Gov. Newsom won’t support farm worker union voting bill
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he “cannot support” a bill that many farmworkers say would prevent their employers from intimidating them during union elections, disappointing the United Farm Workers union, which had launched a weeks-long march to the state capitol in support of the legislation.
AFR AG Insider
As herring decline, tribes challenge Alaska’s respected fisheries program
The Tlingit say that their ancient herring culture is under threat. Today, their subsistence harvest accounts for less than 1 percent of the herring roe taken in Sitka. Japanese buyers have dominated the fishery here since their own herring population was decimated by overfishing in the 1960s. For nearly 50 years now, Alaska’s commercial fishers have made millions feeding the demand for Japan’s traditional kazunoko delicacy.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Butterfly’s numbers surge: The large blue butterfly, one of Europe’s most endangered insects, had its best summer in 150 years in the UK, where it was once thought to be extinct. (BBC)
Tribes head back to land: Through classes, seed banks and plantings, Native Americans across the United States are reclaiming their agricultural roots, growing healthy foods and aiming for self-sufficiency. (The New York Times)
Farmers choose ‘green gold’: In Spain, farmers in one of the country’s poorest regions are plowing up wheat fields and vineyards and planting pistachios, a lucrative, drought-resistant crop. (The Guardian)
Wolves in the Northeast?: Wolves were effectively shot, trapped and poisoned out of the Northeast by the start of the 20th century, but some advocates claim that the apex predator is back. (Associated Press)
Redirecting water in Oregon: The Three Sisters Irrigation District, near Bend, has spent much of the past two decades re-engineering a creek in an effort to save the farms in his district. (Bloomberg)
ON THE CALENDAR
Monday
USDA releases weekly Crop Progress report, 4 p.m. ET.
Tuesday
Farm Progress holds the annual Farm Progress Show, “the nation’s largest outdoor farm event,” through Thursday, Boone, Iowa.
USDA releases quarterly Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade, 3 p.m. ET. The report will include the first forecast of exports in fiscal 2023, which opens on Oct. 1, and update the estimate of exports this fiscal year. At present, exports are forecast at a record $191 billion in fiscal 2022, including a record $36 billion to China.
Wednesday
USDA releases monthly Agricultural Prices report, 3 p.m. ET.
Thursday
USDA releases Farm Income forecast, 11 a.m. ET. At present, net farm income is forecast at $113.7 billion, 4.5 percent lower than in 2022 but far above the 10-year average of $90 billion annually. The USDA will hold a webinar on the report at 1 p.m. ET.
Sept. 5
Observed on the first Monday of September, Labor Day was designated a federal holiday by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 to honor the contribution of American workers. Local and statewide observances began in the late 19th century. Creation of the “workingmen’s holiday” can be viewed as an attempt by Congress to repair ties with unionized workers following riots in Chicago during the Pullman strike in summer 1894. The government sent troops to Chicago to try to break this strike. “On July 7, national guardsmen, after having been assaulted, fired into a mob, killing between four and 30 people and wounding many others.”
