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EMPLOYEE TRAINING: Equal Employment Opportunity Claims Among the Highest in California
A report released in January of 2016 indicated that training needs, and the states where Equal Employment Opportunity charges are most likely to be filed, are highest in Texas, California and Florida. Here are some of the results: • The highest number of national-origin discrimination charges were filed in Florida at 1,353 with California following ...
Arizona Schools Receive $37,500 in School Garden Grants
Western Growers Foundation has once again proudly partnered with the Arizona Department of Agriculture to award K–12 Arizona schools with $37,500 in edible school garden funding. We are excited to announce the 25 winning schools that will receive $1,500 each—plus seeds and educational materials—to grow and sustain their edible gardens. The grants will be awarded ...
WG Donates $1 million to Campaign for Produce Safety
Western Growers has donated $1 million to the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) to advance food safety research and develop ready-to-use solutions to improve the safety of fresh produce globally. WG’s contribution puts CPS over the $10 million mark for their Campaign for Produce Safety, which aims to raise $20 million by 2020 to fund ...
The Private Attorney General Act: A Pathway to Real Reform
By Paul Coady The Private Attorney General Act, also known as PAGA, is the greatest threat to California employers since the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. Signed by Gray Davis in his waning days in office, PAGA deputizes employees to sue for monetary penalties for virtually any violation of the California Labor Code or IWC Orders. ...
TECHNOLOGY SPONSOR: Toro Applauds Western Growers For Taking Lead in Ag Tech
By Yvete Minor (Editor’s Note: We had the opportunity to discuss technology & innovation with Paul McFadden of The Toro Company, one of the charter sponsors for the Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology. Paul shared his insights into the world of agriculture and Toro’s view of how technology can help growers in our ...
Managing the Risks of Product Recall
By David Duvall The number of product recalls—especially in the food industry—has increased significantly in just these past few years. The need for recall and contamination coverage has never been greater. Just this year, there have already been dozens of recalls on products including pistachios, macadamia nuts, sprouts and fresh cut cantaloupe. Public data analysis ...
AG TECHNOLOGY: Crop Science Places Great Value on Innovation
By Yvete Minor Crop Science, a division of Bayer is one of the charter sponsors at the Center for Innovation & Technology, so we took some time to discuss their involvement, their interests in, and their thoughts about the Center. Bayer seeks to assist growers and partners across the food value chain with integrated crop ...
A Shrinking Tool Box?
By Ben Sacher The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for approving and reapproving crop protection tools, weighing the risks to human health and the environment against their benefits. This science-based, risk-benefit approach is rigorous: millions of dollars are spent to show the safety and efficacy of products. Growers don’t always get or keep the ...
Sustainable Employment Practices in an Era of Government Micro-Management
By Michael Saqui of The Saqui Law Firm The Obama Administration, through its alphabet soup of government agencies, has been dramatically overreaching into all areas of employers’ businesses. This markedly anti-employer trend has largely withstood legal challenge, despite vehement opposition. Many employers are reeling from the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) new aggressive stance on…
Mobile Devices in the Workplace: Increased Productivity Presents Risks for Unprepared Employer
By Terrence O’Connor Smartphones, laptops, and other portable devices are ubiquitous among today’s workforce. The use of such devices for work-related tasks presents potential issues for employers, including wage and hour problems, compensation problems, confidentiality and possible trade secret issues. Employers clearly benefit from employee use of mobile devices. …
GMO LABELING LAW What Does the New Federal Law Do?
By Dennis Nuxoll On July 31, 2016, President Obama signed legislation into law that addressed a long running debate: Are genetically modified organisms (GMOs) safe and should genetically modified food be labeled? The driving force behind a national labeling movement was a Vermont law requiring labeling for GMO products, excluding those in dairy and meat, ...
PRECISION AGRICULTURE Duncan Farms, Metrics and Useful Data
WG&S recently sat down with Will Feliz, president of /Duncan Family Farms of Arizona to discuss precision farming and the use of data. By Yvete Minor Duncan Family Farms has been farming for decades. Tell us a little about your history. Arnott Duncan grew up in a fourth-generation farming family. Arnott ventured out on his ...
Water Board Declares Water War on Merced and Stanislaus Counties
On September 15, 2016, the California State Water Resources Control Board staff released a draft proposal to update the Bay-Delta Plan’s water quality requirements for salinity in the southern Delta and water flows in major tributaries to the San Joaquin River (the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced Rivers) which drain into the southern Delta. The draft ...
What You Need to Know About ACA Marketplace Compliance, Notices, and Appeals
By Rich Hines As 2016 draws to an end, it’s important to prepare for upcoming changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). To remain in compliance with the law and avoid tax penalties, there are several details about ACA marketplace notices, appeals, forms, and new ACA reporting deadlines of which you’ll need to ...
TRANSPORTATION OUTLOOK: No Pain, No Gain
By John Stenderup Director of Business Management, Sourcing, C.H. Robinson. It’s about that time of the year again…time to gear up for peak season on the West Coast. Despite some recent rain delays, let’s assume that most of your crops are planted and you are in the stages of finalizing pricing with your customers. What ...
GET TO KNOW: KIM SHERMAN Western Growers’ New Director of Membership
Following the retirement of Randy Hause on January 3, 2017, Western Growers brought in Kim Sherman to head up the Membership Department. Kim comes to Western Growers with a rich and varied background that will make her an immediate asset to the association and its members. We recently sat down with Kim and asked her ...
And on the Seventh Day…There Continue to Be Questions
By Jonathan Siegel, Jackson Lewis P.C. Agriculture employers continue to be challenged by Assembly Bill 1066, the groundbreaking new California law that, among other things, extends the state’s daily and weekly overtime requirements to agricultural workers over a period of time. However, the new legislation also has created many questions regarding its interpretation and impact ...
An Eye on Dividend Growth
By Richard Alpert, Raub Brock Capital Management In achieving better stock market returns without taking unnecessary risk (the Holy Grail for stock investors), dividends matter. Over the past nine decades for which there is data, the majority of real returns from stocks have come from dividends. To pay a dividend, a company must deliver cold, ...
Getting the Most Out of Your Western Growers Membership
By Kim Sherman Western Growers Director of Membership Western Growers has one mission: to enhance the competitiveness and profitability of our members. Over the past 91 years, we’ve lived up to this vision through committed advocacy in public policy and political action, and by offering diverse educational opportunities and affordable business services designed from ...
Business Strategies: Ownership Transitions in the Produce Industry
By Brandt Brereton and Jared Hanley Brereton, Hanley & Company The western U.S. produce industry appears to be experiencing an accelerating rate of mergers and acquisitions. Brandt Brereton and Jared Hanley are experts on this topic, having spent the last 22 years advising owners of agricultural assets on various types of corporate finance transactions. ...