agriculture

Gov. Newsom signs a bill that will make California the first state to ban the sale of farmed octopus. Animal rights activists say the practice is inhumane.

The chemical, used for decades, can harm babies’ developing brains. Farmworkers and people living near fields are most at risk. The EPA issued a rare emergency order.

Many California farmers have embraced sustainability and strive to curb their climate impact. Instead of casting blame over controversial programs, a Merced farmer says industry peers should be working together.

California water regulators are cracking down on the overuse of groundwater by farmers. Enforcement could prompt them to idle thousands of acres of farmland and poses larger questions about what will happen to the affected fields.

State officials, for the first time, put a local groundwater basin on probation to stop overuse. The order triggers hefty fees and mandatory reporting of well use.

California farms could use 93% less water but less-thirsty crops, such as grains and hay, are much less lucrative than nuts and fruits. Fallowing a small fraction of the thirstiest crops would save 9%.

The farm subsidies for a California program aiming to reduce methane gas emissions have skewed the market, making pollution as valuable as dairy in some cases, and eroded the ability for family farms to compete.

As California's precipitation becomes more erratic due to climate change, the state needs more tools, including more storage capacity, to make the water supply reliable.

As California officials craft new regulations for urban water conservation, critics who belittle the importance of these efforts are often deflecting, a water policy advocate argues.

Household use is a tiny fraction of California's overall water supply, but the state wants to spend billions of dollars to make a tiny reduction in that already infinitesimal bit of water consumption.