(MasseyFerguson.us)

Saudi dairy firm buying California land for fodder

Reuters –– Saudi Arabia’s Almarai, the largest dairy company in the Gulf, has spent C$45 million to buy land in California to supply its business with alfalfa hay, it said Sunday. The 1,790 acres of land at Blythe — in the state’s southeast corner, about 200 km east of Palm Springs — was acquired through

California’s Department of Water Resources gauges the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains through manual surveys, such as this one in late December 2004. (Paul Hames photo, copyright California Department of Water Resources)

Deep snow in California mountains offers hope in drought

Reuters — A cold, wet start to California’s winter has dumped nearly five feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, state water experts said Wednesday, fuelling hope that 2016 will bring enough precipitation to help offset four years of drought. Snow surveyors headed to the mountains in Phillips near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday for



U.S. winter weather to see El Niño’s influence

U.S. winter weather to see El Niño’s influence

Northern-tier states are expected to be warmer, drier than normal

Much of the U.S. South can expect a cooler and wetter winter, while warmer-than-usual temperatures are likely across many northern and western states, as a strong El Niño weather pattern shaped a government weather outlook issued Oct. 15. More rain and snow are likely across the nation’s southern regions, extending from central California to Texas



(Dave Bedard photo)

Monsanto asks California not to list herbicide as cancer cause

Reuters — A plan by California environmental officials to list a commonly used herbicide as cancer-causing should be withdrawn, Monsanto told state regulators on Tuesday, saying California’s actions could be considered illegal because they are not considering valid scientific evidence. The formal comments were filed by Monsanto with the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment



The receding waterline of Lake Hodges is seen in San Diego County Jan. 17, 2014, when California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency.

Considering the true cost of agricultural production systems

Externalizing the cost of production is becoming less acceptable to society

California is in the midst of a multi-year drought that has reduced the snowpack and rains that fill the reservoirs and irrigation canals that provide water for the cities of the state as well as agricultural production. The result is lower allocations and higher prices for all water users including agriculture. Some farmers have responded



The amount of genome sequences the researchers released is 
about four times the size of the entire rice genome.

Researchers sequence two-thirds of the barley genome

Information may allow more targeted selection of quality characteristics

A team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside says it has reached a new milestone in its work on sequencing the barley genome. In a release Aug. 26, the researchers said they have sequenced large portions of the genome that together contain nearly two-thirds of all barley genes. They said because barley