Agriculture

Growers and Southern California cities that get water from the state aqueduct will receive 30% of their requested allocations. That’s the most in January since 2017, after heavy rains fed the reservoirs.

The herbicide paraquat is banned in dozens of countries due to its well-documented links to Parkinson's disease and cancer, yet the U.S. and California still allow it.

The San Joaquin Valley is home to some of the world's most fertile agricultural lands. Rather than fallowing farms for solar development, California should be investing in their survival.

California can both achieve its long-term clean energy goals and invest in struggling San Joaquin Valley communities by expanding solar development on fallowed farmland.

A standoff over shutting down ranchers’ pumps signals a flareup of water wars as California is gripped by seemingly endless drought. “To hell with it. We’re starting the pumps,” one Siskiyou County rancher said.

Careful planning, research and development, and incentives can help San Joaquin Valley residents avoid the worst consequences of land fallowing — and perhaps even bring benefits to a region in transition.

California is acting later than many states in regulating neonicotinoids, but its rules would be among the nation’s most extensive. They would change how growers kill pests on nuts, citrus and other fruit crops.

Californians should be aware of the unintended consequences of eliminating pest control tools when state regulators and lawmakers consider a pesticide ban.

We need to avoid "solutions" that cut allocations to an industry that feeds the nation and supports the economy of the Central Valley.

The Central Valley’s economic model has worked because water was cheap and available; both are changing rapidly.