Association Hosts Important Kickoff Meeting on 9 ug/m3 PM2.5 Plan

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The Association hosted a meeting with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) and the agricultural industry for a kickoff meeting on issues dealing with the development of the new Moderate State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the new Federal EPA 9 ug/m3 standard.  Attending the meeting were the Western Tree Nut Association, California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, California Farm Bureau  Federation, Fresno County Farm Bureau, Nisei Farmers League, Western United Dairymen and the California Fresh Fruit Association.  The meeting focused on the emissions inventory development and modeling that will be necessary to demonstrate attainment for the new plan and how that information will be used to develop control measures to reduce PM2.5 emissions.  In the meeting CARB identified the following agricultural sources being considered for review:

  • Soil NOx and Ammonia from application of nitrogen to managed lands
  • Farming Operations, Dairy Cattle Waste and Dust Emissions
  • Silage NOx from dairy cattle operations
  • Dust from harvesting, tilling and land preparation (emphasis on nut harvesting)
  • Fugitive dust from unpaved farm roads
  • Agricultural equipment including tractors and harvesters
  • Agricultural burning (now banned)
  • Fugitive windblown dust
  • Ag irrigation pump engines
  • VOC emissions from citrus packing house (?)

These topics and other will be discussed over the next several months as CARB and the SJVAPCD work to put their PM2.5 SIP together.  All the research and modeling will have to be done in the next two years, as these plans will be due to Federal EPA in the 4th quarter of 2027. CARB has identified seven areas in the state that will be non-attainment for the 9 ug/m3 PM2.5 standard including the San Joaquin Valley, Feather River AQMD (Yuba and Sutter Counties), the South Coast AQMD, Bay Area AQMD, San Diego County, Imperial County, Mendocino County, and the Portola area of Plumas County. 

Urgent Notice: Roof Rat Bait Station Field Day – February 19th

Have you experienced roof rat damage in the past year in your orchards? If so, please make plans to attend the CDFA Rat Bait Staton Field Day to be held from 9:00 to 11:30 at the crossroads of Manning Avenue and Washoe Avenue in Mendota, California. See attached flyer for details.

Rat Bait Station Field Day Flyer

Free Labor Law Update Webinar

The 2024 legislative year was another busy one, introducing a wave of critical updates that every employer needs to understand. The Association is partnering with Fisher Phillips to join us for an informative seminar covering important legislative and legal updates that will affect agricultural employers in 2025 and beyond with an overview of important new laws impacting workplace policies, compliance, and employee management. The webinar will be hosted on February 24, 2025 at 10:00 am.             

The legislature has remained busy by enacting new legislation for 2025 that greatly impacts employers of all sizes. This webinar will analyze significant new legislation that will affect agriculture employers in the new year. You’ll learn how to protect your operations, plan, and be ahead of the game.

Click here to register for this free webinar.

The firm is submitting this webinar for HRCI/SHRM credit.

 rebecca hause schultz

Speaker:

Rebecca Hause-Schultz

Partner, Fisher Phillips

A partner in Fisher Phillips’ Sacramento office, a native Calaveras County and Future Farmers of America alumna, Rebecca draws on her deep roots in agriculture to defend farmers, food processors, manufacturers, and ag-tech businesses in employment litigation lawsuits and provide on the ground solutions. Rebecca litigates cases in federal and state courts, as well as state administrative agencies including the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), Civil Rights Department (CRD), Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB), and Department of Labor (DOL). Rebecca assists employers navigating the complex H-2A temporary foreign agricultural worker program, and has significant experiencing in defending H-2A employers in all venues. Rebecca’s practice includes defending employers in Class/PAGA and single plaintiff litigation.

Upcoming Train-the-Trainer Workshops & Webinars!

Western Agricultural Processors Association and California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association are offering safety training workshops in both Spanish and English. Topics include:

  • Aerial Lift Safety (Train-the-Trainer)
  • Hazard communication (Webinar)
  • Workplace Violence Prevention (Webinar)
  • Indoor & Outdoor Heat Illness Prevention (Webinar)

Check out the attached flyer for details and feel free to share this with interested growers. For questions, please email Esmeralda at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or you can reach out to the association directly at (559) 455-9272.

We hope to see you there!

CORRECTION: 2025 Regional Training Workshops

With less than a month away, the Association is gearing up for the 2025 regional Train-the-Trainer workshops! This year the Western Agricultural Processors Association along with California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, African American Farmers of California, California Citrus Mutual, California Fresh Fruit Association, Fresno County Farm Bureau, Nisei Farmers League and The Zenith are partnering to provide Aerial Lift Safety Train-the-Trainer. Beginning in March, the trainings will be covered in English and Spanish and will hold seven on site tractor safety workshops in the following areas: Fresno, Tulare, Wasco, Madera, Turlock, Woodland, and Chico. The Lockout/Tagout, Fall Protection and PPE safety topics will be covered via webinar. These workshops are for owners, managers, supervisors, safety personnel or those who are responsible for training. Each workshop attendee will be provided with a binder that includes the information needed for understanding the rules, regulations and conducting effective safety training. Each attendee will also receive a certificate of completion for those that participate in the full class.In addition, the association will be conducting Hazard Communication, Workplace Violence Prevention, and Indoor & Outdoor Heat Illness Prevention webinars in the spring. Details will follow on those special events.

The cost per training is $65 per person for members and $85 for non-members. For information on registering for the workshops and/or webinars, please see flyer or visit our website at https://www.agprocessors.org/ .

  1. Free Labor Law Update Webinar
  2. Free PSA Grower Training for California Produce Growers & Handlers
  3. 2025 Regional Training Workshops
  4. State Increases SWP Allocation to 20%

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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.).