The 2018 American Pima Grade Standards Guide Box Review and Standards Matching event was held today at the Visalia USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Classing Office in Visalia.  Several participants including growers, ginners, merchants, mills and associated industry representatives attended the event hosted by USDA AMS representatives Greg Townsend, Area Director and Jimmy Knowlton, Director – Standardization Division.  The guide box review and standards matching for pima takes place each year in Visalia and gives the entire industry an opportunity to review the standards and make sure there is industrywide consensus in matching previous standards.  160 boxes were reviewed and approved today

Last week, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) released their third, and final, draft for the proposed Bay-Delta Plan.  This proposed draft, considered a Substitute Environmental Document (SED), establishes new flow water quality objectives on top of pre-existing drinking water quality standards, irrigation supply, as well as fish and wildlife habitat supply requirements for the Bay-Delta Region.  The SED sets flow requirements for the Lower San Joaquin River and the three salmon-bearing tributaries connected the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and the Merced Rivers.  The plan also revises the salinity water quality objectives in the southern Delta.  This action comes in response to several studies showing decline in native species in the Delta, specifically the reduction in Chinook Salmon, as well as the degradation of habitat for the various other species within the aquatic regions.

The revised plan sets flow requirements for certain times of the year to be maintained by all Lower San Joaquin River tributaries, which in turn will reduce the amount of water made available to agricultural and urban water users.  The proposed plan sets the unimpaired flow releases to be set at 40% to provide adequate habitat and wildlife support from February to June.    The State Water Board evaluated the potential impact to other water users along these tributaries and acknowledged the impact to agricultural operations, as well as the future reliance on groundwater with the reduction in surface water availability.  The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) will also lessen the amount of available water in the upcoming years, and so the State Water Board is encouraging these affected regions to look for other ways to make the water available last longer through enhanced groundwater recharge projects as well as encouraging irrigation efficiency upgrades.  In the end, these upgrades will only do so much, and the implementation of SGMA as well as these unimpaired flow requirements only puts agriculture in a more difficult position.

As temperatures continue to rise, heat illness prevention remains at the forefront.  The Heat Illness Prevention Tool Kits have been created to aid our members and clients stay in compliance.  The kit contains a heat illness prevention training guide for supervisors, toolbox talks in English/Spanish, heat illness poster, heat illness prevention cards, etc.   For more information visit our website www.agprocessors.org and click on the Heat Illness Kit link for order information.

Please join us to review, comment, and approve the six guide boxes of the 2018 American Pima Grade Standards on July 10 @ 9am at the Visalia Classing Office. Once approved, the guide boxes will be used as the reference to match all of the 2018 American Pima Grade Standards.

Industry participation is key to this process and we hope you all can come and be a part of this important annual event.

For additional information please contact:

Greg Townsend, Area Director
Email: gregtownsend@ams.usda.gov
Visalia Classing Office
7100 West Sunnyview Avenue
Visalia, CA 93291
Phone: (559) 651-3015

Jimmy Knowlton, Director
Email: james.knowlton@ams.usda.gov
Standardization Division
3275 Appling Road
Memphis, TN 38133
Phone: (901) 384-3030

The California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, represented by President/CEO Roger Isom, Chris McGlothlin, Director of Technical Services, and Jodi Raley, Director of Regulatory Affairs, ventured to San Diego to take part in a unique opportunity for the cotton industry to give back to those who have served our country. Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins represents the 39^th Senate District, which includes La Jolla, Del Mar, Downtown San Diego, Point Loma and other surrounding communities. With Point Loma Naval Base and the San Diego Marine Base within her district’s bounds, there is a large population of veterans, some of which who are struggling. CCGGA learned earlier this year that Pro Tem Atkins was passionate about assisting these veterans and hosts on an annual basis a Stand Down event in her district. Stand Down events offer food, shelter, clothing, health screenings and other services to homeless veterans. One of the most requested items for these events is, of all things, socks. Once CCGGA learned of this event and the high demand for good quality socks for these veterans, we started thinking on how we as a fiber industry can contribute to this cause. In partnership with Supima, CCGGA was able to donate 1,000 pairs of California Grown, American Made pima cotton socks. The socks will be distributed at San Diego’s 31^st Annual Stand Down taking place June 29^th through July 1^st. The Association was honored to be able to use our grower’s cotton to be put forward towards a great cause. CCGGA looks forward to continuing this momentum and finding additional opportunities to give back as an industry. CCGGA would like to extend our sincere appreciation and thanks to Supima and Harris & Covington Hosiery Mills for partnering with the Association to make this happen!

As a reminder, all employers – including California – are advised to comply with the directive from federal OSHA to submit their workplace injuries and illnesses electronically.  Employers must submit injury and illness data from their 2017 Cal/OSHA Summary 300A form electronically by July 1, 2018.  For specific instructions go to federal OSHA’s website https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/index.html.  Should you have any questions or need assistance, please call our office.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pink Bollworm Program have released the preliminary acreages for most of the cotton growing counties in California for 2018.  The breakdown is as follows:

The grand total of 257,552 acres statewide is down from 295,848 acres statewide in 2017.  It is too early for the Pink Bollworm Program to confirm Pima/Upland splits, but current estimates put the split at 82%/18%, but we will wait to confirm what was actually planted.

The Pima guide box matching event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 10^th at the Visalia Classing office.  We appreciate your participation in the process.  We welcome all producers, merchants, and industry representatives to attend the matching event.

Effective January 1, 2017, employers in states regulated by federal OSHA were required to electronically submit Log 300 records of injuries and illnesses. The electronic reporting requirements, along with the incorporation of an existing statutory prohibition on retaliating against employees for reporting work-related injuries or illnesses, were added to federal OSHA’s recording and reporting regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations, title 29, part 1904.

On April 30, 2018, federal OSHA posted a “trade release” requiring all affected employers to submit injury and illness data in the federal OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) online portal, even if the employer is covered by a state plan that has not completed adoption of their own state rule.

Therefore, even though California has not yet adopted its own state rule, employers are advised to comply with federal OSHA’s directive to provide Form 300A data covering calendar year 2017. Federal OSHA is requiring affected employers to submit their data by July 1, 2018. For specific instructions, go to federal OSHA’s ITA website.

The Association will provide members with instructions on reporting injury data within the next few days, so please stay tuned.