This week the Association attended a townhall roundtable discussion with Congressman David Valadao (22^nd) and Congressman Jim Costa (21^st) in Fresno, hosted by the Nisei Farmers League and the Fresno County Farm Bureau. More than 60 attendees participated in the townhall representing the agricultural, restaurant and hospitality and the construction industries. Discussion centered on the status of legislation including the Dignity Act, the Farmworker Modernization Act, and the DREAM Act. The congressman encouraged industry to get together and be united and to try and convince the President to support the effort for immigration reform. Other suggestions included getting other states, especially Republican states to help support the push for reform. Representing the Association was President/CEO Roger A. Isom and Assistant Vice President of Technical Services Christopher McGlothlin. 

Late last week legislators passed energy legislation providing important, but modest, long-term energy cost savings. This week, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) erased those important gains by granting SoCal Edison a massive rate hike — nearly 25% over the next three years. Edison customers will pay over 9% more on their monthly bills, effective October 1st, and an additional ~5% each year compounded over the next three years. The total combined increase is roughly 25%, or about $2.5 billion more each year when fully implemented.

But that’s not all, consider:

• The CPUC has already awarded Edison a 1% increase to collect an additional $1.6 billion from ratepayers for their liability from the 2017 Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara County.
• Edison is seeking an additional 2% increase to cover $5.4 billion in damages from the 2018 Woolsey Fire.
• Edison is also seeking a 2.1% rate hike to increase shareholder profits following the deadly 2025 Eaton Fire.
• Since 2014, Edison rates have risen more than 80% — more than twice the rate of inflation.
• More than 860,000 Edison customers are already behind in paying their electricity bills.
• Despite spending billions on wildfire mitigation and prevention work, Edison’s equipment sparked 178 fires last year — up from 90 in 2023.

Earlier this week, in partnership with Fresno County Farm Bureau and The Zenith, the Association co-hosted a pre-harvest safety training out at the Westside Research and Extension Center out in Five Points. Attendees were able to hear a presentations on equipment safety, and even get hands on with some tractors to learn how to stay safe. We would like the thank the Fresno County Farm Bureau and The Zenith for their partnership to keep workers safe during the upcoming season.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California has announced Fiscal Year 2026 (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026) federal assistance opportunities for agricultural producers, including through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program(ACEP). While NRCS accepts applications for these programs year-round, interested applicants should apply no later than November 21, 2025, for the application cutoff period.  “EQIP, CSP, and ACEP are amazing tools that empower our producers to turn their conservation plans into action to protect our land and natural resources. They are how NRCS partners with producers to Keep Farmers Farming,” said California State Conservationist Carlos Suarez.  Application cutoff periods allow NRCS to screen and rank applications for those with the highest conservation benefits across California’s landscapes, including cropland, ranchlands, and private non-industrial forestlands.  Additional signups may be announced at later dates. 

Governor Gavin Newsom has abruptly announced that California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chair Liane Randolph will be retiring from state service effective September 30, 2025, and named Senior Advisor to the Governor for Climate Lauren Sanchez to serve as the next CARB Chair.  Randoph departs the Board after five years of service as Chair.  What can we expect from the new Chair?  This is what the Governor had to say about Sanchez:  “Lauren has been my most trusted climate advisor and the chief architect of California’s bold climate agenda — helping deliver billions in new investments and cementing our state’s role as the global leader in the fight for a clean, healthy, job-creating future.
 
Sanchez has been Senior Advisor for Climate in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom since 2021. She was Senior Advisor for the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate in the Biden-Harris Administration in 2021. Sanchez was Deputy Secretary for Climate Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2019 to 2021. She was International Policy Director at the California Air Resources Board from 2018 to 2019. Sanchez was a Climate Negotiator at the United States Department of State from 2015 to 2017. Sanchez earned a Master of Science degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Biology from Middlebury College.  Sanchez will begin her term on October 1, but the position does require Senate Confirmation. 

In a significant victory for agriculture, the Monterey County Superior Court decided in favor of California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and County Ag Commissioner’s authority to issue restricted material’s permits for fumigant use in Monterey County.  Petitioners from 4 local teachers unions had challenged the existing authority for the government agencies to approve the use of restricted materials of chloropicrin and 1, 3-dichloropropene to fumigate fields intended to be planted in strawberries for applications proposed during the 2023 season. 
 
The Court rejected Petitioners’ arguments. The administrative record could not be expanded beyond what was presented to both CAC and Director. The “post hoc rationalization” theory failed because CAC inspectors performed their evaluations before issuance, and written explanations are only required when review is requested. The claim that CACs have authority to stay permits was forfeited and contrary to the statute, which grants stay authority only to the Director. Finally, Petitioners’ “pattern and practice” claim could not stand once the core CEQA-based challenges failed.
 
This is a huge win for the industry, while also affirming DPR and the Ag Commissioner’s authority to issue restricted material permits. 

The Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership Cohort was in California this week, and the Association hosted the group for a very special dinner at the Association offices in Fresno.  Speaking at the event was the Association’s Assistant Vice President Priscilla Rodriguez (CALF Class 50) and Assistant Vice President Christopher McGlothlin (CALF Class 52), who both shared their leadership journeys and experiences through the California Ag Leadership Program, as well as discussing the critical issues they are working on. In addition, special guest speakers also presented their experiences and issues including Don Cameron, of Terranova Ranches and current Chairman of the Board of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), Daniel Hartwig, President of the California Fresh Fruit Association, and Mandy Critchley (CALF Class 37).  Association President/CEO Roger A. Isom served as the host and emcee for the event. 

The California Legislature has unanimously approved Sen. Jerry McNerney’s SB 279, which is designed to benefit farmers and winegrape growers by allowing them to compost large amounts of green waste onsite. “California farmers and winegrape growers are facing a new challenge now that burning agricultural waste is no longer allowed and must ship their green waste to large composting facilities, often hundreds of miles away at great expense,” said Sen. McNerney, D-Pleasanton, who is a member of the Senate Agricultural Committee. “SB 279 will provide California farms and vineyards with a more affordable alternative that is also good for the environment — the ability to compost a modest amount of green waste onsite once every ten years.” SB 279 now goes to the governor’s desk for approval. SB 279 is sponsored by Californians Against Waste, California Association of Winegrape Growers, California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, California Alliance for Community Composting, The Climate Center, and People Food & Land Foundation. “SB 279 is a significant tool that could help agriculture begin to answer the major dilemma it faces with the closure of so many biomass plants. It opens the door for many of our growers to get introduced to composting, which is especially critical in those times when you have to replace an entire orchard. For our smaller growers this may be the only solution, and we would welcome its passage at a time we so desperately need answers,” said Roger Isom, President and CEO of California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association. Currently, California has a shortage of composting facilities, making it even more challenging for farmers and winegrape growers to dispose of their green waste. According to a recent report from CalRecycle, the state needs 50 to 100 additional organic waste recycling facilities to meet current demand. SB 279 would enable:

• Farmers and winegrape growers to compost onsite when they have large amounts of agricultural waste, such as when they remove an old orchard or vineyard, and combine their compost with agriculture waste from offsite;
• Community composting, urban farms, and school farms to compost up to 200 cubic yards of green waste, and up to 500 cubic yards for publicly owned compost activities (they’re both currently capped at 100 cubic yards);
• Composting operations to sell or give away up to 5,000 cubic yards of compost a year (farms and vineyards are currently capped at 1,000 cubic yards).

In early 2024, the Association joined with other ag groups in filing an amici curiae in the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, et al., v. Nickels, et al., case regarding the scope of the irrigated agriculture exemption in the Clean Water Act from NPDES permitting requirements. The lawsuit specifically targeted the Grasslands Bypass project jointly operated by the US Bureau of Reclamation, San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority and the Grassland Water District. Drainage water from the area enters the Grassland Bypass Channel and conveys the water into the San Luis Drain. It then travels through the drain to the Mud Slough.

We are happy to report we have received the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in this case, and it was a complete win for agriculture. The following is a summary of the Court’s Opinion provided by our legal counsel, Ms. Tess Denham of Kahn, Soares & Conway:

• The Court rejected PCFFA’s reading of the exemption for irrigation return flows as applying only to flows that are entirely from irrigated agriculture and that any commingling of return flows with pollutants from other sources would negate the exemption and require an NPDES permit.
• The Court found that PCFFA’s reading, as a practical matter, would render the exemption “a dead letter.”
• The Court upheld the district court’s conclusions and finding that the exemption applies to irrigation return flows that do not contain additional “point source discharges from activities unrelated to crop production.”
• The opinion contains important analysis of Congress’ intent with respect to the CWA and the inclusion of this exemption in the CWA. In short, the exemption “exempts” point source discharges from irrigated agriculture (e.g., discharge from the San Luis Drain to Mud Slough) if other “point source” discharges are not commingled. It does not mean that there can’t be other sources of pollutants from nonpoint sources commingled in the drain, and nonpoint source discharges are not regulated under the Clean Water Act.
• After establishing the scope of the irrigation return flow exemption, the Court then evaluated Plaintiff’s alleged sources of commingled pollutants. The Court found all these sources to be nonpoint sources thus the commingling of these sources did not negate the irrigation return flow exemption.

Holding of the Court:  “We hold that the irrigated agricultural exemption applies when return flows do not contain additional point source discharges from activities unrelated to crop production.”

As a practical matter, this means that irrigation return flows discharged to waters of the United States through a point source are exempt from Clean Water Act NPDES permitting requirements if other non-ag point source discharges of pollutants are not commingled. Nonpoint sources such as groundwater seepage and road runoff continue to be exempt as nonpoint sources. However, if an agricultural drain accepts discharges/pollutants from another point source (e.g., wastewater effluent, municipal stormwater discharged through an outfall, industrial point source discharge), the exemption will not apply and an NPDES permit would be required for the commingled discharge.  Accordingly, entities that manage and operate agricultural drains need be sure that other sources are not authorized to discharge to agricultural drains.

Participants in the filing of the amici curiae were Association of California Water Agencies, California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, California Farm Bureau Federation, California Fresh Fruit Association, California Rice Commission, East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition, East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition, Family Farms Alliance, Kern River Watershed Coalition Authority, Kings River Conservation District, Kings River Water Quality Coalition, Western Tree Nut Association, Western Growers Association, and Westside Water Quality Coalition.

The National Cotton Council (NCC), with support from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, is conducting a series of information meetings across the Cotton Belt to provide cotton producers, industry firms, and agri-businesses with crucial information regarding the 2025 Farm Bill provisions passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. These meetings are open to all interested parties and are designed to ensure the industry is well-informed about the new law’s impact. “Understanding the intricacies of the new farm program provisions is vital for the continued success and stability of the U.S. cotton industry,” said NCC Chairman Patrick Johnson. “We encourage all involved to attend one of these important meetings to gain valuable insights and ask questions.”
 
The meetings will cover key aspects of the new farm bill provisions, offering attendees an opportunity to learn directly from experts and engage in discussions about its implications for their operations. All times are local. The NCC looks forward to welcoming attendees and providing valuable information to help navigate the new farm program landscape.
 
Meeting Schedule for California:

• Dos Palos: September 8, 9:00 a.m. – DES Hall, 1357 Elgin (Hwy 33)
   

• Coalinga: September 8, 2:00 p.m. – Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant, 24505 W Doris Ave
   
• Visalia: September 9, 9:00 a.m. – Wyndham Hotel, 9000 W Airport Dr.