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New Congress to Bring New Challenges & Opportunities
As we ring in the New Year we will be welcoming a new Congress to Washington. As all of you know that Congress will look very different in the House of Representatives than what was in place after the 2016 election, as Democrats are in control. Democrats flipped 40 seats—the fourth largest total of seats ...
De Minimis No More: The End of Even Nominal Off-the-Clock Work in California
By Christine Samsel and Sherli Frank The “de minimis” doctrine comes from the Latin maxim de minimis non curat lex, which means “the law does not concern itself with trifles.” The maxim suggests that technicalities must yield to practical common sense and justice so as to avoid expensive litigation. For the past 70 years, ...
Always Put Our Members First
By Matt Luis Being born and raised in the Central Valley, I’ve been surrounded by farming and production agriculture my entire life. But it wasn’t until a couple of years ago, when I came to Western Growers, that I embarked on a journey that allowed me to truly understand the complexities of an agricultural ...
2019 Economic Outlook
By Chris Oerman 2018 turned out to be a lackluster year for the equity markets after an unprecedented nine quarters of earnings growth and a historic bull run dating back to 2011. All of the major indices had flat or negative returns for the year, and it’s been hard to find any sort of ...
Shipping Trends to Watch in 2019
By Gary York Vice President, Global Sales, C.H. Robinson Recognizing how much the U.S. trucking market can influence transportation budgets is one of the most critical steps to managing spend. Temperature-controlled shipments can be especially affected—both in price and service—as market forces shift across the truckload landscape. Predicting the future for supply chains may ...
What Employers Should Know About California’s New Data Privacy Law
By Jennifer A. Jackson Employers with operations in California should be aware of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a new data privacy law that goes into effect January 1, 2020. Because the CCPA is framed in terms of protecting the rights of “consumers,” many employers may not realize that the act, as currently drafted, ...
We Are in This Together
By Darcie Floyd My understanding of the agriculture community and industry started from the very beginning. I grew up on a five-acre ranch in Sanger, CA, and participated in non-profit organizations like Girl Scouts and 4-H, which provide hands-on learning and education programs that teach children about responsibility, resiliency, hard work, and other life skills. ...
Data Storytelling and the Path to Success
By Marlene Hanken What’s your favorite story? At Western Growers, we are interested in the most compelling story of all—the story of your success. But how do we gauge success? What do those metrics looks like and how do we calculate them? Much like how the pirate Billy Bones used a treasure map to find ...
Why Supply Chain Visibility is Critically Important
By Mark Petersen, Vice President of Transportation, C.H. Robinson Worldwide While not always predictable, external factors can have a significant impact on supply chains. It is more important than ever for businesses to know exactly where items are in the supply chain at all times. The ability to watch and monitor a supply chain, often ...
Western Growers Law Firm Directory
Participants in Western Growers Ag Legal Network (WGALN) agree to give Western Growers members a 15 percent discount off of their normal legal services rates.* The WG-member law firms listed below specialize in a wide array of legal issues to fit virtually any need a member may have, from business contracts to labor issues to ...
Expense Reimbursement is the Law
By Terry O’Connor Labor Code § 2802 requires California employers to reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties. In general, employers must reimburse the cost of uniforms, travel expenses, tools and equipment required for the job. Necessary expenditures include any attorney fees or costs incurred by employees to recoup ...
The Future World of Autonomous Vehicles
By Mark Petersen, Vice President of C.H. Robinson Autonomous vehicles are making headlines. Whether for personal or commercial use, there’s a lot of speculation about what the future will bring. However, autonomy isn’t all or nothing. As shown in the graphic below, it’s a progressive continuum with five distinct levels of capabilities. Not all levels ...
Best Practices to Build a Resilient Supply Chain During COVID-19
By Mark Petersen, Vice President of Temperature Controlled Transportation, C.H. Robinson Do you know how your supply chain will recover after the disruption of the COVID-19 health crisis has passed? There are several important steps you can take now to address this concern and be prepared for the future. Businesses that weather disruption the best ...
Beyond the Vine: Wineries Can Build Tailor-Made Health Plans
Though COVID-19 has left a trail of destruction, the pandemic has also brought forth numerous opportunities for growth. One such being an opportunity for employers to play a central role in helping build a more resilient health system for the future. For many employers, this period of economic strain brought about by pandemic-induced recession has ...
Opinion: The Army Corps of Engineers Has Become a Rogue Agency
By Tony Francois, Pacific Legal Foundation This piece originally published in The Hill. In World War II, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a proud role in the Allied victory over totalitarian aggression in Europe and the Pacific theater by building bridges, clearing beaches and harbors, and creating the conditions for military units to ...
Western Growers’ COVID Response
Western Growers has stepped up as an effective advocate for our members in response to the immediate challenges presented by COVID-19, helping to shape the emergency response at the federal and state level. H-2A Program: When the State Department suspended regular visa processing at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and all U.S. consulates in ...
Science & Technology: Virtual Audits Offer a Solution for a Novel Problem
By Marlene Hanken This year has been a wild six months full of obstacles and uncertainties. The emergence of COVID-19 has produced numerous unforeseen challenges and difficulties for the economy and agriculture has been no exception. While it would be easy to dwell on the hardships and what seems like never-ending obstacles combating the spread ...
2020: Restructure, Reflect, and Refocus to Usher in a Brighter 2021
The commencement of a fresh decade brought with it an unprecedented array of adversity containing a fury of events from Mother Nature herself. The world spent a majority of 2020 operating under the umbrella of a novel virus that upturned normality as we knew it. Despite the numerous effects stemming from these events, Western Growers ...
De Ann Davis Named Senior Vice President, Science
De Ann Davis, PhD, has been named senior vice president, science of Western Growers. Davis brings extensive expertise to the leadership team with more than 25 years of experience in the development and execution of technical global programs, including food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance. “Western Growers has long led our industry’s efforts to ...
Water Markets in California Can Reduce the Costs of Drought
By Ellen Hanak California’s increasingly volatile warming climate is making droughts more intense, and complicating water management. A just-launched commodity futures market for the state’s water provides a new tool for farmers, municipalities and other interested parties to ensure against water price shocks arising from drought-fueled shortages. Taking a Wall Street approach to an…