How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Business News
- Details
- Written by: Editor
The grazing fee for 2010 is the same as it was in 2009.
An AUM or HM – treated as equivalent measures for fee purposes – is the occupancy and use of public lands by one cow and her calf, one horse, or five sheep or goats for a month.
The newly calculated grazing fee, determined by a congressional formula and effective on March 1, applies to nearly 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM and more than 8,000 permits administered by the Forest Service.
The formula used for calculating the grazing fee, which was established by Congress in the 1978 Public Rangelands Improvement Act, has continued under a presidential Executive Order issued in 1986.
Under that order, the grazing fee cannot fall below $1.35 per AUM, and any increase or decrease cannot exceed 25 percent of the previous year's level.
The annually determined grazing fee is computed by using a 1966 base value of $1.23 per AUM/HM for livestock grazing on public lands in Western states.
The figure is then calculated according to three factors – current private grazing land lease rates, beef cattle price and the cost of livestock production.
In effect, the fee rises, falls or stays the same based on market conditions, with livestock operators paying more when conditions are better and less when conditions have declined.
The $1.35 per AUM/HM grazing fee applies to 16 Western states on public lands administered by the BLM and the Forest Service.
The states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
The Forest Service applies different grazing fees to national grasslands and to lands under its management in the Eastern and Midwestern states and parts of Texas.
The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land – 253 million surface acres – than any other federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska.
The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, manages 193 million acres of Federal lands in 44 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
The demand for gasoline decreased 0.4 percent and diesel declined 11.1 percent compared to the same month last year.
“Following a long period of much volatility in gas prices and consumption, both were fairly stable last fall,” said Chairwoman Betty Yee. “However, diesel consumption continued to decline, reflecting continued weakness in economic activity.”
Through October 2009 California gasoline consumption had declined 1.3 percent compared to January through October of 2008.
In October 2009, gasoline demand declined 0.4 percent when Californians used 1.246 billion gallons of gasoline compared to 1.252 billion gallons the same month last year.
The average California gasoline price at the pump in October was $3.06 per gallon compared to $3.44 in October 2008, an 11 percent decrease.
The October decrease in consumption is the first decline in six months. The previous five months showed small increases in consumption when compared to last year.
Gasoline sold in October generated approximately $318 million in sales tax during that month, an estimated $27 million less than generated last year.
October sales tax revenues from gasoline would have been about $62 million less had the state portion of the sales and use tax rate not increased by 1 percent on April 1, 2009.
Diesel fuel sold in California during October totaled 224 million gallons compared to last year’s October total of 252 million gallons, which is a decline of 11.1 percent.
California diesel prices were $2.86 per gallon in October 2009 down 19.9 percent compared to October 2008 when the average diesel price was $3.57 per gallon.
Diesel consumption generally follows economic activity during a recession.
The BOE is able to monitor gallons through tax receipts paid by fuel distributors. Figures for November 2009 are scheduled to be available at the end of February 2010. All monthly, quarterly and annual figures can be viewed at: www.boe.ca.gov/sptaxprog/spftrpts.htm .
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura is announcing three listening sessions to discuss proposed regulations for the State Organic Program.
Listening sessions are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the following days and locations:
Feb. 9, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Main Auditorium, 1220 N St., Sacramento;
Feb. 17, Monterey Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, 1428 Abbott St., Ag Center Conference Room, Salinas;
March 3, Los Angeles Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, 11012 S. Garfield Ave., South Gate.
The California Products Act was established in 1990.
In 2003 the Act was abolished and the California Organic Products Act (COPA) of 2003 was established. This is found in the California Food and Agriculture Code, Title 3, Sections 46000-46029. Proposed additions to the California Code of Regulations will make specific procedures for registration, spot inspections, and sampling as authorized in COPA 2003.
The additions will also incorporate by reference the National Organic Program regulations.
The proposed organic regulations can be found on the CDFA Web site at www.cdfa.ca.gov/is/Regulations.html .
- Details
- Written by: Editor
California’s taxable sales totaled $127.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, down $17.4 billion from the fourth quarter of 2007.
This is the sixth straight quarter of declines in taxable sales, lasting longer than either of the recessions of 1991 or 2001. Income continued to be much stronger than taxable sales, a trend in evidence since early 2007.
“This severe decline in taxable sales confirms that the economic recession hit Californians hard,” said Chairwoman Yee. “We are continuing to assist taxpayers and small business owners succeed under these challenging conditions. The BOE offers payment plans and other arrangements to help many businesses facing tough financial times.”
In the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, taxable sales decreased 10.9 percent from the same quarter a year before, a slower fall than the 12-percent decline for the state as a whole.
The fourth quarter taxable sales fell by 8.5 percent in San Francisco, declining less than the Bay Area average. In San Jose, taxable sales declined by 10.7 percent and Oakland declined by 27.8 percent for the fourth quarter 2008.
In constant dollar terms, taxable sales decreased by 11.1 percent over the same quarter a year ago. The California Taxable Sales Deflator measured an inflation rate of -0.9 percent for the fourth quarter of 2008. By comparison, the California CPI rose by 1.8 percent.
Taxable sales in California is a quarterly report on retail sales activity in California, as measured by transactions subject to sales and use tax.
It includes data about statewide taxable sales by type of business, as well as data about taxable sales in all California cities and counties from the first quarter of 2000 through the fourth quarter of 2008 and can be viewed on the BOE Web site at www.boe.ca.gov/news/tsalescont.htm .
View all Taxable Sales in California for the fourth Quarter of 2008 here: www.boe.ca.gov/news/tsalescont08.htm .