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Last week Governor Jerry Brown declared California is in a drought.  A drought simply stated is a shortage of precipitation, whether it comes from rain or snow.  There just simply isn't any moisture in our lands.  Problems that can stem from a drought can become catastrophic.   Withered crops, high fire dangers, water shortages and livestock dying are just a few of the effects that a drought has on our land.   Unemployment is another effect that a drought will bring.  The loss of crops means no employment.  In 2009,  about 10,000 people lost their job due to the drought. According to Brown, who was in San Francisco last week, "The drought accentuates and further displays the conflicts between north and south and between urban and rural parts of the state. So, as governor, I'll be doing my part to bring people together and working through this." During this dry season, the rest of us need to be diligent as well.  Conserve as much water as we can, including washing dishes all at once, don't light fires when you're camping and use only propane stoves.  Right now, California is in danger of becoming a matchbox just waiting for the match to strike. According to 58 year old Kevin Kester, "I am a fifth-generation cattle rancher, and it has never been this bad ever in my lifetime — and from my family's history, it's never been anywhere close to this bad ever."   The last drought that was comparable to the one we're in now, according to his family's history was in the 1890's. Contact us today for a quote for your agribusiness. Content provided by Transformer Marketing and http://www.register-pajaronian.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=15820&page=72

The new U.S. farm bill is already a year behind schedule so what's one more month?  Negotiators said that the work for the legislation to cut food stamps for the poor and expand crop insurance for farmers won't be completed prior to Congress adjourning for the year.  This farm bill will cover topics from farm exports and food aid to crop subsidies. The delay is nothing new for the farm bill.  Since mid-2012 Congress has asked for massive cuts in the food stamp program.  The House is asking for the largest amount of cut with a $40 billion cut over the course of the next ten years.  The Senate is a little more liberal with a recommended cut of $4.5 billion. According to Insurance Journal, “We will be ready to vote in January,” Debbie Stabenow, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, told reporters." Many components of the farm bill are up in the air, including food stamps. The Proposal The new farm bill would spend some $500 billion over five years, three-quarters of it on food stamps. Specifically, the Insurance Journal reports, "Both chambers would trim spending on traditional farm subsidies, conservation programs and food stamps, while expanding outlays for crop insurance by up to 10 percent. One crop insurance proposal would assure grain and soybean growers of up to 90 percent of average revenue from a crop." Read the entire article here. Content provided by http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2013/12/11/313908.htm