But Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says it's becoming too expensive and wants to cut spending on crop insurance by about $7-billion over 10 years. Last year, the government paid crop insurers nearly $4-billion while farming companies posted profits of more than 26 percent.
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As Congress discusses whether to take up immigration reform this year, farm groups are renewing their push to reform "guest worker" programs. Supporters of a bill known as "ag-jobs" say it would assure, people from other countries could enter the U.S. legally to work on farms.
A California Farm Bureau spokesman says the group considers immigration reform a top priority, but congress may not tackle the topic in an election year.
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Even though we've seen a lot of rain lately, Californians are being urged to continue conserving water.
The department of water resources says water remains in tight supply in California even though the Sierra snowpack stands at 130 percent of average.
Storage in some major reservoirs continues to lag below average.
The department reports the state has not recovered from three consecutive dry years.
Because of those dry years, hydrologists say the runoff from the snowpack this year will be below average as more moisture is absorbed by the dry ground.
