In April, the Specialty Crops Security Act of 2024 (S. 4168) was introduced by U.S. Senators Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), which increases funding for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) and ensures specialty crop farmers have a say in how the funding is spent.

According to the press release, this legislation will “increase the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) program authorization from $85 to $100 million per year and expand opportunities for specialty crop stakeholders to provide input into how program funding is used by state departments of agriculture.”

Speaking on the value of this act, Western Growers President & CEO Dave Puglia stated, “The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program is one of the few sources of dedicated federal funding for the fresh produce industry. This program can provide our specialty crop growers with opportunities for food safety research, workforce development and water supply innovation. To be effective, the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program must be as responsive to growers as possible. Western Growers supports the Specialty Crop Security Act, which will ensure the program can sufficiently meet the needs and priorities of our members.” Western Growers will advocate for S. 4168 to be included in Congress’s reauthorization of the Farm Bil, which is due this September.

In the announcement, Senator Butler commented on the importance of California growers and the need for their voice: “California’s farmers produce nearly half of the country’s specialty crops and they deserve a seat at the table when state departments of agriculture make decisions about how to allocate funding that directly impacts them.”

After 7 1/2 years as the head of our Membership Department, Kim Stuart embarked on a well-deserved, yet bittersweet, retirement at the end of April. During her time at Western Growers, Kim has brought professionalism and discipline to the department and elevated our association’s profile within the fresh produce industry. Our task now is to honor her contributions and build on the great work she has accomplished.

Effective May 1, Cory Lunde was promoted to Vice President, External Affairs. In this role, he will oversee the Membership Department and a newly organized Association-focused Marketing and Communications Department, in addition to continuing his work in public affairs and with our political action committees.

In a scene all too familiar in agriculture, young adults in rural communities are often lured to the big city in search of jobs and professional opportunities. But for those who remain, the ambitious and industrious can almost always chart a course of their own choosing. Such is the story of Tracy Jones.

Tracy grew up in Reedley, California, a small agricultural town with a limited variety of jobs for younger adults, she explained. “In Reedley, when you’re old enough to get a job, you’re either going to work in a packing house or work at a fast-food restaurant,” Tracy said.

Although she had no family ties to the agricultural industry, Tracy decided that her first job would be in a packing house. So, at 16years old, she found herself packing tree fruit and onions. Tracy did not realize it at the time, but this job would serve as an important stepping stone on her path to a thriving career in agriculture.

Following her time at the packing house, Tracy took on a new role working in a shipping office for a cold storage company. She then transitioned to become a sales assistant for a marketing team that sold tree fruit and grapes, all while putting herself through college at Fresno State. Tracy later graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in International Business, and landed herself a full-time sales position.

It was full steam ahead for Tracy in her new role. As someone who likes to be “overly prepared,” it is not in her nature to wait for success to land in her lap. “I was a junior salesperson and brand new, so I’d go into the office at 4 in the morning so I could start selling by 7 a.m.,” Tracy said. “I did that for awhile until I got my feet on the ground.”

In 2009, Tracy turned her attention to Booth Ranches, knowing that a sales manager position would soon be opening up. Not only did she land the job, Tracy was quickly promoted to Vice President of Marketing and Sales. It has been almost 30 years since Tracy’s humble beginnings working on the packing house floor, and today she proudly serves as the CEO of Booth Ranches.

Founded in 1957 by the late Otis Booth Jr., Booth Ranches is a fully integrated citrus company that packs and sells oranges grown on its farm and comprises 7,500 acres of citrus throughout California’s Central Valley. Today, Otis’ daughter Loren upholds her father’s legacy as the president of the company and also serves as an inspirational figure for Tracy.

“Loren’s an incredible person who gives back to the community and treats people with respect. She has been a great example for me to follow,” Tracy said.

Over the years, Tracy has found a deep sense of purpose in inspiring others through her own experiences and serving as a source of motivation for those around her.

“When you think about everything that goes into planting, harvesting, packaging and the journey it takes to get product to the store, what strikes me most is the hard work everyone puts into the process, “she said. “It’s fun to create ownership for our employees and make them realize that they’re part of this big, amazing system. Helping to inspire everyone to take accountability for their own scope of work within that system is extremely rewarding.”

Tracy brings that same sense of purpose to the Western Growers board and is optimistic that her unique background can provide a valuable advantage to future discussions.

“Western Growers is a wonderful organization and puts in a tremendous amount of work that farmers normally wouldn’t have the time to do,” she said. “It’s an honor to be a part of a brotherhood and sisterhood of farmers, where we can come together and share our experiences and guidance for a greater cause.”

Farming is all about biology. It always has been. It always will be.

With an expanding industry portfolio of biological products going to market, each with the hope that there’s a place for its utility and an industry looking for viable solutions to growing environmental, regulatory and consumer pressures, the movement in biologically cohesive systems is advancing. Growers are navigating biological complexities with dexterity and modesty, recognizing that these systems play by their own rules and still hold mysteries to be solved. Exploring the art and science of farming is a journey every grower has to take, but they have each other and industry support from organizations like Western Growers to help move them forward.

“A farm is part of the environment it sits in,” said Joe Pezzini, Senior Director of Ag Operations at Taylor Farms. “So there’s always this interaction of the surrounding environment. That goes both ways. We are trying to integrate biological systems to grow plants, to grow a crop, to its maximum potential, to feed us, to feed the world. We are dealing with biological systems to begin with, so it is all about biology. What’s emerging now is more of a focus on how to enhance that biology. Not just with nutrients, but really understanding the science, bacteria and fungi and the inner relationship and interaction of how to stimulate a really healthy crop.”

In 2023, Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology co-hosted the Salinas Biological Summit with Wharf42. The inaugural event sold out. The collective conversation that included growers, business leaders, government representatives, investors, universities and startups explored the needs and goals of the many to synchronize the goal. Knowing that staying focused and effective would take more than an annual two-day event, Western Growers and Wharf42 launched Platform 10. Jeana Cadby, Director of Climate and Sustainability for Western Growers, is one of the experts participating in guiding the program.

“There has been a lot of momentum since the previous Biological Summit,” Cadby said, “and we are so excited to share the progress that has been made in this space. Last year, Western Growers launched Platform 10, an international, multi-year collaboration to accelerate promising biologicals, rigorously assess products, enhance grower confidence and facilitate market development and adoption. The objective is to establish a global trial network to connect the Science to the Farmers.”

At the 2023 Summit, many attendees shared their perspective on the need for implementing more biological products in growing fresh produce. For the growers who took the stage, they made it clear that not only are they open to the opportunities, they’re also looking for them. But the products have to work, and they have to be integrated into the growing process in a way that makes sense.

Agricultural operations dare used to adapting to environmental and regulatory pressures, but every hurdle vaulted often reveals another. “Growers are up against mounting challenges due to climate change, cost of production and diminishing availability of traditional tools,” Cadby said. “We see biologicals as an opportunity to address existing and anticipated gaps in pest management, crop resilience and yield efficiency, nutrient availability, and sustainability to ensure that our growers are properly equipped with the tools to address these challenges.”

Overcoming these challenges with creativity and diligence is a daily priority for growers, especially if the grower operation is producing on 25,000 acres of farmland, 19,000 acres of which is organic. Taylor Farming is embracing biological and sustainability practices throughout its operations, melding the science and the art of farming: “Meshing the technology, the biologicals, with the ability to produce this competitively can be a challenge, for sure, but we feel like we’re up for that,”Pezzini said.

As an example of some of the ways Taylor Farming is doing that, Pezzini shared that they’re “using biological products to enhance root development, mycorrhiza fungi. We use a number of seaweed products to help control plant development, and there are products that will help stimulate uniform flowering. For example, for green beans, we’ll use that product to try to set all the beans all at the same time so we can mechanically harvest them.”

In another way, they’re working with products and processes to enhance the microbiome of the soil. As a driver of the biological resources that have been added to the agricultural toolset, understanding the complexity of the microbiome in the soil is unveiling itself more and more every day with data analysis and scientific research.

“There’s an entire emerging science around the biology of the soil and soil health,” Pezzini said. “That’s critically important in all farming, but especially in organics. We’re trying to study the soil, and there are a lot of companies [working on] understanding what the microbiome of the soil is – What are all the bacteria in the soil? What are the good ones…How do you stimulate that?”

Along with riding out the process of research and development of these products, understanding how and when to use them also takes the same kind of attentiveness and patience. While the inputs may seem similar to traditional treatments on the surface, they’re different. “You may use a biological in one instance and for some reason it doesn’t have the performance that you expected but in another setting it might work really well. It takes time to figure all that out,” Pezzini shared. “I think that’s one of the challenges with biologicals is that you do have to be somewhat patient with them and you have to become kind of a student of them as well to really understand how to use them effectively.”

Identifying the details of what works, how, and in what way and circumstance is a gained knowledge that Taylor Farms and others within agriculture have a strong commitment to learning and sharing within the industry. Collective communication and alignment is what can lead to a healthier industry and population. Practices and beliefs about what’s best for different operations may vary, and opinions may differ on the details, but events like the Salinas Biological Summit provide space for those conversations and conveyance of information to stay free flowing.

The 2024 Western Growers Biological Summit is set for June 25-26 in Salinas, Calif. “We received very positive feedback from our grower members that the event was well worth attending,” said Dennis Donohue, CIT Director. “We placed a premium on useful information and sufficient time to network. “Confirmed speakers for the upcoming event include Dave Puglia, President & CEO of Western Growers; Secretary Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture; Don Cameron, Vice President and General Manager of Terranova Ranch; Stuart Woolf, President & CEO of Woolf Farming & Processing; Guy Kawasaki, marketing specialist, author and Silicon Valley venture capitalist; and many more.

Our mission was simple: Foster international collaboration for biologicals and identify innovation opportunities to support specialty crop production back home. This past February, Dennis Donohue and I traveled to New Zealand and Australia to advance biological inputs for specialty crops at a global scale, enhance partnerships with our agricultural allies, and get a front seat view at developing ag tech from innovators Down Under.

Elevating Local Ag

Upon arrival in Auckland, we were greeted with a barrage of signage warning travelers to be wary of potential agricultural threats, particularly the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB). Although the BMSB has not made its way to New Zealand, its wide host range has the potential to devastate local agriculture. During our visit to the Plant and Food Research (PFR)campus in Auckland, we learned that PFR has been working on understanding the life cycle and egg laying habits of the Samurai Wasp, a tiny predatory wasp that has a preference for BMSB. They even let us take a look up close with their electron microscope!

This kind of cutting-edge research is done to elevate and protect New Zealand agriculture to the highest degree. PFR also develops delicious specialty fruit varieties, including ‘EarlyBel’ raspberries, and ‘Jazz’, ‘Envy’ and mini-sized ‘Rockit’ apples. They continue to develop varieties that are heat tolerant, increased hardiness and early season. It was a great opportunity to share with their team about Platform 10, WG’s international, multi-year collaboration to accelerate promising biological solutions for global specialty crop production.

There and Back Again

Like California, New Zealand is a big exporter, particularly for fruit and dairy products, and producer of local vegetables. Finding biological solutions to these pressing pest concerns is a shared key priority for Vegetables NZ, the largest vegetable grower association in New Zealand. We visited their research station in Pukekohe, the largest vegetable production region. The fertile volcanic soil supports 80% of the bulb onion production, 80% of the fresh market potato and is the largest area of glass house production to include tomato and cucumbers nationally. Driving past the fields of fruit vegetables, we felt right at home; even the major pest priorities are not dissimilar, including thrips, diamond back moth and army worm.

Of course, a trip to New Zealand wouldn’t be complete without a stop in Te Puke, the kiwi fruit capital of the world. Improved kiwifruit variety development is a key priority for the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre (KBC), a joint venture between PFR and Zespri, the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit. As we huddled under the dense kiwi orchard canopy, we learned that this past season was exceptionally challenging due to extreme weather events, a ‘new normal’ growers have been experiencing around the word. As the industry faces new diseases and impacts from climate change, leveraging new tools and technologies is critical to building resilience and producing sustainably.

Outlook from the Outback

The Evoke ag conference in Perth, Australia, is the largest ag tech event south of the equator. We presented the work of WG in Biologicals to a group of UK, New Zealand and Australian state, federal and private agricultural interest and research groups. Our Platform 10 event was kicked off by Karen Ross, who emphasized the importance of ecosystem health, human health and economic viability for agriculture in California.

This trip was an outcome of groundwork that was laid out at the 2023 Salinas Biological Summit; an opportunity to reciprocate the commitment to partnerships that our international collaborators demonstrated to accelerate global development of biologicals. We are so grateful for the generous hospitality of all of our hosts and for these opportunities to develop this platform to exchange ideas and build collaborative partnerships at a global scale.

The 2024 legislative year is already shaping up to be one of the most challenging years for advocacy. We are only in April at the time of this writing but the volume and breadth of bills that Western Growers is advocating for to help safeguard our members’ current and future operations is staggering. That process, coupled with the fact that the state is grappling with a projected $73 billion budget deficit, has made conversations with legislators and other state officials about short and long-term policy goals very interesting.

A $73 billion budget deficit in Sacramento has certainly grabbed attention, and rightfully so. It’s not like this situation just happened overnight. We had a record surplus last budget year and everyone knew we were going into deficit times. The ongoing push for new programs and regulation sin California has not helped the situation at all. The inertia of government is much like a ship. You cannot stop on a dime, and it may take miles/years to reach your desired position. It takes planning and attention to detail, especially given that there are more than 127,000 statutes and over 60,000 regulations on the books in the state. Obviously not all of these laws affect business and agriculture. However, these large numbers, when combined with all of the anecdotal evidence, clearly demonstrate that California is a heavily overregulated state.

Creating and encouraging a fiscally conservative environment also means that the levers of government should be used to untie the hands of industry so that they can increase their revenue, hire new employees, promote existing employees and expand their businesses. Speaking to legislators about this is frustrating, to say the least. Many say that we often hear that argument from the business community and then dismiss it later on. Apparently it’s okay to disregard facts when the business community says something.

“Facts” is bolded because some things are just true. This issue was directly acknowledged by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) in a report it published in February 2024 titled “Key Fiscal and Policy Issues Facing California.” The LAO is a state agency that provides policy and fiscal advice to the Legislature. I stumbled upon a key passage in the report that needs be shouted from every rooftop.

“The Legislature can make California a more attractive place for business investment by ensuring that the system of taxation and regulation is not unduly burdensome.”

That sentiment is powerful because it’s both true and comes from a trusted advisory agency to the Legislature. Arguably the current system of regulations is already burdensome. But the LAO’s encouragement is to refocus on this and try to find policy actions that are beneficial to business and other state policy goals. I’m encouraged to see this worded so directly in a strategic report. It does not mean that anything super meaningful will necessarily happen overnight to shift the immediate regulatory trajectory in California as regulations often take many months, if not years, to develop. However, the report signals to state officials that something needs to be done to provide greater relief for California’s business sector in order for them to really prosper.

Businesses do matter. You’ve always known that. We’ve always known that. Most of the general public knows that. We can also now add the LAO to that list.

While much has been written about the new card check provisions of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, a recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision which extends to most private sector employers, including commercial packing and processing facilities, threatens to impose card check on those employers as well. The 2023 National Labor Relations Board (Board) ruling in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific, LLC (Cemex) deviated significantly from decades-long precedent regarding the voluntary nature of card check recognition.

In Cemex, the Board found that the employer’s anti-union activity so tainted the election that its only remedy was to set aside the election results.

The New Standard

The new standard for challenging certification makes it an unfair labor practice to refuse to recognize, upon request, a union designated as a representative by the majority of employees in an appropriate unit unless the employer promptly files a Representation Management (RM) petition to test the union’s majority status or the appropriateness of the unit.

This standard shifts the traditional burden of filing of the RM petition from the union to the employer. The reason being that an employer confronted with a demand for recognition may, instead of agreeing to recognize the union, and without committing a Section 8 violation, file an RM petition to test the union’s majority support and/or challenge the appropriateness of the unit or await the processing of a previously filed petition.

However, if the employer commits unfair labor practices sufficient to invalidate the election, the RM petition can be set aside, subjecting the employer to a remedial bargaining order. This allows the Board to rely on the prior designation by non-election means and issue an order requiring the employer to recognize/bargain with the union. Cemex is applied retroactively.

What It All Means

Cemex creates a new path to union representation that bypasses the election process and effectively implements card check certification.

As with all union-related efforts, creating a workplace where employees feel valued and heard is the best course of action. Key points include:

• In determining whether an employer’s allegedly unlawful conduct undermined election efforts, “all relevant factors” will be considered. This will likely include a review of the company’s Employee Handbook. All policies governing specific actions/interactions should be reviewed and edited to make clear that while limiting certain types of conduct, they do not create a wholesale prohibition on the right to discuss public information (e.g., salary/wages, discipline, promotion criteria etc.)
• The types of union-related behavior the Board found unlawful included:
  • Supervisors threatening employees that:
    • They could be fired/written up for having union stickers on hardhats or be discharged/receive reduced hours/benefits if they unionized;
    • They were not to speak to “these union guys” and a refusal to remove union stickers from hardhats would result in discharge;
    • Unionization would negatively impact work opportunities/wage increases.
  • Misrepresenting striker reinstatement rights.
  • Repeated threating that unionization will cause the company to shut down/move to another state.
  • Questioning employees about wearing pro-union stickers/asking about union offerings.
  • Asking employees their position on union activities and why, if they support the employer, are they not wearing ‘Vote No’ stickers.
  • Creating an impression of surveillance (e.g., lingering at property entrances waving to drivers entering/exiting while union organizers in the same area display posters and answer questions).
  • Targeting pro-union employees for disciplinary action.

Nothing prohibits taking lawful steps to oppose unionization efforts. However, caution must be taken to ensure such efforts are closely monitored so they do not morph into overly zealous actions that could be viewed as obstructing/interfering in the employee’s NLRA rights.