The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued a notice announcing this year’s Allowable Charges for H-2A workers. The notice establishes the allowable charges that H-2A employers may charge their workers when the employer provides three meals a day and the maximum travel subsistence meal reimbursement that a worker with receipts may claim in 2016. When an ...
On March 2, 2016, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated Imperial, Marin, Mendocino and Trinity counties in California as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Because they are contiguous to the prime disaster designated counties, the following counties in California and Arizona are also eligible ...
Following the release of their Draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) Regulations on February 18, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced that it has made a guide to the regulations available on the Sustainable Groundwater Management (SGM) webpage. The Draft GSP Emergency Regulations Guide provides information essential to understanding the Draft GSP Emergency…
The Arizona Department of Agriculture (ADA) announced this week that the 2016 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program – Farm Bill grant manual is now available and applications are now being accepted. The sole purpose of the Specialty Block Grant Program is to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops in Arizona. The department projects that $840,000 ...
Western Growers has long advocated for Congress to take action on immigration reform in order to provide members with a legal and reliable workforce. We will continue to work toward meaningful solutions critical to the needs of our industry and the nation. However, because of Washington’s intractable political climate, we have broadened our efforts to ...
In case you missed it, on Monday, Western Growers launched a digital media campaign aimed at intensifying awareness among urban Californians about the water being lost to the sea this winter and the need for federal and state leaders to exert pressure on water system operators to capture and store those El Niño waters before ...
Last Friday, Senator Dianne Feinstein pushed the issue of capturing El Nino water into high gear by publicly calling for federal regulators to increase the pumping of storm pulse flows through the Delta as much as possible within the bounds of existing environmental restrictions. Feinstein’s comments came during the same week that Western Growers launched ...
While St. Patrick’s Day didn’t produce a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it did bring about the end of this year’s March Western Growers’ Board of Directors’ meeting. Beginning Monday evening and concluding Thursday afternoon, directors gathered in Sacramento to engage on a variety of complex issues facing the industry and ...
Today, Western Growers and the California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) issued a joint press release announcing the organizations will be filing an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit challenging provisions of AB 1513, a bill signed into last year law. That law provides a safe harbor from class action lawsuits to employers who make ...
On Tuesday, March 29, Western Growers was part of a group of agriculture and horticulture organizations that hosted a luncheon for Arizona legislators on the grounds of the state Capitol. Unofficially known as Ag Day at the Capitol, the legislators and other public officials came out in droves to mingle with staff and members from ...
Western Growers’ Board of Directors voted earlier this month to oppose the “Cortopassi Initiative.” The Initiative would require statewide voter approval before revenue bonds in excess of $2 billion can be issued to fund many public infrastructure projects, including some local projects funded by ratepayers through joint powers authorities. “The Cortopassi Initiative would create a…
Launches New Water Web Page and Digital Media Campaign IRVINE, Calif. (March 7, 2016) — Western Growers has launched a digital media campaign aimed at intensifying awareness among urban Californians about the water being lost to the sea this winter and the need for federal and state leaders to exert pressure on water system operators ...
The following Press Release was issued jointly but Western Growers, The California Farm Bureau Federation and the Family Farm Allliance: WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 16, 2016) — Yesterday, in a renewed call for Congress to pass drought legislation this year, over 100 Western water user organizations, commodity groups and state Farm Bureaus sent a letter to ...
THE FOLLOWING IS A JOINT-PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY WESTERN GROWERS AND THE CALIFORNIA FRESH FRUIT ASSOCIATION: Western Growers and California Fresh Fruit Association to file “friend of the court” brief in support of constitutional challenge to AB 1513 (2015) excluding two companies, and thousands of farm workers IRVINE, Calif. (March 24, 2016) — Western Growers ...
In response to quickly expanding activity in the international trade arena, last month Western Growers launched a webpage dedicated to that sector. Western Growers’ members in California, Arizona and Colorado not only feed U.S. consumers, but they also feed the world. Many members now do business globally, exporting specialty crop products to a variety of ...