A press release sent out by the United States Small Business Administration on September 18^th may hold some good news for small businesses affected by the drought. Small, nonfarm businesses are now eligible to apply for low interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. These loans are made available when the U. S. Secretary of Agriculture designates an agriculture disaster, which occurred on September 17^th, 2014 when Secretary Tom Vilsack declared the drought a disaster. The program, known as The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)   will cover 57 California counties and neighboring counties in Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon. The loans have been created to help offset the harsh economic impact of the current drought that began January 1, 2014. The EIDL eligibility will be limited to small, nonfarm businesses, small agriculture cooperatives, private nonprofit organizations (any size), and small businesses engaged in aquaculture. These entities may qualify for up to $2 million to help offset operating expenses and financial commitments which could have been made if the drought wasn’t present. It is important to note that eligibility for the loans is based on financial impact and not any actual property damage.

The EIDL loans have an interest rate of 4% for businesses and 2.625% for private, nonprofit organizations, a maximum term of 30 years and will be made available for qualified entities that do not have the financial ability to offset the impact of the drought without hardship.  Deadline to apply for these loans is May 18, 2015.

Applicants may register online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure WEB site at https://disasterload.sba.gov/ela.  Additional information can be obtained through the SBA’s Customer Service Center by calling (800) 659-2955 or emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

U.S. EPA has proposed designating 14 areas in six states as out of compliance with the 2012 pollution standard for airborne fine particulates (PM2.5).  In 2012, EPA tightened the particulate limit from 15 micrograms per cubic meter to 12 micrograms per cubic meter, based on information about health effects.  The list of 14 areas out of compliance with the standard is based on monitoring data from 2011 to 2013.  The nonattainment areas are in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, California and Idaho. For California, the following counties are listed as not meeting the standard: Plumas, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange and Imperial Counties.  EPA is accepting public comment on the list until the end of the month. States with nonattainment areas have 120 days to work with the agency and provide more information before EPA makes a final decision.  Under the Clean Air Act, states with areas not meeting the federal standard must come up with plans to reduce pollution from sources of fine particulate matter, primarily combustions sources including trucks and tractors.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing changes to four rules proposed in 2013 to implement the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA): Produce Safety, Preventive Controls for Human Food, Preventive Controls for Animal Food, and Foreign Supplier Verification Programs.

FDA is proposing new ways to make the original proposals more flexible, practical and targeted. The changes are based on the input received from thousands of comments submitted on the proposed rules.

The changes include:

• Produce Safety: More flexible criteria for determining the safety of agricultural water for certain uses and a tiered approach to water testing.

• Produce Safety: A commitment to conduct extensive research on the safe use of raw manure in growing areas and complete a risk assessment. Pending those actions, FDA is deferring its decision on an appropriate time interval between the application of raw manure and the harvesting of a crop and removing the nine-month interval originally proposed. FDA also proposes eliminating the 45-day minimum application interval for composted manure that meets proposed microbial standards and application requirements.

• Preventive Controls for Human and Animal Foods: Requirements that human and animal food facilities, when appropriate, test products and the food facility’s environment, as well as implement certain supplier controls.

• Foreign Supplier Verification Program: A more comprehensive analysis of potential risks associated with foods and foreign suppliers, and more flexibility for importers in determining appropriate supplier verification measures based on their evaluation of those risks.

The FDA will accept comments on the revised provisions for 75 days after publication in the Federal Register, while continuing to review comments already received on the original proposed rules. No additional comments will be accepted on the original proposals. FDA will consider both sets of comments—on the original proposed rules and on the revisions—before issuing final rules in 2015.

The agency is planning to hold a public meeting on the revised proposals on Thursday, November 13, 2014 in College Park, Md.  Details will be forthcoming.

The California State Legislature has now adjourned the 2013-2014 Legislative Session.  Some key bills were dealt with in the final week of Session and now sit on the Governor’s desk awaiting his action. The Governor has until September 30, 2014 to sign or veto legislation presented to him.

AB 1522 (Gonzalez):  Employment:  Paid Sick Days

Summary:  Enacts the Healthy Workplace, Healthy Families Act of 2014. The Act entitles an employee who, on or after July 1, 2015, and works in California for thirty or more days a year, to paid sick days accrued at a rate of no less than one hour for every thirty hours worked.

Outcome: Passed out of the Assembly 52-25; Passed out of the 22-8.

AB 1739 (Dickinson):  Groundwater Management

Summary:  This bill is part of a groundwater management package that also includes SB 1168 (Pavley) and SB 1319 (Pavley). The bill would authorize the Department of Water Resources (Department) or a groundwater sustainability agency (as defined in SB 1168) to provide technical assistance to entities that extract or use groundwater to promote water conservation and protect groundwater resources. Groundwater sustainability agencies would be required to submit a groundwater sustainability plan to the Department for review. The bill authorizes the California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) to designate a basin as a probationary basin, and would authorize the Board in consultation with the Department to develop an interim plan for a probationary basin if a local agency has not remedied a deficiency.

Outcome:  Passed out of the Assembly 47-28; Passed out of the Senate 26-11.

AB 1897 (Hernandez):  Labor Contracting:  Client Liability

Summary:  Would require a client employer to share with a labor contractor all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for all workers supplied by that labor contractor for the payment of wages and the failure to obtain valid workers’ compensation coverage.

Outcome:  Passed out of the Assembly 47-24; Passed out of the Senate 22-12.

AB 2416 (Stone):  Liens:  Laborers and Employees

Summary:  Enacts the California Wage Theft Recovery Act which would authorize employees to request the Labor Commissioner record, on his or her behalf, a wage lien upon real and personal property of an employer for unpaid wages and other compensation owed to the employee.

Outcome:  Held in the Senate 13-15.

SB 25 (Steinberg):  Agricultural Labor Relations:  Dispute Resolution

Summary:  Provides that an action to enforce the order of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board may be filed within sixty days whether or not the other party is seeking judicial review of the order.

Outcome:  Passed out of the Senate 22-12; Passed out of the Assembly 42-25.

SB 605 (Lara and Pavley):  Short-Lived Climate Pollutants

Summary:  Would require the State Air Resources Board to complete a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants.

Outcome:  Passed out of the Senate 23-12; Passed out of the Assembly 53-24.

SB 1168 (Pavley):  Groundwater Management

Summary:  This is one of two senate bills that complete the groundwater management package. SB 1168 would create a state policy that groundwater resources be locally managed for long-term reliability and multiple economic, social and environmental benefits. The bill would require groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority by the Department of Water Resources and designated as basins subject to critical conditions of overdraft to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan by January 31, 2020. It would require all other groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan by January 31, 2022. The bill authorizes a local agency to elect to be a groundwater sustainability agency which would have specific authority including, but not limited to, the ability to require registration of a groundwater extraction facility, to require that groundwater extraction facility be measured with a water-measuring device, and to regulate groundwater extraction.

Outcome:  Passed out of the Senate 25-10; Passed out of the Assembly 47-27.

SB 1319 (Pavley):  Groundwater

Summary:  Would authorize the California State Water Resources Control Board (Board) to designate certain high- and medium-priority basins as a probationary basin if, after January 21, 2025, prescribed criteria are met, including that the state board determines that the basin is in a condition where groundwater extractions result in significant depletions of interconnected surface waters. AB 1739 would authorize the Board in consultation with the Department of Water Resources, to develop an interim plan for a probationary basin if it determines that a local agency has not remedied a deficiency. This bill would prohibit the Board from establishing an interim plan before January 1, 2025.

Outcome:  Passed out of the Senate 24-10; Passed out of the Assembly 48-26.

The Associations have opposed these bills and have sent, or are in the process of sending, veto requests to the Governor.

The Association has received the final information on cotton acreage in California including the breakdown between upland and pima.  The acreages as determined by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pink Bollworm Program are 56,730 acres of upland and 153,670 acres of pima, for a total of 210,400 acres.  The breakdowns are as follows:

The breakdown in the San Joaquin Valley is as follows:

In Southern California, the breakdown is as follows:

In the Sacramento Valley, the breakdown is as follows:

Please be advised that the acres listed are based on Pink Bollworm Program field mapping techniques are intended for use on PBW Program detection and control activities and are not assumed to represent exact cotton acreage planted in California.

The association is a part of the grassroots Fed Up at the Pump campaign, which aims to stop the coming state-mandated gas fee – created by the regulations put forth by the California Air Resources Board. CARB’s own economic analysis show that the mandated gas fee will lead to a substantial increase in gas prices ranging from 16 cents to 76 cents a gallon starting January 1, 2015.
Just yesterday at an event put on by Fed Up At The Pump, the Association’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, Aimee Brooks spoke to the crowd about the impending impacts higher fuel prices will have for the agriculture industry and others. Brooks quoted current diesel fuel costs in California which sit 8.7% higher than competing agriculture regions in the US and explained to onlookers how fuel prices have a much broader impact that just rising food and freight prices, saying:
“Workers can’t make ends meet when their own fuel costs to get to work and home increase significantly, pair that with the current drought, and it’s a recipe for huge unemployment in disadvantaged communities. What about the thousands of entities that provide goods and services to the industry? Who will get cut out when budgets tighten?”
Legislation to delay fuels under the cap, AB 69 (Perea) is currently held up in the Senate Rules Committee.
Want to take action? YOU CAN HELP! Join Fed up at the Pump and tell Governor Brown and the California Air Resources Board to “BACK OFF!” and stop the January 1 gas price hike before it damages California’s struggling economy and negatively affects millions hard working Californians! Visit their website at www.fedupatthepump.org to sign up and for more information.

Association President/CEO Roger Isom has spent the past two days in Sacramento walking the halls seeking the most money possible for a water bond this state sorely needs.  In particular, the effort focused on getting as much funding for storage as possible, hopefully $3 billion.  This $3 billion figure was contained in the original bond, but the Governor had only committed to $2 billion.  In the midst of the negotiations, several groups came out in favor of $2.5 billion, but the Associations (CCGGA & WAPA) along with California Citrus Mutual, the California Fresh Fruit Association, California Dairies Inc., Nisei Farmers League and the California Rice Commission held fast; and due to these groups, and only these groups, it was eventually increased to $2.7 billion!  In addition, there will be some additional news in the near future on a separate effort to help fund a “cross valley connector” canal to help the entire water system.  This too was an effort of these organizations.  This was a tremendous achievement to get to $2.7 billion, and several Central Valley legislators deserve credit for holding strong including Assemblywoman Connie Conway, Assemblyman Rudy Salas, Assemblyman Henry T. Perea, Assemblyman Adam Gray, Assemblywoman Kristen Olsen, Assemblyman Jim Patterson, Senator Andy Vidak, Senator Jean Fuller, Senator Tom Berryhill, Senator Anthony Cannella, and Senator Jim Nielsen.  It truly was a bipartisan valleywide effort to try and secure as much funding for water as we could possibly get.  Now the effort to secure passage by voters in November begins…

The upcoming Western Cotton Conference to be held in conjunction with the Supima Annual Meeting on August 27, 2014 at Harris Ranch Inn, Coalinga, California.

The speakers for this year’s event are Anthony Tancredi, Chairman of the American Cotton Shippers Association, with a market outlook; Paul Brown, Agricultural Meteorologist, University of Arizona, on weather trends in the Far West and the implications for agriculture; and Kevin McDermott, WCSA President, with issues regarding Far West cotton.

Members planning to attend should register in advance in order for us to provide an accurate guarantee for lunch. Please return your registration form to the WCSA office no later than August 24!

August 27th Event Flyer and Registration Form

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2014 — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency Administrator Juan M. Garcia today announced that farmers can enroll in the Cotton Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) from Aug. 11, 2014 through Oct. 7, 2014.

The program, created by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides interim payments to cotton producers during the 2014 crop year until the Stacked Income Protection Plan, a new insurance product also created by the legislation, is available. Details on the plan will be released by mid-August.

“The Cotton Transition Assistance Program is another milestone in USDA’s ambitious timeline for implementing the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill. Cotton producers now have a risk management tool in place,” said Garcia. “To help us provide the best service possible, cotton producers are encouraged to schedule an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency office early in this enrollment period,” added Garcia.

CTAP applications approved before Oct. 1, are subject to congressionally mandated automatic reductions of 7.2 percent for the 2014 crop year. Applications approved after Oct. 1 will be reduced the required 7.3 percent for the 2015 crop year. The Budget Control Act of 2011 requires USDA to implement these reductions to program payments.

CTAP and the Stacked Income Protection Plan were established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past five years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill.

For more information about CTAP, visit a local FSA office or go online to www.fsa.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

The Association co-hosted a special tour for Richard Corey, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Alberto Ayala, Deputy Executive Office of CARB, along with some CARB and SJVAPCD staff. The focus of the tour was to introduce the Executive Officers to agricultural equipment and the issues facing the industry with regards to incentive programs and potential regulations. The two day tour covered many different crops and areas of the valley in an attempt to educate the agency on the vast difference in equipment, the types of specialty equipment that is used in agriculture and the unique challenges facing agriculture including the devastating drought situation. The tour included visits to the operations of CCGGA members Gary Esajian, Bob Wilson, and Don Cameron. The types of agricultural operations visited included citrus groves, stone fruit orchards and packing house, a corn silage field and dairy, cattle feedlot, almond orchards, tomato field, onion and bell pepper fields and a cantaloupe field. Cooperating organizations in the tour included California Citrus Mutual, California Grape and Tree Fruit League, the Nisei Farmers League and the Milk Producers Council.