California’s Water Supply in Decline & Mexico’s Biotech Corn Ban
**Average annual water supplies for the San Joaquin Valley could decline 20% by 2040, with shortfalls driven by mandates of California’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
That’s according to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California that says America’s most bountiful farming region faces a future with less water.
It said nearly 900,000 acres of farmland could be fallowed and almost 50,000 jobs lost without new water system investments and water trading programs.
**Mexico officials issued a new decree calling for a ban on imports of biotech corn used for certain purposes, effective immediately.
The decree would continue to allow imports of biotech corn used as animal feed until a substitute is found.
National Corn Growers Association President Tom Haag says, "Singling out corn, our number one ag export to Mexico, and hastening an import ban on numerous food-grade uses, makes USMCA a dead letter unless it's enforced."
**The American agriculture sector posted its best export year ever in 2022.
USDA says international sales of America’s farm and food products reached $196 billion, that’s up 11% from the previous record set in 2021.
The value of sales increased in all of America’s top ten ag export markets.
The top U.S. commodity exports in 2022 were soybeans, corn, beef, dairy, cotton, and tree nuts.