Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/811830
InsupportofGov.Jerry Brown's call for all custom- ers to make water conser- vation a new way of life, even as he declared the of- ficial end to the current drought, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is announcing new water management tools for agricultural cus- tomers. The governor's order lifts the drought emergency in all California counties ex- cept Fresno, Kings, Tu- lare and Tuolumne, where emergency drinking water projects will continue to help address diminished groundwater supplies. These supplies will con- tinue to be a challenge for the state. That's one rea- son why PG&E is work- ing with Wexus Technolo- gies to enable conservation of both water and energy, through an energy manage- ment software system that is now available to agricul- ture customers. One of the most signifi- cant energy uses on farms is moving and pumping wa- ter. Wexus remotely con- nects pumps, buildings, PG&E electric SmartMe- ters and water flow meters via cloud technology. This gives agriculture customers another option to track, in- terpret, and manage their water and energy use ef- fectively. "Water conservation and energy management go hand-in-hand. PG&E works closely with our cus- tomers to relentlessly pur- sue opportunities that en- able us to deliver actionable insights and meaningful services at the grid-edge. We value the close work- ing relationships we have with our agricultural cus- tomers and look forward to continuing to work with them to provide innova- tive, holistic solutions that help manage their overall operations," said Deborah Affonsa, vice president of PG&E Customer Service. "Smart energy and wa- ter management makes a lot of financial sense for growers," said Chris Ter- rell, CEO and co-founder of Wexus. "And drought or no drought, water and en- ergy conserving technol- ogy deployed in farming operations is a competi- tive advantage. We're glad to be working with PG&E to make water and energy conservation a way of life." PG&E will continue to work with the agricultural community to manage wa- ter and energy use through a variety of existing pro- grams and incentives. En- ergy efficiency programs help agricultural custom- ers increase the efficiency of their pumps and irriga- tion systems, reducing the energy intensity and cost of their operations. PG&E of- fers a variety of incentives for investments in energy efficient equipment, zero interest financing for qual- ified projects, and many forms of technical exper- tise and training services. PG&E agricultural cus- tomers have saved more than 538 million kilo- watt hours and 19 million therms of energy through the company's energy ef- ficiency programs and re- bates since 2011. The energy saved is enough to power nearly 50,000 homes for one year or remove the equivalent of 100,000 vehicles from the road for one year. That adds up to more than $81 million dollars in rebates in the last six years, since the recent drought first began. WATER Utility assists farmers with management technology I was at Food Maxx Mon- day morning when a lady brought in a purse she had found in the shopping cart, as a frantic woman was on the phone to the man- ager saying she had lost her purse. It is nice to live in a small town, with honest people like this unassuming lady. Juniorhighrodeo We are excited that the California Jr. High School State Finals rodeo will be in Red Bluff May 11 — 14th at Tehama District Fair- grounds. Jr. High Rodeo in California started in 2004- 05. 2000 was the last year CHSRA was in Red Bluff for the high school rodeo state finals. Since then they were held in Quincy, Bakersfield, Paso Robles and then they found a home in Bishop. Jr. High is for the 6th- 7th-8th grade students with events similar to the older rodeos, but adapted for younger members. The boys have steer riding with a saddle for saddle bronc and bareback rigging. It is chute dogging instead of steer wrestling. Jr. High boys can compete in boys break- away roping and goat tying. They also have tie down roping and bull riding. Jr. High girls have barrel rac- ing, pole bending, goat ty- ing, breakaway roping. Boys and girls compete in team roping, while ribbon roping has a boy /girl team. California has nine dis- tricts, and each district can send their top five contes- tants in each event to the State Finals. Top four in each event qualify to com- pete in TN at the National Finals Jr. High Rodeo. Sil- ver State International Ro- deo, Winnemucca, NV is for the other top Jr. High Ro- deo competitors that don't go to TN. A "Welcome Back Din- ner" will be held Thursday evening, May 11 by mem- bers of the community for the contestants and their families. It is team work, with Irene Fuller, 530-736- 8551, rene.da.bean.rb@ gmail.com, and Jean Bar- ton, jbarton2013@gmail. com, leading the effort. Thanks to the Gold Country Cutters and their generous tips for the beef appetizers at their cutting; Tehama County Cattlemen and A&R Meats for their donation of the beef. Red Bluff Round Up gave a gen- erous donation. Tuesday evening Baskin Robbins had a fundraiser to help with expenses. Harry, Mike, Scott of Dudley Excavat- ing, Cornerstone Commu- nity Bank, Remax, Tehama Co. CattleWomen, several generous people have given cash, and we have about half of the cost of the din- ner raised. Cornerstone Community Bank has opened an ac- count called "C S J H S R Fi- nals Dinner" for us, if you would be able to help spon- sor this event. District 1 has had sev- eral members compete as professional competitors. Last weekend, in Kissim- mee, Florida at the RAM National Circuit Finals Ro- deo, R. C. Landingham, Hat Creek won the Bareback ti- tle; Nellie Williams Miller, Cottonwood was in the fi- nal four for Barrel Racing; Jordan Spears, Redding qualified in Bull Riding. Last weekend was the Poly Royal Rodeo for col- lege students at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and many former District 1 mem- bers were competing for their schools. We were de- lighted when it was an- nounced that Chelsey Bush- nell, Lassen had tied with Katie Rice, Cal Poly for All Around Cowgirl. Then it was discovered an error in the points, and Katie was AA. Chelsey showed good sportsmanship and class when she congratulated Ka- tie via Facebook with sev- eral hundred "likes." "Just to clear up the con- fusion about Poly Royal. I did not end up splitting the All Around with Katie. They miss calculated it and I got a phone call yesterday saying I lost it by 10 points. Thank you to everyone for all of the support. Moose and I still won the barrels, they got that right. Con- grats to Katie Rice for win- ning the All Around!" Other familiar names at Poly Royal were Colton Campbell — Fresno; Rial Engelhart — Fresno; Court- ney Wood —WNVC; Quincy Crum —West Hills; Sterling Humphry — Cuesta; Cash Wemple-Kuhn — Lassen; Chase Alvernaz — Lassen; Amy Brown — Cal Poly; Mi- chell Woolbert — Feather River; Will Macdonald — Lassen; Brody Gill — West Hills; Steel Humphry — Cal Poly; Brushton Minton — West Hills; Wyatt Spencer — Lassen, and no doubt I missed others. In 1990, the CHSRA State Finals program at Quincy listed familiar names you will recognize. Stock con- tractor — Growney Bros.; Bull fighters: Ronnie Gar- cia, Kenny Watson, Joe Baumgartner; Pickup men: Lloyd Faria, Don Kish, Donny Jones. The program was " ded- icated to the memory of Marie Sutton. Marie was CHSRA Secretary from 1976 until she passed away, February 4, 1990. Marie was a lady who dedicated her life to High School Ro- deo and to all her kids that participated. Strict about rules, but she always en- forced them with fairness, love and compassion." Red Bluff Round-Up Di- rector Zane Glines was a District 1 state finalist in Boys Cutting that went to Nationals in 1990. Several other District 1 state final- ists are parents of current District 1 Jr. High or High School Rodeo competitors. The District 1 JR. HIGH CHSRA team will have 13 boys with All Around Cow- boy Keith Johnson, Etna; Reserve AA Jacek Frost, Grenada; Kyle Stewart, Janesville; Hunter Hughes, Corning; Logan Darst, Ger- ber; Cowboy Hammons, Corning; Tanner Kerr, Red Bluff; Layton Watkins, Pot- ter Valley; Blake Myers, Fall River Mills; James Johnson, Etna; Lane Vaughan, Klam- ath Falls, OR; Jesse Dancer, Alturas; Wyatt Lacy. There will be 12 girls on the team wearing gold vests with All Around Cowgirl Miley Bunting, Red Bluff; Reserve AA Shelby Dun- ning, Gerber; Kate Grims- man, Orland; Addie Tilton, Taylorsville; Kamish Wag- ner, Red Bluff; Kylyn Wat- kins, Potter Valley; Lacie Banchio, Taylorsville; Kay- lee King, Red Bluff; Harli Gomes, Etna; Kenzie Wil- son, Stonyford; Alex Grace Gendreau, Oroville. Kylie Daws, Etna. The action will start at 8 a.m. on May 12 in the Frank Moore Arena and on the track in front of the grand- stand at Tehama District Fairgrounds. Please help welcome back the high school rodeo kids, at Jr. High level with the Welcome Dinner. JeanBartonhasbeen writing her column in the Daily News since the early 1990s. She can be reached by e-mail at jbarton2013@ gmail.com. JEAN BARTON Smalltownkindness,welcometoRedBluff CONTRIBUTED The District 1California Jr. High School Rodeo team will be competing in the State Finals in Red Bluff, May 11-14. The Associated Press DES MOINES, IOWA A rule designed to protect the le- gal rights of farmers who grow chickens and hogs for the nation's largest meat processing corporations, was delayed Wednesday by President Donald Trump's administration, halting by at least six months an ini- tiative rolled out by Presi- dent Barack Obama in his final days in office. The rule was first pro- posed by the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture in 2010 but was met with resistance in Congress and by the meat processing industry. It was delayed until the USDA re- leased it in December. Scheduled to go into ef- fect on April 22, the rule would make it easier for farmers to sue companies they contract with over unfair, discriminatory or deceptive practices. Cur- rently, several court rul- ings have interpreted fed- eral law as saying a farmer must prove a company's ac- tions harm competition in the entire industry before a lawsuit can move forward. The rule eases that high burden of proof. For years some chicken growers who enter long- term contracts with com- panies like Tyson Foods and Pilgrim's Pride have alleged the industry locks them into deals that fix their compensation at un- profitably low levels and forces them deeply into debt. Alton Terry lost a fed- eral lawsuit against Ty- son Farms in 2010 after his contract to raise chick- ens was cancelled. He said it was canceled because he tried or organize farmers to protest company prac- tices. He ended up filing for bankruptcy. He said many rural farmers voted for Trump believing his pledge to drain the swamp in Wash- ington of special interests would help them. They were counting on him to approve the new rule, he said. "There was hope that something would get done and now we see that get- ting him in, we're having the same old story," Terry said. "The swamp creatures are collecting larger pay- checks. Where's the drain- ing part?" 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