This past week the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has released their portion of the measures to be contained in the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the San Joaquin Valley to achieve attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5.  Two of these measures includes tractors and harvesters.  One of the measures, named the “Accelerated Turnover of Agricultural Tractors” would use existing and new incentive funding programs to help accelerate the natural turnover of agricultural equipment.  These programs include the Carl Moyer Program, the USDA NRCS EQIP Funding and the new FARMER Program funding.  On the other hand, another measure entitled “Cleaner In-Use Agricultural Equipment” is designed to increase the penetration of cleaner agricultural equipment, including advancing zero-emission technology (aka “electric”) where feasible.  This program appears to be a mandatory replace measure, that allows for incentive funds to be used, but will become mandatory of the necessary reductions are not achieved.  The amount of reductions being asked for by CARB is as follows:

While this is still in draft, it confirms comments by CARB over the past year in several workshops. This will only apply to the San Joaquin Valley and the eight counties therein.  This will be coupled with the measures being proposed by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) including a measure to require the replacement of Tier 3 diesel fired pump engines with either a final Tier 4 pump engine or electric motor.  That measure has not yet been formally released and the final compliance dates have yet to be announced.  However, workshops on both the CARB and SJVAPCD plans will be held this next month, so we will know the details soon enough.

The Association traveled back to Washington, DC this week to meet with FDA officials and Congressional representatives on the primary issue of how Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations on animal feed will apply to cotton gins.  Representing the Association in those meetings were Priscilla Rodriguez, WAPA Director of Food Safety, and Roger Isom, CCGGA/WAPA President/CEO.  As has been stated in the past, there are a couple of issues that remain with the applicability of the Preventive Controls Rule for Animal Feed for cotton gins, based on ownership.  FDA has acknowledged there is no difference in risk based on where the cotton is ginned; however, they refer back to the ownership of the cotton when determining applicability, which is of major concern.  Most gins would be exempt based on ownership, but some would fall under the Preventive Controls Rule for Animal Food.  FDA has acknowledged the issue and committed to future rulemaking to address the definition of a farm in order to address ownership issues; however, it is has been several months since they made the announcement at the National Cotton Council Annual Meeting in Fort Worth.  Most recently, Dr. James Gorny, FDA, announced at WAPA’s 2018 Annual Meeting that he expected something out in the spring of 2019.  In this week’s meeting with FDA, it appears to be more likely to be in the summer of 2019 or later.  FDA is concerned with unintended consequences and wants to make sure they don’t cause other problems in trying to solve this particular one.  The Association is concerned with inconsistent applicability of the regulations to operations that are exactly the same except for ownership.  The Association then spent a day in the Capitol meeting with several congressional offices to discuss the issue, including meeting with Congressman David Valadao and Devin Nunes on the matter.  Stay tuned!

The 41^st Annual Ag Boosters BBQ for the California Women for Agriculture (CWA) and Ag One will be held on Sunday, September 9^th at the Borba Ranchlocated at the San Joaquin River and Highway 99 in Madera.  The grounds open at 4 pm, and Dinner will be served from 5:30 to 6:30.  Individual tickets are $50 each, or you can purchase a table of 10 for $450.  Festivities include:

• CWA Country Store featuring handmade arts, crafts and baked goods
• Fresno State Farm products – enjoy award-winning wine, extra virgin olive oil, grapes, and more
• Fresno State sausage sampling sponsored by Fresno-Madera CAPCA
• Cheese tasting sponsored by Valley dairy processors
• Silent and live auctions
• Raffle prizes, a fabulous door prize and much more!

The Ag Boosters Barbecue has raised more than $1 million for both organizations. This support has played an important role in Ag One’s ability to support students and programs in the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at Fresno State. Since 1979, Ag One has provided some 4,400 students with more than $6.2 million in scholarships as well as program support. More than $19.5 million is endowed with the Fresno State Foundation. In the 2018-2019 academic year, $700,000 will be awarded to deserving students and programs. Additionally, CWA uses the funds raised by the barbecue to help California agriculture through education and legislative programs and by giving nearly $100,000 in scholarships annually.  For more information, please contact the Ag One Foundation at California State University, Fresno at (559)278-4266.

The State Water Board’s proposal is devastating to the entire state of California, including farmers, farm workers, and business owners. In order to make your voice heard, a rally to stop the state water grab will be held on August 20^th at noon on the north steps of the Sacramento Capitol Building (facing L Street).

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Assemblyman Adam Gray’s District Office at (209) 726-5465.

The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced in a press release that DPR’s Air Monitoring Network found that all 36 pesticides monitored at four different sites never exceeded any screening level or regulatory target. Among the 36 pesticides monitored some included, chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, malathion, acephate, along with many others. The four sites that DPR used were stationed in Shafter, Santa Maria, Watsonville and Chualar. Of all the pesticides monitored 17 were only detected at trace level and nine were not detected at all!

Also in the press release was information regarding DPR’s two-year monitoring study of 1, 3-D with stations in Parlier and Delhi. Even though 1, 3-D did not exceed a human health screening level, DPR will be reviewing the current mitigation measures to determine if the interim restrictions should be replaced! The finding of the Air Monitoring Network, along with 1, 3-D’s current interim restrictions will be discussed that the Pesticide Registration and Evaluation Committee (PREC) meeting on Friday, July 20, 2018. The Association will be in attendance to provide comments commending the findings of the air monitoring program and push back on additional restrictions on 1, 3-D.

The San Joaquin Sustainable Farming Project, UCCE, and UC IPM present Midseason Cotton Field Day. The event will be held on Tuesday, July 24^th from 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at Pik-A-Lok Farms in Mendota. Cooperative Extension Specialist, Westside REC Bob Hutmacher will be speaking about cotton diseases and plant development issues. Dan Munk, UCCE Farm Advisor (Fresno), Cotton Specialist Center, will also be in attendance to speak about monitoring cotton for improved yield performance. Lastly, Associate Extension Vegetable Crops Specialist at the Kearney Ag Center, Jeff Mitchell, will speak about getting beyond the hype of soil health and actually doing something about it. Questions about the event can be directed to Marcia Gibbs with the San Joaquin Sustainable Farming Project at (530) 370-5325 or marcia@sustainablecotton.org.

Directions
From South/Mendota: Travel North on Hwy 33/Hwy 180 over RR tracks. Turn right on Bass Ave. Continue about 3 miles. Look for field day signs.

From North/Firebaugh: Travel South on “N” St./Hwy 33. Take Hwy 33 almost into Mendota. Just before the RR tracks, turn left on Bass Ave. Continue about 3 miles. Look for field day signs.

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