Pam Lewison
Agriculture
Read about new state water law
SB 389: New water law wastes time in the race to save a valuable resource
Water rights in California are split into pre- and post-1914 categories with pre-1914 and riparian rights given supremacy over post-1914 rights. The pre-1914 and riparian rights are largely for surface water withdrawals – effecting streams, rivers, and tributaries throughout the state. In recent years, activists have called for a total ...
Pam Lewison
October 11, 2023
Agriculture
Read the latest on animal rights extremism
City-based activists push radical animal-rights agenda from the comfortable security provided by rural Americans
The phrase “First World Problems” has become a punchline. It is a throwaway statement because it is uttered by people with plenty of gadgets, a reliable food supply, and a secure roof over their heads. It has also dulled our experience of a world in which seasonal food is the ...
Pam Lewison
September 26, 2023
Agriculture
Learn about the new bill that proposes voluntary abandonment of farmland
No compensation for voluntary change of farmland status to save water
A U.S. Senator from California is proposing voluntary abandonment of farmland to help conserve water. Senator Alex Padilla, chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife introduced the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act. The bill would address water conservation by offering federal money to tribes ...
Pam Lewison
July 11, 2023
Agriculture
Learn how water legislation would affect CA farmers
Assembly Bills Would Upend Century of California Water Rights Management
Water rights are always complicated in the west. They become more complicated when squabbles over who “deserves” more water come into play. The California Legislature is currently considering three bills that would represent a significant shift in how water rights are policed throughout the state. Assembly Bill 1337 would implement ...
Pam Lewison
June 28, 2023
Agriculture
Learn about new anti-livestock bill in Congress
Congressional legislation would give animal activists enforcement opportunities in checkoff programs
So, with all the redundancy of the OFF Act, what is the real thrust of this Congressional proposal? The coalition formed in support of the act gives a hint to what is really at its core: a foot in the door for animal activist groups to slowly force livestock producers ...
Pam Lewison
June 13, 2023
Agriculture
Colorado River ‘plan’ staves off federal interference, keeps water coming
The Colorado River supplies 4.4-million-acre feet of water to California every year with about 80 percent of that allocation being delivered to farms in the Imperial Valley. (An acre-foot is enough water to cover one acre of land with one foot of water or 326,000 gallons.) Earlier this week, California, ...
Pam Lewison
May 31, 2023
Agriculture
Celebrate National Beef Month
The best activism is the one that allows everyone to make their own dietary choices
Considering how much beef is consumed annually in the United States, it is odd to think about the amount of vitriol aimed at cattle production. Whether it is a story about the greenhouse gas emissions of cattle, the misunderstanding of animal breeding and care, or the anthropomorphism of animal rights ...
Pam Lewison
May 29, 2023
Agriculture
Part of WOTUS struck down in victory for private property owners
The ruling changes how “waters of the United States” can be applied by leaving wetlands that are not directly flowing into a body of water that meets the definition of “rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water that flow across or form a part of State boundaries” out of the ...
Pam Lewison
May 26, 2023
Agriculture
Prop 12 upheld by SCOTUS: What will ruling mean for farmers and pork lovers?
There was no clear-cut verdict in the decision with the justices offering different opinions on the two-pronged argument brought by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation. Attorneys for the NPPC and AFBF argued Prop 12 violated the “dormant commerce clause” and imposed more cost on ...
Pam Lewison
May 15, 2023
Agriculture
Read latest on California agriculture
Meat production doesn’t have to be cruel
During a recent county fair in California, a little girl sold her show goat but, when faced with having to part with the animal, she and her mother chose to take the animal home during the night. The girl’s mother offered to repay the total amount of money collected to ...
Pam Lewison
May 10, 2023
Read about new state water law
SB 389: New water law wastes time in the race to save a valuable resource
Water rights in California are split into pre- and post-1914 categories with pre-1914 and riparian rights given supremacy over post-1914 rights. The pre-1914 and riparian rights are largely for surface water withdrawals – effecting streams, rivers, and tributaries throughout the state. In recent years, activists have called for a total ...
Read the latest on animal rights extremism
City-based activists push radical animal-rights agenda from the comfortable security provided by rural Americans
The phrase “First World Problems” has become a punchline. It is a throwaway statement because it is uttered by people with plenty of gadgets, a reliable food supply, and a secure roof over their heads. It has also dulled our experience of a world in which seasonal food is the ...
Learn about the new bill that proposes voluntary abandonment of farmland
No compensation for voluntary change of farmland status to save water
A U.S. Senator from California is proposing voluntary abandonment of farmland to help conserve water. Senator Alex Padilla, chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife introduced the Voluntary Agricultural Land Repurposing Act. The bill would address water conservation by offering federal money to tribes ...
Learn how water legislation would affect CA farmers
Assembly Bills Would Upend Century of California Water Rights Management
Water rights are always complicated in the west. They become more complicated when squabbles over who “deserves” more water come into play. The California Legislature is currently considering three bills that would represent a significant shift in how water rights are policed throughout the state. Assembly Bill 1337 would implement ...
Learn about new anti-livestock bill in Congress
Congressional legislation would give animal activists enforcement opportunities in checkoff programs
So, with all the redundancy of the OFF Act, what is the real thrust of this Congressional proposal? The coalition formed in support of the act gives a hint to what is really at its core: a foot in the door for animal activist groups to slowly force livestock producers ...
Colorado River ‘plan’ staves off federal interference, keeps water coming
The Colorado River supplies 4.4-million-acre feet of water to California every year with about 80 percent of that allocation being delivered to farms in the Imperial Valley. (An acre-foot is enough water to cover one acre of land with one foot of water or 326,000 gallons.) Earlier this week, California, ...
Celebrate National Beef Month
The best activism is the one that allows everyone to make their own dietary choices
Considering how much beef is consumed annually in the United States, it is odd to think about the amount of vitriol aimed at cattle production. Whether it is a story about the greenhouse gas emissions of cattle, the misunderstanding of animal breeding and care, or the anthropomorphism of animal rights ...
Part of WOTUS struck down in victory for private property owners
The ruling changes how “waters of the United States” can be applied by leaving wetlands that are not directly flowing into a body of water that meets the definition of “rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water that flow across or form a part of State boundaries” out of the ...
Prop 12 upheld by SCOTUS: What will ruling mean for farmers and pork lovers?
There was no clear-cut verdict in the decision with the justices offering different opinions on the two-pronged argument brought by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation. Attorneys for the NPPC and AFBF argued Prop 12 violated the “dormant commerce clause” and imposed more cost on ...
Read latest on California agriculture
Meat production doesn’t have to be cruel
During a recent county fair in California, a little girl sold her show goat but, when faced with having to part with the animal, she and her mother chose to take the animal home during the night. The girl’s mother offered to repay the total amount of money collected to ...