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DAVIS, Calif. – USDA Rural Development California State Director Glenda Humiston today encouraged farmers, ranchers and cooperatives to apply for the $30 million available to develop new value-added product lines.
Funding is available through USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program.
“We want to ensure that California's agricultural producers are aware of this opportunity to help improve the bottom line for their operations,” said Humiston. “Value-Added Producer Grants help promote entrepreneurship opportunities, which in turn strengthen our rural economies. This program also highlights the many benefits of local and regional food systems.”
Approximately $30 million in grants are available nationwide. Paper applications will be accepted until July 7, 2015, and electronic applications submitted through www.grants.gov are due July 2, 2015.
More information on how to apply can be found on page 26528 of the May 8, Federal Register.
The VAPG program helps agricultural producers grow their businesses by turning raw commodities into value-added products, expanding marketing opportunities and developing new uses for existing products.
Grants may be used for working capital and planning activities and applicants must provide matching funds equal to their grant award.
Eligible applicants include independent producers, farmer and rancher cooperatives, and agricultural producer groups.
Funding priority is given to military veteran, socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers or ranchers, small- to medium-size family farms, farmer/rancher cooperatives, and mid-tier value chain projects.
Last year, seven VAPGs totaling $719,914 were awarded in California, helping a total of 4,000 farmers.
For example, Sunsweet Growers, Inc, a more than 300 member cooperative based in Yuba City, received a $200,000 working capital grant to help market their new D'Noir Prune Juice.
And McClelland's Dairy, a family-owned organic dairy in Petaluma, received a $46,000 planning grant to evaluate the feasibility of an on-farm cheese processing facility.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce announced its selection of Certified Interior Designer Robert A. Boccabella, BFA, Business Design Services, of Lakeport, as it contracted designer of record for the renovation and remodeling of the historic 1942 bungalow located in Highlands Park on Lakeshore Boulevard in Clearlake.
The Clear Lake Chamber will locate its new offices and visitors center in this community treasure with its picturesque vista of Clear Lake.
The project has begun in concert with city of Clearlake specifications and coordination, and is scheduled to proceed in increments toward approximate completion by July 4.
“The Clear Lake Chamber is excited to have Boccabella’s assistance on this project,” said Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce President Pete Loustalot of Enterprise Towing. “He comes to us with vast experience and we’re grateful for his active participation as a member of our chamber.”
Boccabella has more than 30 years of extensive experience in commercial interior design, in multiple venues.
His portfolio includes client installations throughout California, Catalina, Texas, Arkansas and the East Coast.
After 30 years based in Petaluma, Sonoma County, Boccabella relocated to Lakeport, where he remodeled a 1930s gas station into his full service design studio and offices at 195 S. Main St.
Boccabella is a member of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, has served on the Lake County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors since 2012 and recently was reelected for a second three year term.
He is chair of the LCCC Ambassadors Team, 2014 and 2015, and a member of the Ukiah Chamber of Commerce.
Visit his Web site at www.businessdesignservices.com .
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All large-volume commercial sardine fishing in state and federal waters off California has been prohibited as of Tuesday, April 28.
The closing will remain in effect until at least July 2016.
“This may be an end of an era, but fortunately, the tough management decisions were made several years ago,” noted Marci Yaremko, CDFW's representative to the Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council), and fishery manager for coastal pelagic species, including sardines.
At its April 12 meeting, the council recommended regulations that prohibit directed commercial fishing for Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) in California, Oregon and Washington for the upcoming fishing season, which would have begun July 1, 2015, and run through June 30, 2016.
In light of revised stock biomass information and landings data for the current season, the Council also requested the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) close the fishery in the current season as quickly as possible.
“The stock is in a state of decline, and now is too low to support large-scale fishing,” Yaremko explained. “Industry, government agencies and those looking out for non-consumptive interests have all worked together over the years to develop the harvest control rule we are using today, which defines when enough is enough.”
The Pacific sardine fishery in California was actively managed by the CDFW until 2000, when it was incorporated into the Council's Coastal Pelagic Species Fishery Management Plan.
Since then, the fishery has been actively co-managed by the Council, NMFS, CDFW and Oregon and Washington's Fish and Wildlife agencies.
California's historic sardine fishery began in the early 1900s, peaked in the late 1930s and then declined rapidly in the 1940s.
A 20-year moratorium on the directed fishery was implemented in the late 1960s. In the 1990s, increased landings signaled the population's recovery. Numbers have since dropped again, significantly.
The Pacific sardine fishery continues to be a significant part of California's economy at times. At the recent fishery's peak in 2007, 80,000 metric tons (mt) of Pacific sardine was landed resulting in an export value of more than $40 million.
The majority of California commercial sardine landings occur in the ports of San Pedro/Terminal Island and Monterey/Moss Landing.
The Pacific sardine resource is assessed annually, and the status information is used by the Council during its annual management and quota setting process.
The council adopted the 2015 stock assessment, including the biomass projection of 96,688 mt, as the best available science.
Current harvest control rules prohibit large-volume sardine fishing when the biomass falls below 150,000 mt.
The council recommended a seasonal catch limit that allows for only incidental commercial landings and fish caught as live bait or recreationally during the 2015-16 season.
The decrease in biomass has been attributed, in part, to changes in ocean temperatures, which has been negatively impacting the species' production.
While the estimated population size is relatively low, the stock is not considered to be overfished. The early closure of the 2014-15 fishing season and the prohibition of directed fishing during the 2015-16 season are intended to help prevent the stock from entering an overfished state.
“Hard-working fishermen take pride in the precautionary fishery management that's been in place for more than a decade,” said Diane Pleschner-Steele, Executive Director of the California Wetfish Producers Association. “Thankfully the Pacific Fishery Management Council recognized the need to maintain a small harvest of sardines caught incidentally in other coastal pelagic fisheries. A total prohibition on sardine fishing would curtail California's wetfish industry and seriously harm numerous harbors as well as the state's fishing economy.”
Pacific sardine is considered to be an important forage fish in the Pacific Ocean ecosystem and is also utilized recreationally and for live bait in small volumes. CDFW protects this resource by being an active participant in this co-management process.
CDFW has representatives on the Council's advisory bodies, works closely with the industry to track Pacific sardine landings in California and runs a sampling program that collects biological information, such as size, sex and age of Pacific sardine and other coastal pelagic species that are landed in California's ports.
These landings and biological data are used by CDFW in monitoring efforts and are also used by NMFS in annual stock assessments.
For more information about Pacific sardine history, research and management in California, please visit CDFW's Pacific sardine Web page at www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/cpshms/ .
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, on Thursday voted against H.R. 1890, the so-called “fast track” legislation that would allow for Congress to consider future trade deals without the ability to offer amendments.
The legislation, considered Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee, would allow negotiated trade treaties to be submitted to Congress for an up or down vote.
Members of Congress would not be able to offer amendments to improve trade deals.
“If trade deals are done right, they can be a huge win for our economy. I witnessed this firsthand on a recent congressional trip to South East Asia. It’s an enormous market, and if we can gain access to this market, while protecting American jobs, then we could see a big boost in our exports. If we boost our exports, businesses grow, wages rise, and new jobs are created,” said Thompson.
“Improvements can be to this bill to strengthen important benchmarks such as the creation and protection of good American jobs, improved market access for U.S. goods, strong labor and environmental standards, and meaningful congressional oversight. A good trade bill has the potential to address these concerns, but unfortunately both sides couldn’t come together to make the necessary improvements,” he continued.
“We should do all we can to grow exports because it means more jobs, but it cannot be done at the expense of American workers, health and safety, and the environment. There is room for improvement in this bill and it is my hope that we can work across the aisle to make those improvements as the bill moves forward,” Thompson added.
Thompson offered two amendments during the Ways and Means Committee hearing.
The first amendment would require that any trade deal negotiated by the Administration recognize the serious and growing issue of global climate change and promote international collaboration and cooperation to mitigate and address its impacts.
The second amendment offered by Thompson would require that all trade deals negotiated by the Administration safeguard United States labor, environment, and public health laws and practices.
Under this amendment, all negotiated trade deals would have to include provisions prohibiting foreign governments and companies from suing the United Sates on the grounds that that United Sates labor, environment or public health laws constitute unfair trade barriers.
For example, under this amendment a foreign government or company could not sue the United States by claiming California’s clean air and water standards constitute an unfair trade barrier.
Both of Thompson’s amendments were voted down.
The bill passed out of committee by a vote of 25-13. 23 Republicans and two Democrats voted in favor of the legislation. It now goes to the floor for consideration by the full House of Representatives.
Thompson represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.