The upcoming Western Cotton Conference to be held in conjunction with the Supima Annual Meeting on August 27, 2014 at Harris Ranch Inn, Coalinga, California.

The speakers for this year’s event are Anthony Tancredi, Chairman of the American Cotton Shippers Association, with a market outlook; Paul Brown, Agricultural Meteorologist, University of Arizona, on weather trends in the Far West and the implications for agriculture; and Kevin McDermott, WCSA President, with issues regarding Far West cotton.

Members planning to attend should register in advance in order for us to provide an accurate guarantee for lunch. Please return your registration form to the WCSA office no later than August 24!

August 27th Event Flyer and Registration Form

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2014 — U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency Administrator Juan M. Garcia today announced that farmers can enroll in the Cotton Transition Assistance Program (CTAP) from Aug. 11, 2014 through Oct. 7, 2014.

The program, created by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides interim payments to cotton producers during the 2014 crop year until the Stacked Income Protection Plan, a new insurance product also created by the legislation, is available. Details on the plan will be released by mid-August.

“The Cotton Transition Assistance Program is another milestone in USDA’s ambitious timeline for implementing the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill. Cotton producers now have a risk management tool in place,” said Garcia. “To help us provide the best service possible, cotton producers are encouraged to schedule an appointment with their local Farm Service Agency office early in this enrollment period,” added Garcia.

CTAP applications approved before Oct. 1, are subject to congressionally mandated automatic reductions of 7.2 percent for the 2014 crop year. Applications approved after Oct. 1 will be reduced the required 7.3 percent for the 2015 crop year. The Budget Control Act of 2011 requires USDA to implement these reductions to program payments.

CTAP and the Stacked Income Protection Plan were established by the 2014 Farm Bill. The Farm Bill builds on historic economic gains in rural America over the past five years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings for taxpayers. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to implement each provision of this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill.

For more information about CTAP, visit a local FSA office or go online to www.fsa.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).

The Association co-hosted a special tour for Richard Corey, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Alberto Ayala, Deputy Executive Office of CARB, along with some CARB and SJVAPCD staff. The focus of the tour was to introduce the Executive Officers to agricultural equipment and the issues facing the industry with regards to incentive programs and potential regulations. The two day tour covered many different crops and areas of the valley in an attempt to educate the agency on the vast difference in equipment, the types of specialty equipment that is used in agriculture and the unique challenges facing agriculture including the devastating drought situation. The tour included visits to the operations of CCGGA members Gary Esajian, Bob Wilson, and Don Cameron. The types of agricultural operations visited included citrus groves, stone fruit orchards and packing house, a corn silage field and dairy, cattle feedlot, almond orchards, tomato field, onion and bell pepper fields and a cantaloupe field. Cooperating organizations in the tour included California Citrus Mutual, California Grape and Tree Fruit League, the Nisei Farmers League and the Milk Producers Council.

The Association has recently received information on the cotton acreage in California including the breakdown between upland and pima.  Preliminary acreages as determined by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Pink Bollworm Program are 54,440 acres of upland and 153,325 acres of pima, for a total of 207,765 acres.  This does not include the cotton acreage for the Sacramento Valley, which will be all upland and is estimated to be between 2,000 and 3,000 acres.  The breakdown in the San Joaquin Valley is as follows:

In Southern California, the breakdown is as follows:

Please be advised that the acres listed are based on Pink Bollworm Program field mapping techniques are intended for use on PBW Program detection and control activities and are not assumed to represent exact cotton acreage planted in California.

Did you miss the whitefly meetings in early June or need a refresher on whitefly management? No Problem…As part of the educational program to raise the awareness of sticky cotton as a serious industry concern, the linked presentation using materials from June’s whitefly meetings is now available to all growers, PCA’s and interested parties. Please share to all those who grow, manage, or treat cotton fields! Below is a summary of what the presentation will cover:

“This presentation will help cotton growers, consultants and Pest Control Advisers in California and Arizona understand the importance of managing whiteflies and aphids to prevent sticky cotton. The high quality of cotton in the California and Arizona requires that it be free of all contaminates, especially sugars deposited by aphids and whiteflies.”

Three major areas will be discussed:

• The problem to spinning mill customers caused by sugars on cotton lint
• Identification, scouting, assessing and managing sweet potato whitely, biotype B
• Identification, scouting, assessing and managing cotton aphid

http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/edcenter/seminars/cotton/stickycotton/

Completing the I-9 form can be a timely and confusing process. If not done correctly it can result in major repercussions for your business. Form I-9 In a Nutshell will provide guidance on the process for completing the form, and compliance requirements through the Department of Homeland Security. This webinar will provide you with information on what documents are acceptable when trying to establish identity for employees whether U.S. citizens or non U.S. citizens, acceptable procedures for storing forms, and what to do
when unforeseen situations may arise.

Form I-9 In a Nutshell Webinar Flyer

The drought has been tough on valley farms but it has been especially tough on valley families. You can help! On July 15^th, 2014 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. the Community Food Bank will try to make history with the largest food drive to directly help those most affected by the drought. The Food Bank is requesting numerous food items and personal hygiene items which are listed on the flyer attached.

Four locations have been chosen for dropping off donations:

• Fig Garden Village parking lot
• Manchester Center parking lot
• River Park parking lot
• Sierra Vista Mall parking lot

In addition to food donations, financial resources are also needed. Differing levels of sponsorship are available on the attached flyer. All checks can be made payable to: The Community Food Bank. Online donations are also welcome and can be found at www.communityfoodbank.net/howtohelp.aspx or over the phone at 559.237.3663.

We hope you can take this opportunity to help those who rely on agriculture for their livelihood.

Sponsorship Forms_Community Food Bank

Community Food Bank Donation List

Tuesday July 22: The Exporter’s Tax Incentive

Upcoming Event: Exporter’s Webinar
July 22, 2014
10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Sign up now for a webinar with IC-DISC expert Doug Wright and learn about how your company can take advantage of this valuable tax incentive for companies that export products outside of the U.S.

Who should attend: U.S. manufacturers, growers and processors whose products are ultimately exported from the U.S.
What: Webinar about the IC-DISC, a federal tax incentive for exporters that can offer substantial permanent U.S. tax savings
When: Tues, July 22, 10:30am – 12:00pm

Registration closes July 21 — learn more and sign up today.