Californians paying $9.7 billion more than ratepayers in other states using the same amount of energy last year #holdutilitiesaccountable #noWildfireBailout #noBlankChecks

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pink Bollworm Program has released its report for monitoring Silverleaf Whitefly. The program monitored for whitefly and other cotton pests from July 16, 2018 to July 27, 2018. For the full report, please follow the link below:

http://bit.ly/2AzcD0u

California manufacturers already pay 118% more for electricity than any other western states. Increased rates impose greater operating costs on agricultural, commercial, and industrial ratepayers. #holdutilitiesaccountable #noWildfireBailout

Ratepayers shouldn’t be expected to pay for billions of dollars in damages due to negligence fires caused by Utilities. #holdutilitiesaccountable #noWildfireBailout

Over 60 people attended last night’s workshop on the PM2.5 plan for the San Joaquin Valley.  And what they heard was not good news for agricultural interests.  At the Air District level, attendees learned that irrigation pump engines, both diesel and natural gas, will once again become targets for a further tightening of the regulations governing those sources.  Tier 3 pump engines will now have to be replaced with Tier 4 engines or electric motors.  In addition, the Air District is going to tighten the Conservation Management Practices regulations to control fugitive dust from farms, specifically tightening restrictions on land preparation and how lands are fallowed.  On the State side, CARB confirmed the information released last week stating they will be regulating tractors and harvesters for the first time.  While they will focus on the use of incentives first, it was made abundantly clear there will be a “drop dead date” by which older tractors and harvesters will have to be replaced.  These mandates are a result of a very tight Federal EPA ambient air quality standard for PM2.5.  Interestingly, EPA was at the meeting, but said nothing.  Fittingly, EPA still intends not to regulate locomotives, a significant source in the valley, and one that can only be regulated by EPA!  The Association opposes these mandates and will be submitting written comments accordingly.  The plan is expected to be adopted by the SJVAPCD in October and the ARB in November.

Utilities and their shareholders need to be held accountable, instead of “passing liability costs to their customers” #holdutilitiesaccountable #noWildfireBailout

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.