agriculture

Extreme drought now grips 85% of California so the governor is seeking voluntary action. Newsom expanded the drought emergency to nine more counties, mostly along the Central Coast and in the Bay Area.

In the rural towns around Visalia, today’s dry spell is indistinguishable from the last one or the next one. Drought is a perpetual plight in the region, which is a hotspot for dry wells.

A Fresno-area politician wants California to prioritize struggling San Joaquin Valley farmworkers in a proposed pilot program that would put cash in the hands of some the state’s impoverished residents. State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from Sanger, issued a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom last week urging the state to prioritize California’s “displaced, underemployed, or unemployed […]

State funds would allow California to support small farmers and ranchers who have been left out of publicly funded agriculture programs. This will help build resilience into our food system.

We need state water regulators to avoid repeating the mistakes of the last drought that hurt salmon, fishermen and women.

The USDA declared California a natural disaster due to its severe drought, triggering aid for growers and ranchers who supply much of the nation’s food. Why has the federal government stepped in to help with California’s water woes?

Researchers calculated that California’s rules reduced diesel exhaust by 78% compared to 51% for federal rules, leading to fewer deaths from heart attacks and lung disease.

Tech glitches have struck California’s beleaguered unemployment department once again. The Employment Development Department’s website was unable to process claimants’ information over the weekend and was still plagued with difficulties Monday. “Some customers are experiencing issues using these services,” a pop-up on EDD’s benefits registration webpage read Monday. “We’re working to restore service as soon […]

As farmworkers prepare for their second pandemic-era harvest, it is time the state does everything it can to ensure their safety.

California’s air board will vote this week on stopping burns that spew plumes of smoke that can trigger asthma attacks. The move is long in coming — it was supposed to end a decade ago under state law.