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Systems Approach to Safety Defines Western Growers’ New Science Expert
Over my career in product safety and compliance, I’ve had the opportunity to work for a variety of businesses, large global corporations to smaller regional producers. These companies have made everything from cleaning products to medical devices, skin lotions, cheeses and fresh-cut salad blends. Yet, my role in each organization has been the same: to ...
Joint Employers Under the FLSA
In January 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its Final Rule on the often-litigated joint employer issue under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which took effect on March 16, 2020. Prior to the publication of the Final Rule, the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) joint-employer standard had not been substantively changed in ...
Guest Column: Low-Income Californians Must Help State Set Climate Change, Economic Justice Goals
By Will Scott Jr. (Editor’s Note: The following op-ed originally published in The Fresno Bee on April 2, 2021) As a Central Valley farmer, I experience some of the most serious issues facing our state on a daily basis: climate change-fueled drought, navigating some of the strictest regulations, the painfully high cost of doing business ...
The Next Generation of Employee Benefits is Here
By Eric Trost, Vice President of Employee Benefits, Western Growers Insurance Services You have been stuck with skyrocketing healthcare costs while your employees face the maze of medical care without the adequate tools and resources they need to be healthy. You can’t measure what you can’t see! Welcome to Western Growers Insurance Services and Western ...
The Supreme Court Can Protect the Rights of California Farmers
By James Burling The United States Supreme Court is about to decide a case that was planted in the fertile soil of California’s agricultural politics, but which has its roots going back to the first stirrings of colonial resistance against the British empire. What’s more, the results in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid will reverberate ...
Trade Practices: Best Practices to Avoid Running Afoul of Walmart’s OTIF Policy
By Bryan Nickerson, Manager, Trade Practices & Commodity Services Retailer supplier performance compliance policies have been in force for many years with varying degrees of success. However, the rigorous requirements of the Walmart policy have caused considerable concern among shippers regarding how to retain Walmart’s high volume produce business and avoid fines. According to McKinsey…
Member Profile: Steve Couture, Couture Farms, Huron, CA
Grower’s Past Helps Navigate the Future Couture Farms: Member since May 1, 1946 (75 years) Background Information: My grandfather came to California shortly after the beginning of the 20th century. My father was born in 1918, and he started farming after he got out of college. In the 1940s, he came to Huron; he planted ...
Root Cause Analysis for the Produce Industry
By Afreen Malik, Science Programs Director Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a systematic yet flexible approach to problem solving. It helps identify and address the root causes of failures in processes that may lead to defects or problems. One of the most used techniques in RCA is the “5 Whys” which was developed by Sakichi ...
6 Ways to Strengthen the Supply Chain
By Greg Gatzke, President, ZAG Technical Services Every Western Growers (WG) member plays a critical role in ensuring the continuity of the supply chain that provides fresh produce for all Americans. Each step in the production process is essential and technology-dependent. Criminals threaten this critical supply chain, and both the agriculture and technology industries must ...
Transportation: Analysis on the 2021 Transportation Market
By Laurence Stern, Stern Consulting Since 1973, I have been in involved in transportation management for the produce industry. Transportation is a commodity and commodity pricing is subject to the laws of supply and demand. During my career, I’ve seen a lot of transportation markets with short equipment supplies, high rates and resulting lost sales. ...
Western Growers Ag Legal Network Directory
Participants in this referral service 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 food safety ...
Data Corner: Capture Once, Use Multiple Times
By Marlene Hanken, Data Analyst Welcome to the Data Corner, a place where this resident data nerd addresses some of the most common data issues and data-related topics facing the agriculture industry today. This column’s topic is how data can inform multiple uses or outcomes. Another way to think about it: “Capture once, use multiple ...
Workplace Safety Practices: Keep Your Eye on the Ball Even as Workers’ Comp Rates Decline
By Ken Cooper, Director of Risk Strategy, Western Growers Insurance Services In late July, the California Commissioner of Insurance once again approved a decrease in the workers’ compensation pure premium advisory rates, which are used by insurance carriers to set their rates for coverage. As a result, policyholders are likely to see a decrease in ...
MEET YOUR FUTURE VOLUNTEER LEADERS: Grant Talley
Grant Talley Production Manager, Talley Farms Grant started spending summers working at his family farm at 12 years old. After high school, he attended Regent University in Virginia where he received his Bachelor of Science in business. After spending some time in Los Angeles, Grant moved home to join the family business. Grant is currently ...
The Farmworkers Behind the Greens
By Stephanie Metzinger Carefully hauling ladders from tree to tree, ninja-like workers skillfully scale up and down the tallest of palm trees to cut down bagged bundles with a machete-sized curved knife. These laddermen, called Palmeros, are the magic behind the harvest of the illustrious honey-flavored Medjool and Deglet Noor dates. “A lot of people ...
Science Column: New Year, Same Mission | WG Science – What’s Happened and What’s Next?
By Scott Nichols, Science Program Specialist For decades, Western Growers has progressed the science, technology and innovation of our industry to enhance agricultural practices, improve food safety and protect the environment. Today, that same mission flows through everything we do as an organization. Between world-class food safety guidance and an abundance of educational and informative…
WGIS: Battling PAGA Extortion Through Proactive Risk Management
By Steven Barge-Siever, Esq., Vice President Property and Casualty, WGIS In California, extortion is defined as “1) obtaining property or other consideration from another…induced by a 2) wrongful use of force or fear, or 3) under color of official right.” In many cases, Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) litigation has fallen nothing short of extortion ...
Western Growers Loses Two Agricultural Pioneers
Hank Giclas Henry Lee Giclas III, loving husband and father and chile connoisseur, passed away Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, at the age of 63. Hank, as he was called by all who knew him, was born in Socorro, New Mexico, to parents Patricia “Patsy” and Henry “Hank” Giclas Jr. With a mother who earned her ...
Misclassification of Employees: A Per Se Violation Under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act
By Pat Moody, Catherine Houlihan and Vismaad Gondara, Barsamian & Moody Can non-compliant paystubs in violation of Labor Code section 226(a) lead to an unfair labor practice under section 1153(a) of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (the “Act”)? Shockingly, or not so shockingly in California, the answer is yes, according to a recent ruling by ...
The Data Corner: Data Standardization—A Tedious Necessity
By Marlene Hanken, Data Analyst, Science Welcome to The Data Corner, a place where this resident data nerd addresses some of the most common data issues and data-related topics facing the agriculture industry today! This issue’s topic is Data Standardization…and what is data standardization anyway? Simply put, data standardization is a set of processes and ...