You would be hard pressed to say that any other commodity has been hit as hard as cotton as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Prices have dropped, shipments have essentially stopped, and the stores selling ELS cotton products have closed and some have even gone out of business.  But apparently, USDA does not agree.  Yesterday, USDA expanded the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to include 59 additional commodities and livestock, ranging from bok choy, dill, and kohlrabi, to largemouth bass and cut flowers.  But they failed to include ELS cotton, which has not only experienced a reduction in price, but almost a complete shutdown in terms of the sale and movement of ELS cotton.   With mills shut down across the globe and retail outlets closed and filing for bankruptcy, ELS cotton is suffering like never before. The cotton industry submitted price information in response to the May 22nd, Federal Register notice requesting additional information for those commodities that were left out of the first round of CFAP funding.  In response to that submittal, USDA claimed that the industry only provided export prices, whichUSDA believes does not reflect grower prices.  ELS cotton does not have a futures price, and is only determined through a contractual agreement between the seller and the buyer.  Export prices were the only prices that could be used.  President/CEO Roger Isom stated “The failure by USDA to recognize the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on the ELS cotton industry is mind numbing.  Our prices have dropped and cotton is not moving.”  The ELS cotton industry and the Association is now turning its attention to Congress to see what relief may come in the next COVID-19 aid package.

The District has reopened the Zero-Emission Ag Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV) Voucher program for the replacement of existing diesel or gasoline-powered UTVs, as well as tractors less than 25 horsepower, with new zero-emission UTVs to qualified individuals, businesses, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations involved in California agricultural operation as defined by The California Air Resources Board.  The District is now accepting applications under this program.  This program is intended to fund up to 75% of the eligible cost of new equipment, with a maximum eligible funding amount of $13,500. Eligible costs does not include additional batteries.  To complete your application and to review Guideline documents, please visit the District’s website at http://valleyair.org/grants/utv.htm. If you do not see the “Apply” link, you may need to refresh your browser.  Please contact the District’s Zero Emission Ag UTV Program Staff at 559-230-5800 with any questions you may have.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pink Bollworm Program has released its report for monitoring Silverleaf Whitefly. The program monitored for whitefly and other cotton pests from July 13, 2020 to July 24, 2020. For the full report, please follow the link below.

Silverleaf Whitefly Monitoring Report

Earlier this year, the CalOSHA Standards Board held a Public Hearing to consider revisions to Title 8, Section 5141.1 of the General Industry Safety Orders which covers requirements for employers when the air quality index for PM2.5 is 151 or greater and the employer reasonably anticipates that employees may be exposed to wildfire smoke.  Those requirements include the employer providing N95 masks to all affected employees.  CalOSHA received oral and written comments on the proposed revisions, including those from the Assoication, and subsequently modified the proposed regulation as a result of these comments and Board consideration. Unfortunately, the proposed changes do not address the Association’s concernsincluding the lack of availability of N95 masks, and how to determine “reasonably anticipate exposure to smoke”.  Comments on this latest draft are under a 15 day comment period and due on August 12.  Later this year, the CalOSHA Standards Board will consider the adoption of the final regulation.  The Association will once again be weighing in and expressing our concerns on the proposed regulation.

In January, California will be heading into the 5th year of a multi-year stair-stepped increase in minimum wage eventually capping out at $15 per hour.  Current state law provides the Governor with an “off ramp” if certain economic conditions are met.  The state labor code specifically requires the Department of Finance annually to determine whether or not the economy can support a minimum wage increase, and sets for the criteria by which the Governor can suspend the minimum wage.

On Wednesday, July 27th, the Department of Finance released their “Determination and Certification” that stated the “current economic and General Fund fiscal conditions allow the Governor to make the determination whether to temporarily suspend the next minimum wage increase on January 1, 2021 (see attached letter).  As you know on January 1, 2021 minimum wage will increase $13 per hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees, and $14 per hour for employers with more than 25 employees.

In response, today the Governor issued a press release today summarily dismissing the DOF information and said the minimum wage increase will move forward as planned stating, “As we continue our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, we must also ensure that as our economy recovers, all Californians can benefit in its growth. Not allowing this increase to go forward will only make life harder for those Californians who have already borne a disproportionate share of the economic hardship caused by this pandemic. Many of them are on the front lines of the pandemic, providing child care, working in our hospitals and nursing facilities and making sure there’s food on grocery store shelves.”

This despite the release of a recent economic report on the impacts to agriculture from COVID -19 that estimates the direct economic impact to agriculture to be between $5.9 billion to $8.6 billion, and secondary impacts to be between $4.1 and $6.5 billion.  The report prepared by ERA Economics LLC entitled “Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on California Agriculture” estimates the impact on cotton to be $166 million and tree nuts to be between $486 million to $728 million.

Director of Finance Determination and Certification

Roger A. Isom
President/CEO
California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association
Western Agricultural Processors Association

This week, the Western Farm Press published an article entitled “California bill will effectively ban feeding food byproducts to livestock”.  The subtitle states “California livestock producers will lose food processing byproducts as feed source under state plan.”

This statement is misleading and overly broad.  The fear that this legislation will impact hulls and shells is simply unfounded based on its current form.  The legislation referred to in the article is AB 2959 by Assemblyman Calderon, and can be found here.  This bill is limited in scope and is intended to address past legislation pertaining to organic byproducts going to livestock feed.  AB 3036 (Cooley), attempted to clarify that byproducts going to animal feed are not defined as waste and therefore not subject to franchise waste hauler agreements.  It failed in that effort, which is why AB 2959 has been introduced.  This bill seeks to narrow the types of facilities covered by AB 3036 that traditionally divert byproducts for animal feed. Specifically, AB 2959 would exclude supermarkets, grocers, restaurants, and other retail food establishments from the list of facilities covered by AB 3036.  That is it.

Nowhere in the bill does it discuss, or elude to, hulls, shell or any other agricultural byproduct.  These products are not waste; they are a commodity and already protected from inclusion in a franchise waste hauler agreement.   Unfortunately, as is the case with this article, the matter has been sensationalized in an effort to broaden the opposition to the bill.  We are sympathetic to the potential issues this bill would create for the dairy industry in the loss of some organic byproducts.  However, to say that all byproducts, including cottonseed and almond hulls, are in jeopardy is not accurate.  We are closely monitoring this bill, as we have all session long and will continue to do so.

Who: Growers, consultants, and allied industry for field crop production in California

What: a 15-20 minute online questionnaire to gather information about your concerns, challenges, and preferences for extension information and approaches. Can be taken from a phone or computer. The first $100 participants will receive a $10 giftcard to Starbucks.

Participate Here

Why: We want your needs and interests to better guide UCCE research and extension efforts. Your input will highlight the most important issues facing field crop production in California and help us set priorities for future programming.

Thank you for your time. Your responses are incredibly important in helping UCCE identify how we can better serve your needs and interests. 

All responses are anonymous and your answers will be kept confidential. The results will be shared in an aggregate form via reports and presentations. The questionnaire is open until Friday, August 21, 2020.

If you have questions, please contact the project team at fieldcrops@ucdavis.edu (Nick Clark, Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, Mark Lundy, Bruce Linquist, Whitney Brim-DeForest, Sarah Light, Vikram Koundinya, Bob Hutmacher, Cameron PIttelkow, and Jessie Kanter)

As employers deal with the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, having proper guidance, information, and resources are vital to protecting their business and the health of their employees. These webinars are being offered to California Agribusiness Association members who have responsibility for COVID-19 safety related issues, and are offered complimentary in partnership with California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association and Zenith Insurance. Click this link.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pink Bollworm Program has released its report for monitoring Silverleaf Whitefly. The program monitored for whitefly and other cotton pests from June 29, 2020 to July 10, 2020. For the full report, please click this link.

The California Cotton Industry Research Committee (CCIRC) will be sending out a Request for Proposals in mid to late July seeking research projects related to the cotton production industry. The CCIRC is made up of representatives from California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association, California Cotton Alliance as well as the Cotton Incorporated: State Support Committee. Projects should address the following priorities as recommended by the CCGGA Board of Directors:

2020-2021 Research Priorities

• Diseases (FOV resistance, variety screening, seed and soil treatments, pathology work in lab and field plus Seedling Disease issues)
• Sticky Cotton (Development of better detection and measurement system and standards and continue educational efforts)
• Contamination (Research ways to detect plastic in the seed cotton and eliminate where possible)
• Insect Management and Control (Efficacy screening of new and old products and promote intro of new chemistries with low VOC, focus on Lygus and Aphid control)
• Water Management (Regional with varying soil types and Page 3—The Cotton Chronicle irrigation methods with emphasis on efficiencies, conservation, nitrogen, and salt management)
• Weed Management (Resistance Management to existing products and introduction of new chemistries)
• Nutrient Management (Focus on nutrient management while taking into account factors of soil type, irrigation method, efficiencies, etc.)

The deadline to submit projects will be Monday, August 24^th. Projects will be reviewed by the committee on Tuesday, September 8^th to make funding decisions. With this advance notice, we hope that researchers can begin reviewing the prioritized research topics and have ample time to submit projects. If you have any questions, please contact Priscilla Rodriguez at (559) 252-0684 or priscilla@ccgga.org.