Food And Farm News
1-28-2025
Dairies decry draft waste discharge rules
To reduce nitrates and ensure that people have access to safe drinking water, the state has proposed tighter water quality requirements for all California dairies that collect dairy waste and apply it to land. The draft order, if adopted as proposed, establishes new precedential groundwater quality protection requirements that would apply to all California dairies that apply their dairy waste to land, said Kari Fisher, senior director and counsel of legal advocacy at the California Farm Bureau.
California drops ‘Clean Fleets’ rule phasing out diesel trucks
California has dropped its landmark rule that would have phased out nearly all diesel trucks in the coming years, the California Air Resources Board announced earlier this month. The “first-in-the-world” rule, called Advanced Clean Fleets, was adopted in 2023 and was set to phase out the sale of new medium- and heavy-duty diesel trucks, including the big rigs that transport many agricultural products. State officials said this month they will not pursue that rule or another clean trucking rule after the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency failed to approve waivers for them before President Donald Trump took office.
Gene editing behind two new self-pollinating Nonpareil almond varieties
Two California companies are in the final stretch of a multiyear marathon to bring farmers the world’s first Nonpareil almond variety that can pollinate itself—a development that could help growers reduce the need for bees, lower production costs and increase their bottom line. The companies, Ohalo Genetics and Burchell Nursery, are on a similar timeline: They plan to begin nursery trials this year and to have limited supplies by late 2026 to allow growers to plant them for testing on a first-come basis. Both expect to begin commercial deliveries to growers in 2027.
Study finds skyrocketing cost of regulatory compliance for California lettuce growers
The cost to California’s lettuce growers of complying with the state’s environmental, labor and food safety regulations has surged 63.7% over the past seven years, reaching $1,600 per acre and accounting for more than 12% of their production costs, according to a study commissioned by the Monterey County Farm Bureau and prepared by two Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, professors. Since 2006, compliance costs have risen by 1,366%. Despite this, lettuce growers saw just a 0.37% increase in market prices for their products from 2017 to 2024, highlighting the growing financial strain on the sector.
For more information about any story in Food and Farm News, contact the California Farm Bureau Marketing/Communications Division at 916-561-5550 or email news@cfbf.com. Connect with us on Facebook, X, or Instagram: @CAFarmBureau.
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