agriculture

Maximina Molina Sanchez is worried about going hungry this winter. She depends on a food bank in Huron to feed her husband and two kids. But with most agricultural workers out of jobs during the winter, demand is bound to increase, so she worries there won’t be enough food to feed everyone who needs it. […]

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office has been part of negotiations over air, water and endangered-species protections. The governor decries Trump's environmental rollbacks but also seeks harmony with farmers opposing the bill.

Groundwater basins drawn down by years of drought contain dangerously high levels of nitrates, arsenic and other contaminants. One million Californians don't have safe drinking water and nearly 2 million more are not served by a regulated public water system and may not know if their water is contaminated. The Legislature must step in.

State continues to grapple with gun violence, California could lose in 2020 U.S. Census count, tax breaks for corporations may be costing some cities

California agriculture is presented with an opportunity it has only begun to tap. Despite rapid growth in organic food production, only 4 percent of all agricultural land in the state is being farmed organically. We need policies that use organic agriculture as a practical, evidence-based approach to solving the complex challenges facing California.

There’s reason for optimism that there can be a truce in California’s water wars. The State Water Board adopted the first phase of a far-reaching revision to the Water Quality Control Plan for the Sacramento‒San Joaquin Delta and its watershed. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom’s support and involvement will be essential to carry this effort to a positive conclusion.

A growing emphasis on reconnecting California floodplains to rivers so they can absorb floodwaters is a U-turn from past reliance on levees to protect cities and towns.

Agricultural interests have poured $420,000 in recent days into a push to unseat Bakersfield Democrat Rudy Salas Jr., over his vote in 2016 for a landmark bill that grants farm workers overtime.

The dairy industry is responsible for 75 percent of agriculture’s methane emissions, but it has focused on unproven bio-digester technology. California should look at less costly alternatives.

A 152-mile long canal that irrigates pistachios and other crops in the eastern San Joaquin Valley is sinking by an inch a month, the result of groundwater over-pumping by farmers. The Sacramento Bee described the Friant-Kern Canal as an engineering marvel, but its capacity has been reduced by as much as 60 percent at because of subsidence. […]