Association President/CEO Roger Isom testified this week at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Governing Board Meeting in support of the Air District’s proposed “Trade-Up Program”.  The new program would be funded by $500,000 in Cap & Trade Funds from the California Air Resources Board (CARB).  The money would be used to purchase new agricultural equipment (tractors and harvesters) to replace existing Tier 2 and Tier 3 agricultural equipment.  Then, rather than crushing the Tier 2/3 equipment, it would be provided free of charge to growers to replace existing Tier 0 equipment that might not otherwise be replaced due to financial constraints or limited use.  The Tier 2/3 tractors will be inspected and the Air District will spend up to an additional $5,000 to repair this equipment for use.  A big focus will be on harvesting equipment which tends to have a low use.   The new pilot program will go into effect later this summer, and the Association is already lining up growers and equipment for the pilot program.  If it is successful, it could lead to a more permanent program.

The drought is not over, but for the first time in six years, cotton acreage will increase in California according to preliminary survey conducted by the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations this past month.  The Association is currently estimating approximately 145,000 acres of pima and 61,000 acres of upland statewide.   Now, this is preliminary and a lot can happen between now and when things are actually planted, but based on the survey this is our best estimate.  If it plays out, it will represent a 19% increase in pima acreage and a 24% increase in upland acreage in California as compared to 2015.

We are gearing up for the 2016 Annual California Cotton Ginners Association meeting in Monterey on Wednesday, June 1st through Friday, June 3rd at the Monterey Marriott.  There will be a welcome reception on Wednesday night for the early arrivals.  On Thursday we will be having our golf tournament and for non-golfers it will be an open day, with a reception dinner, and annual award presentations on Thursday evening.  The Board of Directors will hold their regularly scheduled board meeting on Friday morning followed by the Ginners Annual Meeting featuring guest speakers covering the “hot topic” issues in the industry.

2016 Ginner Registration

2016 Associate Registration

Following is TPO’s recap of CA’s mandatory Paid Sick Leave (PSL) with yellow highlights representing areas of change with the 7/13/15 “clean-up” law.

Employers who revised/created their policies to comply with PSL prior to 7/1/15  may choose to make further revisions in light of the “PSL clean-up” law, though revisions are not required and some employers may choose to not further revise their policies.

The Department of Industrial Relation’s (DIR’s) website was updated in October 2015 to reflect the 7/13/15 law (http://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSE/Paid_Sick_Leave.htm).

3 4 16 – TPO’s PSL Recap CoBranded (002)

Louie Colombini, Westside Farmers Co-op Gin was named the winner of the 2015 Horace Hayden National Cotton Ginner of the Year by the National Cotton Ginners Association, this month at the National Cotton Council Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas.  Louie is one of the most active Ginners in California Cotton Ginners Association.  He is a past Chairman of this Association in 2000-2001, Ginner of the Year recipient in 2002, and longtime and current board member.  Currently, Louie sits on the Association’s Joint Steering, Safety, and Energy Committees.  Additionally, Louie has served as a board member for the San Joaquin Valley Cotton Board.  Finally, on the national level, Louie has been a longtime Ginner delegate to the National Cotton Council.   Louie is a member of, and serve as a Eucharistic Minister for the St. Phillip’s Catholic Church.  He is a past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus.  Louie was also involved in the Boy Scouts for 15 years.  Louie has been a significant contributor to the California cotton ginning industry for many years, and is a shining example of the leadership within our industry.    Congratulations to Louie Colombini!

A luncheon will be held in remembrance of Wayne Russell Dumont tomorrow, Friday, January 15^th at the San Joaquin Wine Co. located at 21801 Avenue 16 in Madera from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

If the vehicle is located, please notify the The Zenith Insurance Company.

Please click here to view BOL.

Thank you,

CRCPTF

For General Questions regarding the CRCPTF and Membership please contact the following members:

President – Chad Parker  caparker@tehamaso.org

Vice President – Kristie Dougan  kdougan@SBCSD.ORG

Secretary – Rodney Blaco RBlaco@co.tulare.ca.us

Treasurer – Robert Winn winnr@kernsheriff.com

For BOLO distribution – Bo Houngviengkham  agcrimes@fresnosheriff.org

Recent Changes to CRCPTF Crime Alerts

CRCPTF has recently changed the format of its news alerts in order to provide you information more efficiently and to add new features. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to send them to CRCPTF.

About the CRCPTF

The Task Force is a combination of County Sheriff’s Departments, District Attorney Offices, Agricultural Commissioners and local Police Departments together with state agencies such as the Attorney General’s Office, Food and Agriculture and the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning and the United States Department of Agriculture. Additionally, private organizations within the agri-business community such as the Farm Bureau, the State Grange, the Agri-Business League and other agricultural business related groups form an invaluable part of the Task Force.

We all work together for the common goal of reducing crime in the agriculture related business community.

To Join the CRCPTF:
Contact Robert Winn at:
winnr@kernsheriff.com

CRCPTF Mailing Address:

CRCPTF

1350 Norris Rd.

Bakersfield, CA 93308

CCGGA President/CEO Roger Isom joined forces with California Citrus Mutual, the Nisei Farmers League and the California Independent Oil Marketers Association in meetings with Kern County Supervisors this past week to oppose a Kern County mandate to replace all aboveground storage tanks immediately.  Multiple farmers have already received notices of violation and been told to replace all gravity fed aboveground storage tanks and single wall aboveground storage tanks “immediately”.  This is being done in response to a change in State Fire Code that the Association has been fighting for the past year.  The Association is also leading an effort to introduce legislation to ensure that this mandate is spread over time, instead of immediately.  The group met with Supervisors Maggard and Scrivner, and staff from Supervisors Gleason and Perez.  The primary purpose was to inform the Supervisors how Kern County was going beyond the law and was the only county in the state doing this at this time.  Additional meetings will occur in the coming weeks as we work to find a more reasonable solution.