Pam Lewison
Agriculture
California’s Farmers Give Great Gifts to Us All – During the Holidays and All Year Long
A great many farmers and ranchers identify with Paul Harvey’s iconic poem, “So God Made a Farmer,” but this time of year, I prefer the editorial from Francis B. Church, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Whether you read Paul Harvey’s poignant poem or Francis Church’s editorial to set ...
Agriculture
Read new study from Washington Policy Center and PRI
Policy Brief: The impact of California’s Proposition 12 in increasing national production costs and food prices
In 2018, voters in California passed Proposition 12, called the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, by a wide margin. The state law established regulations for housing laying hens, veal calves, and hogs whose food products – eggs, veal, and pork – would be sold in California. Additionally, the regulation prohibited the ...
Agriculture
Holiday meals always begin on the farm, even when we can’t see them
With the holidays fast approaching, food becomes the centerpiece of tables, gifts, and thoughts for people and families. Maybe a family has a traditional recipe eaten every holiday season, lovingly handed down generation-to-generation with unwritten touches that can only be replicated when the item is made with another family member. ...
Agriculture
Read about latest activist lawsuit
Cooperation, not lawsuits, is the answer to nitrogen on the Central Coast
Nitrogen is the plant equivalent of parents telling their children to eat their vegetables. In kids, vegetables provide micronutrients needed for proper growth, fiber, and energy. In plants, nitrogen provides similar benefits, ensuring plants have the needed energy to grow to the best maturity and provide the most crop at ...
Agriculture
Read about latest federal overreach
Are checkoffs really taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to agriculture?
The OFF Act suggests federal checkoff programs are simply a means for further consolidation of “industrial agriculture” and federal agricultural lobbying organizations. However, the structure of each checkoff belies that notion. Checkoff programs are federal marketing and research programs funded entirely by the producers of 22 commodities in the United ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
California’s Farmers Give Great Gifts to Us All – During the Holidays and All Year Long
A great many farmers and ranchers identify with Paul Harvey’s iconic poem, “So God Made a Farmer,” but this time of year, I prefer the editorial from Francis B. Church, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” Whether you read Paul Harvey’s poignant poem or Francis Church’s editorial to set ...
Read new study from Washington Policy Center and PRI
Policy Brief: The impact of California’s Proposition 12 in increasing national production costs and food prices
In 2018, voters in California passed Proposition 12, called the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative, by a wide margin. The state law established regulations for housing laying hens, veal calves, and hogs whose food products – eggs, veal, and pork – would be sold in California. Additionally, the regulation prohibited the ...
Holiday meals always begin on the farm, even when we can’t see them
With the holidays fast approaching, food becomes the centerpiece of tables, gifts, and thoughts for people and families. Maybe a family has a traditional recipe eaten every holiday season, lovingly handed down generation-to-generation with unwritten touches that can only be replicated when the item is made with another family member. ...
Read about latest activist lawsuit
Cooperation, not lawsuits, is the answer to nitrogen on the Central Coast
Nitrogen is the plant equivalent of parents telling their children to eat their vegetables. In kids, vegetables provide micronutrients needed for proper growth, fiber, and energy. In plants, nitrogen provides similar benefits, ensuring plants have the needed energy to grow to the best maturity and provide the most crop at ...
Read about latest federal overreach
Are checkoffs really taking taxpayer dollars and giving them to agriculture?
The OFF Act suggests federal checkoff programs are simply a means for further consolidation of “industrial agriculture” and federal agricultural lobbying organizations. However, the structure of each checkoff belies that notion. Checkoff programs are federal marketing and research programs funded entirely by the producers of 22 commodities in the United ...
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 ...
