality problems are going to be putting farmers out of business in my state." <more> May 22, 2007 Reuters 
     

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General Industry News

  • California Expects Record Almond Crop - - They may have started as a few trees planted by Spanish missionaries, but almonds are now a big crop in California, where ideal climate and irrigation have let the nuts bloom into a $2 billion-a-year business. On Scott Hunter's farm in the hot, fertile San Joaquin Valley, limbs on some of the younger trees are having a hard time holding up what he predicts will be part of "a once-in-a-lifetime type of crop" when the harvest begins in mid-August. "Like any ag commodity, we've been faced with a lot of ups and downs," said Hunter, 37, who farms 1,200 acres of almonds in Livingston. "This year is definitely an up." A record harvest, along with more growers dedicating acreage to almonds, is expected to solidify California's position as the world's leading producer of a crop that once grew wild in Mediterranean countries. The state already produces 80 percent of the almonds sold worldwide, according to California's food and agriculture department. <more> June 1, 2007 AP
     

  • Many causes blamed for honeybee die-off. Colony collapse disorder could cost $15 billion –  - A team of entomologists and other scientists studying the alarming die-off of honeybees across the country is expected to report that there are multiple causes of the deaths, called colony collapse disorder. The finding compounds a crisis for growers of crops dependent on pollination, a Central Valley congressman said Thursday. Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater (Merced County), said he has seen portions of the report being prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to be released later this month. He said it lays out several possible causes, including parasites and a lack of genetic diversity. The challenge, Cardoza said, will be to tailor research efforts to return the most benefit. "Most likely it is a combination of factors,'' Cardoza said on the edge of a watermelon field outside Hilmar, where working honeybees had performed their morning pollination duties Thursday. ”When you look at multiple factors it really complicates the research,'' he said. <more> June 1, 2007 SF Chronicle
     

  • Die-off silences buzzing beehives. Growers and keepers in a quandary about threat to pollination - - Dan Avila planted his watermelon field, set out his rented beehives and hoped for the best. The Livingston-area grower is one of many who rely on honeybees to pollinate their crops. And he's one of many who worry that they could lose this vital service if a mysterious die-off of colonies around the nation continues. "The vines will set little if any fruit if the bees aren't there," Avila said. "It will decrease production 80 or 90 percent." His farm was the site of a news conference held Thursday by Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, and others concerned about the bees. Cardoza is seeking a boost in federal funding for research on the die-off, which started in the fall. Some beekeepers have had little or no damage, while others have lost most of their colonies. <more> June 1, 2007 Modesto Bee   

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