Given the evolving situation with coronavirus (COVID-19), we wanted to communicate with our members and clients the Cal/OSHA guidance document to protect workers from exposure to airborne infectious diseases, such as the coronavirus.  We have included links to the Cal/OSHA Interim Guidelines for General Industry on 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). These interim guidelines are subject to change as the situation evolves.  Click here for the Cal/OSHA webpage and here for the Cal/OSHA Interim Guidelines for General Industry on COVID-19 (PDF).  The Association will continue to update members and clients on additional information for preventing exposure to the coronavirus.

It’s time for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association’s 2020 Annual Meeting!  The 2020 Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 13^th at the Visalia Convention Center.

Registration, Continental Breakfast and the Exhibitor Session will begin at 7:30 am.  The actual information packed program will begin with Breakout Sessions at 8:30 am and will end with lunch.

Please call our office at (559) 252-0684 should you have any questions regarding this event.  We look forward to seeing you in Visalia at our 2020 Annual Meeting!

CCGGA Annual Meeting Registration and Agenda

Nine California cotton industry members have been elected to leadership positions in the National Cotton Council (NCC) for 2020, including Kirk Gilkey, who was re-elected a NCC vice president.

Mark McKean and Tom Pires were re-elected as NCC directors.

Cotton Council International (CCI), NCC’s export promotions arm, elected Ted Sheely as first vice president, and re-elected Carlo Bocardo, Calcot, and Ernie Schroeder, Jr., Jess Smith and Son, as CCI directors.

McKean also was elected as chairman of the NCC’s American Cotton Producers (ACP) and as the ACP’s at-large director. Bryan Bone was elected as the ACP’s California chairman.

The NCC’s California unit re-elected Bone as chairman, Joe Cain as vice chairman; and Charles Meyer, III as secretary.

The leaders were named at the recent 2020 NCC Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

As the unifying force of the U.S. cotton industry, the Memphis-based NCC brings together industry representatives from the 17 cotton-producing states to establish policies reflecting the common interests and promoting mutual benefits for its broad membership and ancillary industries. The NCC’s mission is ensuring the ability of all industry segments to compete effectively and profitably in the raw cotton, oilseed, and U.S.-manufactured product markets at home and abroad.

USDA is advising producers to enroll now in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs—ahead of the March 16, 2020 deadline for the 2019 crop year.  Until March 16, producers who have not yet enrolled in ARC or PLC for 2019 can enroll for both 2019 and 2020 during the same visit to a FSA county office unless yield updates are requested. Also, farm owners have a one-time opportunity to update PLC payment yields that take effect beginning with crop year 2020.  FSA’s ARC/PLC fact sheet is at http://bit.ly/2TFS1fd and its online ARC and PLC election decision tools are at https://www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.

• A list of crops grown and how many acres are devoted to each
• Plot plan/map that contains the location of each agricultural parcel on the agricultural operation site
• Total number of animals at the animal feeding operation
• Internal combustion engines: make, model, horsepower, fuel and annual hours used for all engines over 50 horsepower
• For existing CMP Plans, please bring the CMP Plan ID (Example: C-1234)

The California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association in collaboration with other ag organizations will be conducting the Tractor Train-the-Trainer Workshops. These workshops are for Owners, Farmers, Managers Supervisors and those who are responsible to conduct training on forklifts.  The training will review what is needed for the trainer to effectively train their tractor operators at their facility.  Be sure to visit our website www.agprocessors.org for registration.  If you have any questions, please contact our office at (559) 252-0684.

At this past weekend’s Annual Meeting of the National Cotton Council (NCC), preliminary forecast for cotton acreage in California reflected an expected overall 10% drop in acreage.  Pima acreage was forecast at 197,000 acres, down from 205,000 acres in 2019 reflecting about a 4% drop in acres.  Upland was expected to be at 38,000 acres, down from 55,000 acres in 2019 representing approximately a 31% drop in acreage.  Total acreage is predicted to be 235,000 acres, down from 260,000 acres in 2020 meaning an overall predicted reduction in acreage of approximately 10%.  The Association has just sent their Annual Predicted cotton acreage survey to all gins and hope to have expected numbers by mid-March.

This past week the Association, along with several agricultural organizations hosted State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and his staff.  This meeting was a follow-up to a meeting the Association had with the Commissioner late last year, where the Association warned the Commissioner of skyrocketing rates for property and casualty insurance as well as stock insurance for our agricultural products.  In some cases, the have been more than 200% increases in rates or even unwillingness to cover agricultural commodities for the full value.  Some of our members have had to get multiple policies just to cover onsite inventories of product.  Much of this is related to the devastating losses associated with the catastrophic wildfires over the past two years, and a couple of very expensive losses at a couple of specific agricultural facilities.  With a couple of firms leaving the state, rates have skyrocketed and our members are feeling the impact.  There was a lot of good discussion defining the issues.  A more specific follow-up meeting will be held in the next month or two to explore potential solutions to help reduce or at least control costs.  Joining the Association at this meeting were California Citrus Mutual, California Fresh Fruit Association, and the Nisei Farmers League.

After months of waiting, a new I-9 form has been released.  Employers are still allowed to use the previous version of the I-9 until April 30^th, 2020.  After that date, the new version of the I-9 must be utilized.  A significant change to the original form includes the ability for an employer to designate an “Authorized Representative” to assist in completing the employer requirement of the forms.  This Authorized Representative is responsible for completing Section 2 of the I-9 which includes examining evidence of identity and employment authorization on behalf of the employer.  Additionally, clarification to the list of “Acceptable Documents” have been made, and a full list of those accepted documents are available on the last page of the I-9 forms.  We have attached copies of both the I-9 forms as well as the I-9 instructions for your review and utilization.  If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out the Association.

Have you changed the crops, acres or practices on your farm in the past few years?  If so, you most likely need to update your Conservation Management Practice (CMP) Plan.  As you may recall, farms located in the San Joaquin Valley in excess of 100 acres must complete a CMP Plan and keep it regularly updated.  To aid in the effort to ensure farms are keeping up to date on their CMP Plans, the Association along with several other agricultural organizations is partnering with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to host several CMP Workshops throughout the San Joaquin Valley including at least one workshop in every county.  The workshops will occurs as per the following schedule:

If you plan on attending, please bring the following:

• A list of crops grown and how many acres are devoted to each
• Plot plan/map that contains the location of each agricultural parcel on the agricultural operation site
• Total number of animals at the animal feeding operation
• Internal combustion engines: make, model, horsepower, fuel and annual hours used for all engines over 50 horsepower
• For existing CMP Plans, please bring the CMP Plan ID (Example: C-1234) 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office.