Association Leadership Ascends Upon the Capitol

Leadership and Staff from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association (CCGGA) and the Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) spent two days in Sacramento to address critical concerns on legislation and regulations. The Associations met with Senator Toni Atkins, Assemblyman Greg Wallis, Assemblyman James Gallagher, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, Assemblyman Heath Flora, Senator Richard Roth, Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, and Assemblyman Juan Alanis.  The group also met with staff from Senator Josh Becker, Senator Anna Caballero, Senator Lena Gonzalez, Senator Angelique Ashby, Assemblyman Josh Hoover, Senator Shannon Grove, Senator Roger Niello, Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal and Assemblywoman Lori Wilson. Several issues were discussed included AB 1963, the bill to ban paraquat; AB 2522, the bill to severely limit FGARs, Ag Burning, Sulfoxaflor (Transform) for lygus control on cotton, CDPR’s budget increase request, ZEV truck and forklift rules, electricity rates and infrastructure deficiencies, SWRCB fees, and FARMER funding. If those 18 meetings were not enough the second day was spent on regulatory issues meeting with the Governor’s Office, California Air Resources Board (CARB), California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture CDFA). Topics covered included pesticide bans and CDPR’s budget requests, ZEV truck and forklift regulations, electricity rates and infrastructure, and invasive pests such as cottonseed bug, carpophilus beetle, and fruit flies. The group also met with Assembly candidates David Tangipa and Ali Macedo. The Association Staff including President/CEO Roger Isom, Assistant Vice President Priscilla Rodrigues, and Director of Technical Services Christopher McGlothlin were also present and participating. 

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Association Hosts Senator Deb Fischer from Nebraska

The Western Agricultural Processors Association, the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association and the American Pistachio Growers co-hosted an event for United States Senator Deb Fischer from Nebraska. Senator Fischer sits on the Agriculture and Appropriations Committees, as well as Nutrition and Forestry, Commerce, Science and Transportation and the Armed Services Committees. She is also a ranking member on the Rules and Administration Committee. Also attending the event were individuals from the Nisei Farmers League, California Citrus Mutual, California Blueberry Association, Olive Growers Council of California, National Cotton Council as well as several individual farmers and growers.

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Association Testifies at Critical PM2.5 Workshop

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District held a workshop Monday to present their “revised Plan for the 2012 Annual PM2.5 Standard”.  The plan contains air pollution control measures and has been revised to address EPA’s concerns. Originally slated to be in attainment for the 2012 standard by 2025, the new plan proposes 2030 to achieve the standard. To date the District has made huge strides in reducing PM2.5 concentrations and only 5 monitoring stations remain in the valley showing levels about the 12 ug/m3 standard for PM2.5. Unfortunately, to be in attainment, all stations must show levels below 12 ug/m3. The proposed plan focuses on residential wood burning, open areas and mobile source control measures. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the SJVAPCD are also looking at additional measures to ensure attainment including looking at additional Conservation Management Practices (CMPs), low dust nut harvesting equipment and the FARMER program, which is the incentive program that helps farmers purchase cleaner burning tractors and harvesters. Association President/CEO Roger Isom testified at the hearing urging the district to base all regulatory decisions on science-based measurements, and to continue to fund and utilize existing incentive programs like FARMER that have provided effective proven emission reductions while assisting farmers. 

Senator Atkins Visits Walnut Processor

The Association hosted Senator Toni Atkins at Carriere Farms walnut processing operation in Glenn yesterday. The Senator learned about many of the challenges facing the tree nut industry, especially the impacts of very low prices, high energy costs, and unlevel playing fields with foreign competitors.  She also heard about innovative green energy projects, including a project in the works to turn walnut shells to energy. Association President/CEO Roger Isom was on hand for the tour and commented “The Senator has always had an interest in agriculture, and today she saw first-hand how today’s challenges are impacting our industry.  It has always been our hope to educate the state legislature in person on how Sacramento policies are impacting our operations. We applaud the Senator for taking time out of her very busy schedule to come to rural California and see for herself.”  Joining President/CEO Isom were several board members of the Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) including Chairman Pat Andersen of Andersen and Sons, Past Chair Kim Keyawa-Musselman of Keyawa Orchards, Dwight Davis of ShoEi Foods, and John Rodriguez of Mariani Nut. Thanks to Bill Carriere and his team for hosting the tour.

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Survey on Biocontrol and Microbial Control Options for Pest Management

The Association has been asked to survey growers to evaluate the knowledge and use of biocontrol and microbial control options for pest management in California.  The survey is anonymous and is being conducted by Dr. Surendra Dara, an extension entomologist and professor from Oregon State University.  The data will be used along with similar information from the Pacific Northwest to prepare a report to develop research and education strategies moving forward.  We encourage all growers to participate in this anonymous survey found here: 

https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2t6szOEbmryTpNs

  1. EPA Publishes Update on Herbicide Strategy Progress
  2. Bureau Increases Federal Water Allocation
  3. Cal/OSHA Adopts Indoor Heat Illness Standard – Will it Stick?
  4. Association Addresses Senate Ag Committee on Energy Issues

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Governor Signs Ag Overtime Bill

Ignoring the pleas of real farmworkers and the agricultural industry, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 1066, the ag overtime legislation. This means that California will have the most stringent trigger of any state in the country for overtime for farmworkers, with 45 states having no overtime protection at all. The Governor signed this bill, supposedly to bring “equality to all workers”, yet taxi cab drivers, commercial fishermen, car salesmen, student nurses, computer programmers, and carnival workers all work without any overtime provisions whatsoever. The Governor signed this ag overtime bill in the same year that minimum wage legislation was also passed that will take California to the highest minimum wage as well as legislation forcing California to adopt additional greenhouse gas regulations for businesses in California. California is the only state in the country subject to such regulations. Today’s signing occurred despite numerous requests by the agricultural industry to meet with the Governor to discuss our concerns. The message is clear. California simply doesn’t care. These provisions will be phased in over the next few years ending with the overtime provisions to be triggered at 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

In the Beginning As folks transitioned out of cotton and into tree nuts, the industry recognized the need to have active and effective representation at the local, state and national levels. Having enjoyed such effective representation over the years from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, these folks yearned for the same representation in the tree nut processing industry. Issues such as air quality, food safety, labor, taxes, employee safety, and environmental concerns are at the forefront, and there is a significant need for an aggressive and dynamic Association to lead the industry into the next decade and beyond. In recognition of this, the Western Agricultural Processors Association was created in 2009. The Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) shares staff and office space with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations taking advantage of a unique and opportunistic situation. WAPA is a voluntary dues organization with four shared staff and one dedicated staff person. Regulatory, legislative and legal issues fall under the purview of this new organization for the tree nut processing industry, which includes almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. From air quality permits to conditional use permits, from regulatory hearings on greenhouse gases to federal legislation on food safety, and from OSHA violations to assisting members on hazardous materials business plans, no issue is too small or too large for WAPA. WAPA has assembled one of the best and most capable staffs in the industry, and the results are already starting to show Membership The Western Agricultural Processors Association represents facilities involved in the processing of almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.Membership in the Association is classified as Regular memberships are limited to almond hullers or processors, pecan and pistachio processors, and walnut dehydrators and processors. Associate memberships are limited to any individual or business entity which is not engaged in agricultural processing, but which provides products or services directly related to the agricultural processing industry. WAPA Associate members include, but are not limited to, commodity brokers, accounting firms, and insurance brokers. Organization The Western Agricultural Processors Association is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by its membership.The Board consists of up to 15 members from throughout the state, and throughout the industry.The Board meets on a quarterly basis and conducts an Annual Meeting in the spring of each year.WAPA, in conjunction with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, conducts a special training school for its members focused on safety.In combination with the school, the Association holds a Labor Management Seminar for all of the managers. Consulting Services In researching and considering the concept of forming a new organization, the Boards of Directors for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations instructed staff to perform some of the work on a consulting basis first. The point was to determine the workload from consulting and to determine if there was sufficient interest. In November of 2007, the Association began conducting services under consulting contracts for such services as air quality permits and safety plans.The effort has been so successful that demand has progressed outside the tree nut industry into other agricultural processing facilities, including vegetable dehydration facilities, tomato processing facilities, and wheat mills, as well as cotton gins in Arizona.It was determined by the new Board of Directors of WAPA, that WAPA would maintain the consulting services to provide offsetting income to help with the expenses of getting the new organization up and running.Today, WAPA provides for a long list of satisfied clients in the agricultural processing industry, by providing critical services such as air quality, safety, food safety, and environmental issues (Hazardous Materials Business Plan, Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans, etc.).