California Well and Groundwater Fees and Rabobank on Recovering Grocery Prices

**Farmers in the critically over drafted Tulare Lake Subbasin in the San Joaquin Valley are bracing for escalating costs as state and local agencies assess fees on wells and groundwater.

The California State Water Resources Control Board placed the subbasin on probation last week under the state’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

They concluded local agency sustainability plans failed to address overdraft by limiting groundwater pumping, land subsidence and impacts to drinking water.

**Rabobank released its North American Agribusiness Review, a bi-monthly analysis of market conditions across North American agriculture.

The report says American consumers have proven far more resilient than expected, and they continue analyzing the drivers behind evolving consumption patterns.

Grocery sales have started to recover as food inflation has slowed and expected recovery in other sectors.

**The USDA issued a nationwide order requiring lactating dairy cows to test negative for Avian Influenza before transport.

But the North American Meat Institute is asking the USDA and Centers for Disease Control to provide safety guidance to beef processors.

NAMI President Julie Anna Potts says they want that additional guidance to ensure USDA Inspectors and meat company workers stay protected from infection.

She adds that properly prepared beef remains safe to eat.