Senate Action Urged Regarding Ag Labor Crises

Agriculture Workforce Coalition Urges Senate Action on Ag Labor Crisis

Following on the heels of a government-mandated increase in farmers’ labor costs, the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC), a diverse group of organizations representing the needs of agricultural employers across the country, today urged the U.S. Senate to take up legislation to solve the agricultural labor crisis by calling attention to the dire labor situation facing our nation’s agricultural producers.

The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) is the required wage rate for farmers who use the H-2A program and the Department of Labor today mandated an increase that will average 6% across the nation. The AWC told the Senate that the increase will make it difficult for some farms to continue operating, coming after a year of natural disasters, trade disruptions, low commodity prices and declining farm income.

In its letter, the AWC called on the Senate to take action to address critical agricultural labor issues. The coalition urges the Senate to consider the impacts of the AEWR on U.S. farmers and is asking for an alternative that will ensure a level playing field for farmers and ranchers making them more competitive with foreign producers.

Farmers who use the H-2A program to procure legal workers from other countries must comply with a complicated and expensive application process to assure that domestic workers are not displaced, though few U.S. workers are willing to take jobs on farms. Farmers are also required to provide free certified housing and transportation to and from guest workers’ place of residence. The AEWR implemented today will immediately increase farmers’ labor costs by an average of 6% while revenues for agricultural goods continue to diminish due to an influx of cheaply produced imports flooding American markets.

Over the last five years the AEWR has increased nationwide by 17% on average while revenues for fruits and nuts have increased only 3% and vegetables and melons have seen no revenue increases. While American farmers are required to pay their H-2A employees more and more each year, the U.S. continues to import more and more produce from Mexico and Central and South America, where workers are paid a fraction of U.S. wage rates.

The Agriculture Workforce Coalition is asking the Senate for a legislative solution that ensures the competitiveness of America’s farmers and ranchers, stabilizes the current U.S. agricultural workforce and provides guest worker program access to year-round agriculture sectors such as dairy, livestock and mushrooms.

California Ag Today2020-01-02T12:02:12-08:00January 2nd, 2020|

Irrigation Strategy of J Lohr

Jerry Lohr Knows How to Increase Quality in the Vineyard

By Tim Hammerich with the the Ag Information Network

J Lohr is a world recognized brand for their high-quality California wines. Proprietor Jerry Lohr says most of the quality wine is made in the vineyard. We recently caught up with him when he shared how they continue to push the boundaries in their viticulture practices to produce award-winning wine.

“So the way to increase quality is just this constant studying, for instance, how much sun do we need on the, on the fruit? What the nourishment is – less is better in this case. Especially nitrogen. You use nitrogen for other crops, but not for grapes. The time of harvest, that pruning level, the crop level,” said Lohr

“The time of watering is what we’re talking about. So, we water very little in the summer, so we water on the spring. And I didn’t want to tell people what they should do know, I just wanted to kind of tell about what our winemakers are doing,”he said.

“So what we do is we make sure the soil profile is filled in the spring. We water very little in the summer. And then we water for verasion in the fall – from verasion to ripeness. So farming is about 75 to 90% of it (wine quality) Others call it a regulated deficit irrigation,” he noted. “So that’s a good way of describing it. Then we just go further than other people do, putting on more in the spring and less in the summer and that have water for the fall.”

Lohr said he looks for more direct-to-consumer opportunities for the brand in the future.

California Ag Today2019-12-31T12:48:14-08:00December 31st, 2019|

Is investing in farmland in Your Goals for 2020?

FarmTogether Online Platform Can Help

By Tim Hammerich, Ag Information Network

FarmTogether is a California-based startup that allows investors to invest in farmland via their online platform. COO David Chan calls the platform a one-stop-shop for investing in and monitoring farmland investments.

Chan…”In addition to being able to make investments through the platform in a seamless and quick way. You’ll also be able to track the performance of your investments in our platform. So we’ll show you each year’s projected yields and actual yields for comparison. So you can judge and see how the property is performing. You’ll see expected distributions and actual distributions. So again, you can see how is this property performing compared to where we had it in underwriting. All tax information will be shared through the platform. So. We formed these as pass through entities, which issue K-1s. So your K-1 will go right into your platform and will be available for you for downloading…

” We’ve put in a lot of effort into creating a one stop shop to serve all of our investors’ needs from education and exploration and learning to investments and actually funding your opportunity that you’re interested in, to tracking those opportunities and receiving your distributions and receiving any relevant tax forms as well,” said Chan.

Chan noted the platform lists a range of U.S. farmland investment opportunities including both row crops and permanent crops. Investors may include individuals or institutions looking to broaden or diversify the agricultural holdings.

California Ag Today2019-12-30T12:18:13-08:00December 30th, 2019|

Increasing The Shelf Life of Walnuts

Can Walnut Shelf Life Be Increased?

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

Abhi Kulkarni is Assistant Technical Director for the California Walnut board and Commission. Could an edible coating help increase the shelf life of walnuts?

“Traditionally we have faced some challenges in terms of shelf-life vis-a-vis other products. So one of the things we’re looking at is how can we extend shelf life through any edible coating of walnuts or through different technologies that can squeeze more shelf-life for the open market or industrial products,” said Kulkarni

Kulkarni said they’re getting some preliminary results, which look very promising.

“Especially the research we’re doing with Oregon State on the edible coating of walnuts. It does show some initial promise, but we’ll see how it goes,” he noted.

FSMA Inspections

We also ask Kulkarni about the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) with inspectors coming to large farms for inspection. “Starting in 2020 someone on each farm must be trained to meet the Food Safety Modernization Act standards,” he said.

“It’s not that complicated. Basically what you need to do is each farm is required to have one person attend the FSMA training, which is a one day about eight hour training, and it’s the one time, so you don’t have to take it every year,” he said.

“We offered complimentary training for walnut growers for the past three years, and that program has lapse. However, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is offering a low cost training program, which is about $35 and growers can find information on their website to where they can sign up at their nearest training programs, Kulkarni explained.

Search for CDFA Produce Safety Program.

California Ag Today2019-12-26T20:34:53-08:00December 26th, 2019|

Consistent Production is Key in Almonds

Keep Almond Farming Simple and to the Point

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

Franz Neiderholzer is a UCANR Farm Advisor based in Colusa County and he also works with growers farming almonds in Sutter and Yuba Counties.

He says consistent production is the key.“Once the orchard has been laid out and the pruning’s been selected, an you’ve grown trees to fill their space, how do you maintain good production year in and year out for a mature orchard? Consistent production is your goal,” Neiderholzer said

Neiderholzer explains the steps toward good production. “You provide the resources the trees need, set them up, but don’t try to force it,” Neiderholzer said.

“Mother Nature is going to give you the crop that the weather conditions at bloom will allow and whatever environmental conditions occur throughout the rest of the season. But there is no silver bullet. You need to maintain consistent practices and spend money on good bees, an adequate crop protection practices,” Neiderholzer

“Do the fundamentals and the rest of it should follow. So again you need adequate pollination and nut set, careful irrigation in nutrition and protecting the canopy through crop protection practices and adequate nutrition and irrigation,” he said.

California Ag Today2019-12-18T13:24:36-08:00December 24th, 2019|

Ag Apprenticeship Programs Coming

Apprenticeship Programs Coming for Tree and Vine Growers

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

Coming soon…. apprenticeship training for tree nut and vineyard farmers. Elaine Swiedler is the apprenticeship program coordinator for the Center for Land-Based Learning based in Winters, California.

“We currently run the beginning farm and ranch management program, which was approved by the California Department of Apprenticeship Standards in January 2018 and right now we’ve worked with diversified growers up in the Yolo County, some in Sacramento County area, majority of people doing row crops, a couple of people farming orchards,” said Swiedler.

The program was developed to address kind of a real need for management in farming, whether it’s taking over for an owner or just filling in some middle layers and there’s definitely a real need and gap in the nut industries and also wine grapes. “We’ve learned from people that either would want to work with or just looking over the needs in the estate. Our goal is to serve the ag industry as a whole and also create viable pathways for incoming people,” she noted

Swiedler was at the recent Tree and Vine Expo in Turlock surveying growers.

“We wanted to find out what those labor needs are. And the Walnut Board and the Almond Board have both partnered with us in addition to the California association of wine grape growers,” Swiedler said. “Those three different organizations have helped us pilot the survey. So that’s the first step in understanding what the labor needs are of industry.”

California Ag Today2019-12-18T17:47:55-08:00December 24th, 2019|

Almond Growers Concern About Trade Issues

Farmer Joe Del Bosque Checks In Regarding Almond Season

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

Joe Del Bosque is a diversified grower in Western Fresno and Merced counties.

He noted the almond crop was light this season mostly due to a wet spring that fouled up pollination. “Yes, I think the crop was a little lighter than normal, particularly in some varieties. Some did okay. Some did pretty normal and some were lighter.” Del Bosque said.

And del Bosque said that pest pressure was not particularly heavy.

“The few reports that I’ve seen on worm damage didn’t look too bad. So I think we’re, we’re going to come out okay with pests this past season,” he noted.

And trade issues, particularly with China, continue to be a big concern.

“For almond growers that’s probably our major concerns aside from water. So we hope that they will certainly solve this trade issue so that trade flows more freely,” Del Bosque said.

“It’s not that we haven’t been able to sell our almonds, because we have been able to sell them, but there have probably been some restrictions in the trade and maybe that might have been reflected in the prices,” he said.

“Maybe we should be getting higher prices than we have if we didn’t have these, these trade issues looming over us. And I think the, the worst part about the trade issues is probably the uncertainty of how long we’re going to go with these tariffs,” Del Bosque noted.

California Ag Today2019-12-17T10:48:21-08:00December 23rd, 2019|

Peracchi Steps Down as President of Westlands

Dan Errotabere is Now President of the District

On December 17, 2019, Don Peracchi announced that he would step down as President of Westlands Water District’s Board, effective December 31, 2019. Following his announcement, the District’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to elect Director Daniel Errotabere as President of the District.

Mr. Peracchi stated, “It has been an honor to serve as Westlands’ President, and I am proud of the District’s accomplishments over the last several years. These include the District’s role in passage of the WIIN Act, its role in negotiating revisions to the Coordinated Operations Agreement, conversion of the District’s water service contract to a repayment contract, and development of the groundwater sustainability plan. The District has a well-functioning Board supported by competent, dedicated staff. I believe it’s time to provide another Director with the opportunity to serve as President of the District.”

Tom Birmingham, the District’s general manager, stated, “On behalf of the staff, I want to express our appreciation to Mr. Peracchi. Few people understand the time commitment required to serve as Westlands’ President; it is a full-time job. Mr. Peracchi led the District through difficult times, when drought and regulatory restrictions severely reduced water supply, but because of his leadership on the Board, the District is in a good position.”

Mr. Errotabere stated, “Don Peracchi leaves big shoes to fill. He did an incredible job of leading the District through difficult times. I am gratified that the Board has confidence in my ability to continue the course set by Don and the Board.”

Mr. Peracchi has served as a Director of Westlands since 2008 and was elected President in 2011. He will remain on the Board of Directors. Mr. Errotabere, who previously served as Westlands’ President from 2002 through 2005, will begin his second term as President of Westlands on January 1, 2020.

Westlands is a public water district governed by a nine-member Board of Directors. Elections for the Board are held every two years and Directors are elected to four-year terms in office. The Board elects the District President and appoints other officers.

Westlands Water District is the largest agricultural water district in the United States, made up of more than 1,000 square miles of prime farmland in western Fresno and Kings Counties. Under federal contracts, Westlands provides water to 700 family-owned farms that average 653 acres in size.

California Ag Today2019-12-18T14:25:28-08:00December 23rd, 2019|

UnitedAg Association Helps Members

UnitedAg Helps with Healthcare For Its Members

News from the AgInformation Network

Health insurance is an expensive item for all business owners. Many agricultural companies also face challenges in having access to local health care in rural areas. UnitedAg is a trade association focused on bringing innovative solutions to healthcare in agriculture.

President and CEO Kirti Mutatkar said they are finding ways to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for their members.

Mutatkar…”In California, agriculture is an areas where there’s no access to even primary care and clinics and decent care. So yesterday we actually had our ribbon cutting in Selma, and that is actually one of the underserved regions in California. And the next one you opening is Turlock. And there’s one more opening in King City the first part of the next year.”

UnitedAg operates similarly to other health insurance providers but is only open to companies that make at least 50% of their revenues from agriculture. Their eight health and wellness centers are located around agricultural areas of California where they offer care at no cost to members.

Mutatkar says they think of themselves as representing the empathy side of agriculture. Members have access to their full PPO network so can likely keep existing providers. Learn more at UnitedAg.org.

California Ag Today2019-12-26T19:07:44-08:00December 23rd, 2019|

House Passes Workforce Act

Workforce Modernization Act Passes with Bipartisan Vote

The United Fresh Produce Association applauds passage of the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act approved by the House of Representatives last week by a vote of 260 to 165.

“For too long, the fresh produce industry has suffered under a system that fails to meet the labor needs of our industry,” said United Fresh Produce Association President and CEO Tom Stenzel. “Passage of this legislation represents an important step in ending decades of uncertainty for growers of fresh fruits and vegetables. I’d like to personally thank Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA) who spearheaded the bipartisan negotiations that led to this agreement. United Fresh looks forward to similarly working with bipartisan members in the Senate to build on the work of their House colleagues and craft legislation that deserves our support.”

The Farm Workforce Modernization Act provides much needed reforms to the H-2A program by expanding access to year-round industries, brings certainty to wage costs that have ballooned in recent years and provides a pathway to earned legal status to the current undocumented workforce.

For more information, contact Robert Guenther, United Fresh’s Senior Vice President of Public Policy, at 202-303-3409 or rguenther@unitedfresh.org

California Ag Today2019-12-17T15:43:37-08:00December 19th, 2019|