Tag: water

They’re right next to each other, and despite wild differences, they have one thing in common: water worries. They’re known as California and Arizona. Both are subject to what has been called the biggest drought in 1200 years.

Leading California business associations, including the Western Growers Association, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the California Fresh Fruit Association, and California Pear Growers, have sent a letter to governor Gavin Newsom urging him to “establish a clear target to increase its surface water supply to meet current and future needs for human consumption and a growing economy.”

A research team led by Renyuan Li of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, grew spinach plants out of water they extracted from the atmosphere.

Thirty-five years ago, this scenario would have struck observers of California agriculture as dystopian and nightmarish, much like the 2019 Los Angeles of Blade Runner. Unlike that LA, where it rains all the time, the problem is at the opposite end of the spectrum.

The LGMA Food Safety Programs in Arizona and California have conducted an initial review of FDA’s water rule proposal and have determined that the LGMA requirements appear to meet and exceed what is in the proposed new rule.

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a proposed rule that aims to enhance the safety of produce. It proposes to require farms to conduct comprehensive assessments that would help them identify and mitigate hazards in water used to grow produce.

In response to passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by the U.S. House of Representatives, Western Growers President & CEO Dave Puglia issued the following statement.

The reason for the cutoff is a dearth of water at the principal supply of water for the federal Central Valley Project: Lake Shasta in the extreme north of the state. It will force some changes.

With water in short supply, how can farmers ensure that every drop of water is efficiently used by their crops? Duncan Family Farms took a hard look at this question, with support from Measure to Improve, LLC sustainability consultants, and realized to find the answer they would need to improve the granularity and accuracy of their water data.

Last year the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement approved significant changes to improve the safety of water used in farming leafy greens.