New California Ag Laws and Farmer Sentiment Changes Little

**New laws and regulations will affect California agriculture in 2024.

Senate Bill 389 gives the state authority to investigate whether rights of a water user are valid and impose sanctions for unauthorized diversions.

Assembly Bill 1016 will modernize the certification process for farmers to use drones to spray pesticides and beneficial biological treatments.

The Advanced Clean Fleets rule will phase out most diesel trucks in California over the next two decades.

**Farmer sentiment changed very little in December.

The Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer recorded a reading of 114, just one point lower than a month earlier.

Also, both the Index of Current Conditions and the Index of Future Expectations fell one point below their respective November readings.

The Current Conditions Index for December was 112, while the Future Expectations Index was 115.

All three indices were weaker than in December 2022.

**The Waters of the U.S. rule rewrite topped the list of agricultural issues for the National Agricultural Law Center in 2023.

While WOTUS was the top issue for 2024, California’s Proposition 12 came in second, with the one-year Farm Bill extension third.

The organization listed EPA’s rollout of the Endangered Species Protection Program and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act fourth.