Association Seeks Tractor Replacement Funding But Budget Looms Large

Association President/CEO Roger Isom spent part of this past week at the State Capitol meeting legislators in an all-out effort to reinstate FARMER funding into the state budget.  The Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER) is an incentive program designed to help farmers achieve voluntary emission reductions by helping pay for new lean burning tractors and harvesters while having the farmers destroy the older higher emitting equipment.  As of last year, more than 4,200 tractors and harvesters had been replaced as well as 277 ag trucks and 66 ag pump engines with the lowest emission equipment available.  In addition, more than 2,600 fuel burning ATVs had been replaced with fully electric UTVs.  In total, this has generated more than 20,000 tons of NOx reductions, 1,200 tons of PM reductions, and more than 185,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalents.  The hugely successful program has been a win-win for everyone especially air quality in the San Joaquin Valley.  The program is also part of an important State Implementation Plan (SIP) that promotes the use of the incentives as meeting as part of an effort to achieve 11 tons per day of NOx emissions by the end of 2023.  Should the goal not be achieved, it will force the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and implement a mandatory tractor replacement rule that will require the replacement of every Tier 0, 1 and 2 tractor and harvester by 2030!  This would be devastating to farmers throughout the valley that are already battling high energy, labor, fuel and other input costs while dealing with the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).  Unfortunately, the growing statewide budget deficit is weighing heavy on legislators as they fight to keep funding in existing programs.  “Every office we visited understood the importance of the FARMER program, but many indicated this is a very tough year from a fiscal perspective”, stated Isom.  “Nonetheless, many indicated their support of the FARMER program, and we remain hopeful some amount of funding will be reinstated.”  The Association is part of a large coalition seeking $160 million in FARMER funding for FY 2023. 

Reclamation announces initial 2023 water supply allocations for Central Valley Project

This week, the Bureau of Reclamation announced initial 2023 water supply allocations for Central Valley Project water users. Water supply allocations are based on an estimate of water available for delivery to CVP water users and reflect current reservoir storage, precipitation, and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada.   “While we are cautiously optimistic, we are also cognizant of the uncertainties that exist and the fluctuating nature of California's climate with the possibility that dry conditions will return,” said Reclamation Regional Director Ernest Conant. “We received a much-needed dose of rain and snow in December and January that helped boost the water levels at our CVP reservoirs. The projected runoff from the snowmelt later this year will further benefit the state as we head into the summer months. However, we are all too aware of the precarious nature of recent weather patterns and must proceed prudently as we move through the water year—especially with below average storage in the state’s largest reservoir, Shasta.”   This year’s initial allocations reflect the improved hydrologic conditions caused by the winter storms that left the Sierra Nevada snowpack at well above normal conditions.

Currently, reservoir storages in Trinity and Shasta reservoirs are below the historic average for this time of year and runoff forecasts indicate that overall storage for these reservoirs may be limited if substantial spring precipitation does not materialize. Other CVP reservoirs, such as Folsom and Millerton, are in better shape with above average water storage levels for this time of year.  

Central Valley Project Reservoir status (as of Feb. 19)

“Three years of record-setting drought in California will take some time to recover from,” said Reclamation Regional Director Conant. “In the short-term, the early winter storms have helped, but in the long-term, we still have much catching up to do, especially in the northern part of our system.”   Based on current hydrology and forecasting, Reclamation is announcing the following initial CVP water supply allocations:

  North-of-Delta Contractors 

Sacramento River 

• Irrigation water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta are allocated 35% of their contract total. 
• Municipal and industrial water service and repayment contractors north-of-Delta are allocated 75% of their historic use or public health and safety needs, whichever, is greater.   
• Sacramento River Settlement Contractors’ water supply is based upon settlement of claimed senior water rights. The 2023 water year is currently determined as non-critical, as defined in their Settlement Contracts, which allows for 100% of their contract supply. 

 South-of-Delta Contractors 

• Irrigation water service and repayment contractors south-of-Delta are allocated 35% of their contract total. 
• M&I water service and repayment contractors south-of-Delta are allocated 75% of their historical use.   
• San Joaquin River Settlement Contractors and San Joaquin Exchange Contractors’ water supply is based upon settlement/exchange of claimed senior water rights. The 2023 water year is currently determined as non-critical, as defined in their contracts, which allows for 100% of their contract supply. 

 Eastside Water Contractors 

• Eastside water service contractors (Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District and Stockton East Water District) will receive 100% of their contract total. 

 Friant Division Contractors 

• Friant Division contractors’ water supply is delivered from Millerton Reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River via the Madera and Friant-Kern canals. The first 800,000 acre-feet of available water supply is considered Class 1; Class 2 is considered the next amount of available water supply up to 1.4 million acre-feet. Given the current hydrologic conditions, the Friant Division water supply allocation is 100% of Class 1 and 20% of Class 2. 

As the water year progresses, changes in hydrology, actions that impact operations, and opportunities to deliver additional water will influence future allocations. Reclamation will continue to monitor hydrology and may adjust basin-specific allocations if conditions warrant an update.    

Association’s Isom Addresses Farm Show Crowd on Port Issue Concerns

The Association’s President/CEO Roger Isom spoke today at the World Ag Expo in Tulare as part of a panel on Rising Costs and Inflation Impacts on Global Trade.  Isom highlighted long term impacts due to the ongoing West Coast Port problems, and what the long-term implications might be.  In addition, Isom took the opportunity to call for automation at the three West Coast Ports.  “Our ports are among the worst in the world when it comes to container handling times” Isom stated.  “We have both Federal and State Infrastructure money and we need to utilize to get these ports up to speed”.

URGENT ADVISORY – UC Merced Air Quality Monitoring

This is an urgent advisory!  This week one of our members was approached by a student from UC Merced to ask if they would be allowed to place an air quality monitor on their facility grounds (see attached letter).   This effort is being led by the SJV Center for Air Assessment and Injustice Reduction at UC Merced.  This is not scientifically valid as it would not meet Federal EPA citing requirements and could lead to very misleading results.  DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO OCCUR ON YOUR PROPERTY! Nothing good will come from this study other than to try and regulate you even more than you already are and based on scientifically flawed information.  You are not required to comply with their request in any way.  If you are contacted, please tell them NO, and then let us know.