Posts By: Jeff Janas

Citrus Greening and Date Palm Seminars Being Held in Arizona and California

Upcoming events in both Arizona and California will focus on Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) status updates, quarantines and citrus greening.  Additionally, a Date Palm seminar focusing on invasive pests, disease and pesticides is being held in Arizona. The University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is sponsoring two citrus seminars in Arizona in ...

Inspection Fees for Terminal Market Inspections to See First Rate Increase in 10 Years

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced an increase for fees in 2016 for the Terminal Market Inspection Program. The increase follows the agency’s publication of a final rule in the Federal Register in 2014 for calculating fees charged by AMS for user-funded programs. The Program has not ...

Brown Takes Executive Action to Make Conservation a “Way of Life” in California

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown issued an Executive Order to establish long-tern conservation measures for the state in anticipation of enduring drought conditions. The Governor built on the temporary statewide emergency water restrictions previously established by requiring “permanent monthly water use reporting, new permanent water use standards in California communities and bans on clearly…

Agencies Announce WG Backed Streamlining Measures to Improve H-2A Processing Issues

Yesterday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced the launch of two Western Growers’ promoted initiatives designed to streamline and bring bureaucratic efficiencies to the H-2A application process. The processing changes come after continued engagement by WG staff and less than a month after WG Chairman Larry ...

Appeals Court Reverses & Remands Gerawan Public Access Case Back to Fresno Superior Court

A “Public Access” case filed in Fresno Superior Court filed by Gerawan Farming, Inc. has been ruled on by the 5th District Court of Appeal in favor of Gerawan. The case stems from a farm worker, Lupe Garcia — a Gerawan employee — being denied access to a mediation hearing between his employer and the ...

Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Western Drought Legislation

Today the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on a package of Western water bills, demonstrating that Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski [R-AK] is still dedicated to identifying potential solutions to the ongoing drought crisis. The group of bills heard by the Water and Power Subcommittee includes the revised California water legislation introduced by ...

WG Hits Back at LA Times’ Skelton Piece Attacking Ag

The LA Times’ George Skelton recently wrote a tired column deriding corporate agriculture’s use of water and parroting the talking points of environmental activist groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council. Skelton’s attack on nut and fruit tree growers prompted a swift and blistering attack from Western Growers. The rebuttal, written by WGs’ Director of ...

DOL Announces Final Rule on FLSA White Collar Exemptions

On May 18, 2016, President Obama and Labor Secretary Perez announced the publication of the Department of Labor’s final rule updating the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Final Rule focuses primarily on updating the salary and compensation levels needed for Executive, Administrative and Professional workers to be considered exempt from overtime ...

Approved Emergency Groundwater Regulations Go into Effect in June

Yesterday, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) sent out a notification to stakeholders announcing the California Water Commission approved emergency groundwater regulations outlined in the historic Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The regulations will be filed with the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) by June 1, 2016.  OAL then has 10 days in which ...

WG Reiterates Support of TPP Following Trade Commission’s Positive Impact Analysis

Yesterday, the International Trade Commission (ITC) released an analysis of the likely impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement on the U.S. economy. The release prompted Western Growers’ President and CEO Tom Nassif to issue a statement reiterating our support for the trade deal which would achieve a higher level of fairness between American farmers ...

WSJ Publishes Nassif Op-Ed on New Immigration Reform Approach

Western Growers President & CEO Tom Nassif was published in this morning’s edition of the Wall Street Journal. In his op-ed titled, “Why Governors Need an Immigration Plan,” Nassif introduces a novel plan for achieving real movement on immigration reform: “Who can break the gridlock and establish genuine bipartisan consensus? Who can get Congress to ...

More Progress Made on Efficiency Requests for H-2A Applications

On May 20, 2016, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice announcing it had revised the H-2A Appendix A form which eliminates the requirement for the employer and agent to obtain the “wet signature” on their special blue paper.  Since this requirement was imposed several years ...

Western Growers Asks Feinstein to Reconsider Her Position on Ag Overtime Bill

Late last week, California Senator Dianne Feinstein unexpectedly issued a letter of support to Speaker Anthony Rendon for AB 2757, a UFW-sponsored farmworker bill that would change the overtime rules for agriculture. In response, Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif sent a letter to the senator asking her to reconsider her position after detailing ...

Water Education Foundation to Hold Free Drought Briefing on June 1 in Fresno

The Water Education Foundation is offering a free one–day briefing on June 1, 2016, in Fresno for anyone interested in understanding how San Joaquin Valley groundwater conditions have responded to the multi-year drought and to learn more about what actions are being taken towards sustainable groundwater management. Topics to be discussed include: Hydrologic conditions and ...

House Approves Valadao Drought Bill as Amendment to Senate-passed Energy Bill

Yesterday, the House approved an amendment to an energy bill that includes drought relief legislation introduced by California Congressman David Valadao (CA-21). The inclusion of the amendment in the previously passed Senate energy bill, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016 (S. 2012), provides impetus for discussions on drought related matters, particularly for California, but also…

Western Growers Joins Amicus Brief in Challenge to MMC before State Supreme Court

Western Growers, along with five other organizations representing agriculture and the general business community, has filed an amicus brief supporting Gerawan Farming Company’s challenge of California’s “mandatory mediation and conciliation process.” Gerawan successfully challenged the MMC provision of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act in the California court of appeal on…

PRESS RELEASE — Western Growers Applauds USCIS & State Department on Streamlining H-2A Application Process

IRVINE, Calif. (May 10, 2016) — While in Washington, D.C. for the Association’s Annual Board Fly-in, Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif heralded the announcements made by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to streamline the H-2A application process: “Yesterday’s announcements are welcome news for our ...

PRESS RELEASE: Western Growers Encourages Senate Committee to Act on Western Water Bill

IRVINE, Calif. (May 17, 2016) — Statement by Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif encouraging the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to move to mark-up of Western drought legislation: “We are pleased that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee remains committed to resolving the short- and long-term challenges related to the ongoing ...

PRESS STATEMENT: WESTERN GROWERS REITERATES SUPPORT FOR TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

IRVINE, Calif. (May 19, 2016) — Statement by Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif reiterating support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement following the release of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) analysis of its likely impact on the U.S. economy: “The ITC report released yesterday confirms that the recently-concluded TPP agreement will be ...

PRESS RELEASE: Western Growers Commends House on Passage of Senate Energy Legislation with Water Provisions

IRVINE, Calif. (May 26, 2016) — Statement by Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif commending the U.S. House of Representatives on passage of an amendment to the Senate-passed energy bill that includes drought relief legislation introduced by Representative David Valadao (CA-21): “We are pleased that the House has incorporated Representative Valadao’s drought relief legislation…