Agriculture

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s fellow Democrats in the Legislature usually let him use the budget process to push his priority bills and minimize debate. Not this time.

The Delta faces a funding crisis to repair and maintain an aging network of 1,100 miles of levees. These earthen berms, mostly on private land, could rupture and endanger half a million people and flood thousands of acres of farmland.

Food aid is one of numerous competing priorities California lawmakers will have to juggle in the face of steep potential federal cuts.

Long Beach residents near companies that use methyl bromide are angry that air quality officials didn’t notify them for years and haven’t assessed their health risks. Now officials say more facilities are operating in San Pedro and Compton.

President Trump's wild verbal justifications for his fire-related executive order, calling for a complete overhaul of Delta water delivery to California farms, provides the illusion that problems are being solved when, in fact, they are festering.

Citing the LA fires, Trump directed federal agencies to "immediately take actions to override" water operations and environmental rules. But the water mostly serves Central Valley farms.

Growers and cities support the Newsom administration proposal, saying it strikes a balance for uses of Delta water. But environmentalists say the “healthy rivers” rules would actually harm California’s iconic salmon.

The state Department of Water Resources made a low prediction of water supplies for agricultural and municipal users next year, though it's still too early to tell.

There are three policy areas President-elect Donald Trump wants to change that are particularly important to California farmers. If he does what he has promised, one might benefit the industry and two might hurt it.

As California confronts a bird flu outbreak, it is also time to take a hard look at the food production system that puts farm workers in close contact with sick animals, the standard American diet that demands it, and the health ramifications of both.