February 20th, 2024
The National Organics Standards Board (NOSB) is accepting comments until April 3, 2024 regarding recommendations for USDA organics standards.
The NOSB will be meeting in Milwaukee in April 2024; written comments and requests to provide oral comments must be submitted before the meetings.
Meeting Details
Online Comment Webinars (2 days): April 23 & 25, 2024, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm ET
In-Person Public Meeting (3 days): April 29 – May 1, 2024, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm CT
Location:
Hilton Milwaukee City Center
509 W Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203
(414) 271-7250 Reservations: Group name – Natl Organic Standards NOSB2024
Room reservation cutoff date: Sunday, April 7, 2024
For more information, visit the USDA resource page.
Tags: USDA
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February 14th, 2024
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is calling for volunteers to assess their system pilot trial. They are seeking participants who can help evaluate the new Produce Safety Program Farm Database Repository and provide feedback on their experience. Participants must have undergone a FSMA Produce Safety Rule farm inspection.
Those who volunteer will be able to provide actionable feedback about portal features like how to request farm information updates, access to prior inspection reports, ways to send and receive communications, access to upload requested documents and more.
If you would like to have a voice in the development of the CDFA’s Produce Safety Program Farm Database Repository new portal, contact [email protected] with your first and last name, farm address, email address and phone number.
For more information, contact Sonia Salas at [email protected].
Tags: CDFA
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February 14th, 2024
After a successful relaunch in the Fall of 2023, the Western Growers Women Program has continued to grow into 2024. In addition to holding monthly educational webinars ranging from Media Training to Government 101, the WG Women Program has announced two in-person events in the upcoming months.
The WG Women Program will host a farm tour at Hadley Dates along with a presentation by Dr. Tina Huff focusing on “How to Wear Multiple Hats” on March 21st in the Coachella Valley. More information and the registration page can be found here.
The WG Women Program is also excited to host an Arbinger Leadership Retreat in Napa, CA on April 18-19. The Retreat will consist of two days of curriculum developed by the Arbinger Institute, which aims to help people and organizations shift from a self-focused, inward mindset to an impact-focused, outward mindset for individual development, transforming an organization. The Retreat will also include a VIP tour of the Culinary Institute of America at COPIA, a farm tour of Frogs Leap Winery, dinner by Chef JD Kammes. More information and the registration page can be found here.
We encourage you to explore how the WG Women Program can help you achieve your career goals. You can find a newly updated course catalog, the 2023-2024 calendar events and most recent news on the WG Women website. Visit www.wga.com/women-program for more information or to sign up for program activities.
Have questions about the WG Women Program or in-person events? Please contact Cierra Allen at [email protected].
Tags: WG Women
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February 8th, 2024
Join us and discover “The Nexus of Soil Health and Agtech.” This field day will be held on Tuesday, March 12th at the Braga Barn in Soledad, California from 9am-3pm. Lunch will be provided.
Sign up here.
Soil health and the soil microbiome is critically important to the future of sustainable agriculture. Agtech can support growers to make informed decisions when considering practices to improve soil health and support the soil microbiome. Understanding the tools and gaining access to high quality data to measure the impact of soil health practices and make better-informed, data-driven decisions can help to close the feedback loop between the soil and farming techniques.
Braga Fresh will demonstrate how they have been tracking their in-field carbon footprint and soil health by leveraging data to drive farm management decisions and improve the environmental impact of sustainable farming practices. A key piece of Braga’s sustainable agriculture and healthy soils journey has been utilizing technology such as Agrology’s systems to measure and monitor soil health and carbon flux. Agrology tools monitor soil moisture, irrigation events, and a variety of other climate data points to help Braga understand what is happening in the soil.
Additionally, this field day will include a live demonstration of Wilbur Ellis’ Autonomous Spray Drone technology, an overview of the passive spore trapping system “Sporenado,” and feature advancements in automation and field equipment.
This event is co-hosted by the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation and Western Growers.
Tags: Sustainability
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February 6th, 2024
Water Board staff have stated that compliance levels for required annual surface water diversion and use reports are low for reporting period October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023. Reminder notices will be coming soon followed by Notices of Violation for noncompliance. This data is critical for protecting senior water rights holders and ensuring compliance with permit terms and conditions.
Only 54% of those who are required to submit water right diversion and use reports have done so by the February 1, 2024, due date. Failure to do so will result in penalties.
View your water right record on eWRIMS to review the terms and conditions of your water right.
For more information, visit the Annual Water Diversion and Use Reporting Help page.
Tags: Water Supply
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February 13th, 2024
On February 13, 2024, the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The census─which been taken and released every five years since 1997─is a complete count of US farms and ranches and the people who operate them. In 2022, the response rate was reported as 61%.
The data is now available on the NASS website (2022 Census). Here are a few highlights.
Overall
- The production value of fruits, tree nuts, and berries was reported to be $34.2 billion.
- The production value of vegetables was reported to be 28.2 billion.
- California accounted for 68% of the value of fruits, tree nuts and berries and 41% of the value of vegetables.
- The total area harvested for vegetables decreased by 1.3% since 2017.
- 61% of vegetables were harvested for the fresh market and 39% were harvested for processing.
Commodity specific
Lettuce
- In 2022, 367,432 acres of lettuce were harvested. This is a 7.1% increase compared to 2017 when 342,965 acres of lettuce were harvested.
- In 2022, 74.6% of the lettuce area harvested was in California and 17.7% of the lettuce area harvested was in Arizona, totaling 92.3% of lettuce area harvested in the United States.
- In 2022, the lettuce area harvested was 24.9% leaf, 38.8% head and 36.3% romaine.
Spinach
- Acres harvested from spinach in 2022 increased by 13.5% since 2017.
- California and Arizona lead spinach production: California 69.4%, Arizona 13.6%, Washington 4.6% and Texas 3.6%
Cantaloupes
- Area harvested decreased by 27% from 2017 to 2022.
- California 53%, Arizona 27.6% and Texas 4.6% lead cantaloupe production.
Tags: Agriculture
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February 13th, 2024
The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) is accepting applications for their second and final round for The Small Food Business Recovery and Resilience Grant. This grant is the second round in an effort to increase access to and lower prices for healthy food in low income, low access areas in the state of Colorado by supporting small food retailers and small family farms.
Small retailers and family farms that can demonstrate how awarded grant funds can increase access to lower prices for healthy food in low income, low access areas have until March 11, 2024, to apply for up to $50,000 in funding.
For more information about qualifications and application requirements, visit the CDA website.
If you have any questions about the grant, reach out to Mickey Davis, Program Manager, [email protected], 303-653-0654.
Tags: Colorado
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February 13th, 2024
The February Lunch & Learn event at Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (CIT) was an opportunity for participants to meet Ben Palone, Western Growers new Director of Commercialization, and hear about his background and the progress of agtech solutions.
The event welcomed attendees from Bio SI Technology, Alibio, LahakX, IFPA, FarmWise, Verdant, GeoVisual Analytics, Solare Ventures, D’Arrigo Bros Automation, Premier Technology and Inteligistics.
Palone shared how he started his agtech career at Tanimura & Antle on their innovation team, which then launched Stout AgTech. His career experience also includes work for FarmWise and Carbon Robotics. In his new role at Western Growers, he said he hopes his position can answer the call for “third-party unbiased evaluations” of agriculture technologies.
CIT startups that are interested in the Grower Trial Network should reach out to Palone at [email protected]. “All stages of a startup are okay,” Palone said, but he wants to help the startups talk to the right growers or industry on where their technology solution is in the startup cycle.
Tags: Ag Tech
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February 12th, 2024
Hank Giclas’ son Henry Giclas IV and wife Kathy Giclas visited Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology to see how Hank’s vision and legacy is continuing to thrive and advance technological advantages for the agricultural industry. This is their first visit to the center. Though Hank passed away in 2022, the work he did to make the Western Growers CIT and science department a reality continue to be assets to the agricultural community.
Hank served the Western fresh produce industry in various capacities with Western Growers over three decades from 1990 until he retired as Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Science & Technology in 2020.
Tags: Ag Tech
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February 6th, 2024
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) can help growers develop or build upon conservation activities that integrate with agricultural operations. Practices include cover crops, ecologically based pest management practices, and buffer strips help producers improve soil health while protecting water quality, habitats for pollinator and beneficial insect, to name a few.
To apply for financial support to implement or expand these practices, visit the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service page here.
Tags: Sustainability
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February 6th, 2024
The 2024 Western Growers Compensation Survey is now open for Western Growers member companies to contribute their compensation data. Every company that submits data will receive the completed survey for free – a $2,500 value. In addition, any individual who submits data will also be entered to win a 13″ MacBook Air.
All information submitted will remain anonymous and will NOT be linked back to a particular organization; it is captured, analyzed and compiled by Industry Insights, a third-party partner. All data is valid and reliable and distributed in the aggregate.
This survey is imperative for industry organizations because it provides data to back up one of the most important decisions businesses leaders make: attracting and keeping the best talent. Compensation decisions shouldn’t be done without industry context.
The Western Growers Compensation Survey is the only one of its kind for the agricultural industry, and it’s the only one of its kind that offers it free of cost for participants in any industry. This product is offered to Western Growers members only.
Find out more at AgSalary.com.
Tags: Human Resources
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February 5th, 2024
Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (CIT) hosted a roundtable discussion with Taylor Farms, D’Arrigo, and Steinbeck Country to connect with the Monterey Bay Drone, Automation and Robotics Technology (DART) initiative to discuss the workforce challenges growers are facing.
The Monterey Bay Drone, Automation and Robotics Technology (DART) initiative aligns with the CIT’s mission to brings great minds and decision makers associated with the industry, government, academia and practitioners to spur innovation. DART is “driving change across a wide range of domains including agriculture, national defense, mobility, infrastructure, natural resources, marine, climate and many others.”
Collaborative efforts like the one hosted by the CIT are key to finding actionable solutions to agricultural challenges.
Tags: Ag Tech
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