LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN

August 21, 2023

To read the full version each week, please subscribe below.

State of Emergency Declared in Southern California Resulting from Hurricane Hilary
As Southern California suffered high winds, heavy rains and flooding impacts as Hurricane Hilary approached, Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday declared a state of emergency for Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Tulare and Ventura Counties. Yesterday, after the storm had made landfall and been downgraded to a tropical storm, Governor Newsom issued another proclamation extending the state of emergency to Mono County. As ranchers in the impacted counties assess the damage from Hurricane Hilary, CCA encourages ranchers to share information about those damages with CCA staff. CCA and the California Cattlemen’s Foundation’s Rancher Technical Assistance Program stand ready to assist ranchers in accessing available resources to address the impacts of the storm.

New Episode of Sorting Pen: The California Cattleman Podcast 
A new episode of Sorting Pen: The California Cattleman Podcast is out now! Hear from Western Resource Strategies and the California Cattlemen’s Foundation’s Rancher Technical Assistance Program’s Noah Lopez along with San Diego County ranchers Allison and Bryce Fender as they talk about county Climate Action Plans. To listen to the episode click here.

Apply to Be a 2023 CCA Convention Intern 
Internship applications are open for the 2023 CCA/CCW Convention happening Nov. 29 – Dec. 1 at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nev. Selected interns will help run CCA’s tradeshow booth, onsite registration and other behind the scenes tasks at the event, they will also get to attend select meetings of interest, general sessions and the tradeshow with complimentary lodging and registration. Additionally, the interns will get to interact with CCA leadership and staff, as well as industry leaders at the best attended meeting of the year. For further information and to apply, click here. 

Financial Assistance Application Opens for USDA Farm Loan Borrowers Who Have Faced Discrimination 
From the USDA California Farm Service Agency 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently opened the financial assistance application process for eligible farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021. Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) directs USDA to provide this assistance. Since the law’s passage, USDA has worked diligently to design the program in accordance with significant stakeholder input. For further information, click here. 

CDFW Confirms New Wolf Pack in Tulare County
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has confirmed that a new wolf pack has settled in the Sequoia National Forest within Tulare County, more than 200 miles south of any other wolf packs currently known to CDFW. The wolf pack consists of at least five wolves, including a breeding female descended from OR-7 (the first modern wolf to enter California in 2011) and at least four offspring. Tulare County ranchers may now be eligible for CDFW grants to offset costs of implementing non-lethal deterrents or to provide payments to compensate for the impacts of wolf presence upon livestock (“pay-for-presence”). For more information, see last week’s edition of Legislative Bulletin or contact Kirk Wilbur in the CCA office.

Governor Newsom Signs Executive Order to Prepare for the Next Wet Season
Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order aimed at streamlining debris removal and levee repairs in regions of the state hard hit by the series of severe winter storms that battered the state between late 2022 and early 2023. The order seeks to streamline debris removal and levee repair projects by exempting them from various environmental laws, including those pertaining to lake and streambed alteration agreements, water quality certification and review under the California Environmental Quality Act. The order is effective for the San Joaquin River, the Tulare Lake Basin, the Salinas River, the Pajaro River and for tributaries to those rivers. For more information, see the Governor’s August 4 press release.

Applications Due August 31 for FARMER Program to Replace Ag Equipment in 15 Air Districts
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced that applications will be accepted through August 31 for CARB’s Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emissions Reductions (FARMER) program in 15 air districts. The FARMER program will be distributing up to $5.4 million in funding to replace older agricultural vehicles and equipment with newer, cleaner equipment that “helps reduce emissions of harmful diesel exhaust and greenhouse gases and improves local air quality,” according to CARB. For more information, see the August 7 edition of Legislative Bulletin or the FARMER Shared Allocation Pool webpage.

2023 CCA Scholarship Applications Now Available 
Applications for the 2023 CCA Scholarships are being accepted now through October 1, 2023. CCA awarded $59,000 in scholarships to students studying agriculture, although scholarship amounts and quantities vary year to year. Current CCA members (producer, feeder or YCC) that are currently enrolled at a university or college are eligible to apply. Past recipients of her CCA scholarship program may also apply again this year. For a complete list of awards and to download the application visit calcattlemen.org/scholarships. Contact Maureen in the CCA office at maureen@calcattlemen.org with any questions.

Infection in Equine in Eight California Counties Consistent with Vesicular Stomatitis Virus 
From the California Department of Food and Agriculture
Multiple cases of concerning oral lesions and vesicles in horses consistent with Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) infection have recently been reported and confirmed in California, Texas and most recently Nevada. Clinical signs of VS include excessive salivation, vesicles (blister-like lesions), erosions or ulcerations around the mouth, tongue, nostrils, teats, feet and coronary bands. As VS is highly contagious among susceptible species (primarily equids and cattle, but also camelids and small ruminants, and occasionally swine) as well as potentially zoonotic, ensuring proper personal protective equipment and biosecurity measures are in place on your facilities is essential to prevent spread. While VS is rarely fatal, it is highly contagious and can cause severe discomfort and significant production losses in affected individuals. The lesions are clinically very similar and indistinguishable from those associated with the devastating Foot and Mouth disease. Vector mitigation (specifically black fly and sand fly control) is critical in containing a potential VS outbreak. Please ensure adequate fly protective measures are in place on your facilities; such as insecticide use on animals and around facilities, manure management and reduction of fly breeding areas. Any suspect lesioned animals should be immediately isolated upon detection. As VS can also be transmitted via contaminated surfaces; extra precautions should be in place on dairies to avoid transmission of VS to other animals or personnel during milking.

Please reach out to your local CDFA district office for additional information on vector mitigation strategies, biosecurity recommendations and movement requirements. Please notify your CDFA district office immediately if animals with consistent lesions are observed. To learn more about VS, click the following links. Vesicular Stomatitis, USDA Factsheet, USDA.

Upcoming CCA Events

Upcoming Industry Events

Industry News

A wolf pack in Sequoia is an exciting discovery. Ranchers need to accept it | Opinion The Fresno Bee “Wolves in Northern California have killed or maimed dozens of cows and calves in recent years, and likely many more that have gone unreported’ said John Hammon, president of the Tulare County Cattlemen’s Association in an email. ‘Wolf presence also stresses cows, impacting weight gain and even causing cows to abort their calves. We urge CDFW to collar these wolves as soon as possible and help ranchers avoid wolf conflicts before this pack gets in the habit of relying on livestock for their meals.’” To continue reading, click here.

Scientists discover new details on weather phenomenon behind some of California’s worst fires San Francisco Chronicle “But a widely used threshold used to define dry lightning doesn’t fully capture wildfire ignition risk across the western United States, according to a new multi-institutional study. In parts of Northern and Central California, for example, lightning strikes can trigger conflagrations amid wetter weather.” To continue reading, click here.

CDFA Releases Belowground Biodiversity Report Noting Essential Nature for Soil Health, Climate Resilience, Food Production and Nutrition Security California Department of Food and Agriculture “CDFA has released a report on Belowground Biodiversity which provides targeted recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders to enhance soil health and conserve biodiversity, which plays an important role in climate resilience and food production.” To continue reading, click here.