November 3, 2022

YOUR SOURCE FOR CAWG AND INDUSTRY NEWS. FOR CAWG MEMBERS ONLY.

IN THIS eNEWS

Mill Study Update
Is the Grid Reliable?
These 5 Races Will Determine the Senate Majority
CA Harvest Wrap Up
A Dire Warning: CA Report Documents Climate Impacts
CA's New Pay Transparency Requirements: A Roadmap for Compliance
Employer Survival Guide to Office Parties, Charity Events + Volunteering
Drought Conditions Bring Financial Hit to Valley
UW&GS - Sponsor or Advertise Today!
PG&E Files First Documents with NRC Seeking Process for Relicensing Diablo Canyon
Tree & Vine Expo - Featuring CAWG Director of Govt Relations
Crop Protection Material Registration Report
DPR Statewide Pesticide App Notification System Workshops
AMOS Power to Showcase Autonomous Equipment
Nominations are Open for the 2023 Rich Smith Award

NEWS ITEMS

Mill Study Update

Last year, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) attempted to increase the mill tax substantially by creating a tiered mill tax system based on toxicity of the pesticide. Instead, the legislature directed DPR to conduct a study and determine how to reconfigure the mill tax to make it more sustainable. DPR claims that as the use of pesticides declines, mill tax funding drops concurrently. However, DPR has failed to recognize that the cost of pesticides has increased, which increases mill tax revenues at the same time.

For the last few months, Crowe LLP has been conducting a detailed fiscal analysis of DPR’s current and future funding needs as well as stakeholder consultation sessions. For a brief summary on the stakeholder consultation sessions, please review the October update and Mill Assessment Study webpage. CAWG has participated in these sessions and recommended that before DPR considers an increase in the mill tax, it must first analyze why those revenues are needed and whether DPR’s regulatory activities are within the scope of the intended purpose of the mill tax.

Crowe LLP will be conducting a webinar later this year to provide an update on the study. This will include an overview of DPR’s areas of potential funding needs and Crowe’s approach to identifying potential mill fee alternatives.

Please contact the DPR’s Mill Study Team by emailing ProjectMillStudy@cdpr.ca.gov. For additional information about the Mill Study please visit DPR’s website.

Is the Grid Reliable?

The California Independent System Operator (ISO) is responsible for managing California’s electricity grid, which provides power to 40 million Californians at home and at work. This week ISO released a report analyzing how the September heat wave affected the reliability of power.

The report states, “During an uninterrupted 10-day stretch of triple-digit heat that saw only minimal nighttime cooling and record use of electricity, the ISO maintained reliability throughout the event without having to use rotating outages to balance supply and demand.” In short, the report found the system did not crash because of 1) Increased capacity and supply; and 2) Reduced demand as Californian’s took immediate action to conserve power.

A key finding in the report is the need to increase the use of lithium-ion batteries to store electricity so that it is available when needed most. This is crucial as Governor Newsom intends for California to increase its reliance on the grid by moving to electric vehicles and equipment and elimination of the internal combustion engine. Additionally, climate experts predict that heat waves like we had in September could be reoccurring in the future, thereby increasing long-term demand on the grid.

The report concludes, “Reliable delivery of electricity was maintained throughout the event due to unprecedented levels of regional, state and federal, coordination; robust advance planning; utilization of both market and non-market resources; integration of new capacity, including the highly effective use of recently added lithium-ion batteries; and conservation. As we continue to integrate new resources onto the grid and make other necessary adjustments, our experience and lessons learned during the September 2022 heat wave will help us navigate the next climate-driven challenge.”

These 5 Races Will Determine the Senate Majority

The battle for the Senate is anyone’s ballgame with only a week to go until voters head to the polls.

Republicans, needing to net only one seat, are knocking on the door as the national environment moves increasingly in their direction and some surveys show them in the lead in both Georgia and Nevada. According to FiveThirtyEight’s latest projections, the fight for the majority is a “dead heat,” turning the final days into an all-out sprint to get voters out to the polls.

Here are five races that will determine the Senate majority.

Arizona - Blake Masters (R) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D)
Georgia - Herschel Walker (R) and Sen. Raphael Warnock
Nevada - Attorney General Adam Laxalt (R) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D)
Pennsylvania - Mehmet Oz (R) and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D)
Wisconsin - Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R)

CA Harvest Wrap Up

Up and down California, growers had to deal with frost, ongoing drought conditions and an historic heat wave around Labor Day weekend which reduced the crop statewide by at least 5 percent, said Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers and CAWG Director, an association that represents about 500 California grape growers.

“It was like nothing we've ever seen before, I think, in terms of the amount of impact it had statewide,” Bitter said.

For the third year in a row, California’s winegrape crop will be below average overall, Bitter predicted. The average crop is 4 million tons a year.

Read more about challenges and crop predictions from the various winegrowing regions in the state.

A Dire Warning: CA Report Documents Climate Impacts

California is getting hotter and drier, and extreme weather events are increasingly disrupting the state’s natural environment and the lives of the nearly 40 million people who live there, according to a study released by state officials this week.

The 664-page report, compiled from research by more than 100 state scientists and experts, concludes that the state is experiencing a rapid decline in key indicators of ecosystem health related to climate change. The report identifies dozens of significant threats that could weaken California’s status as the fifth largest economy in the world, currently valued at $3.4 trillion.

According to the report, the state is facing an alarming warming trend that started picking up pace in the 1980s. Recent years have been especially warm, with eight of the ten warmest years on record occurring between 2012 and 2022. The year 2014 was the warmest year on record for the state.

In addition, scientists said half of the state’s largest wildfires over the past 70 years occurred in just the two most years – 2020 and 2021.

Upcoming Webinars

CA's New Pay Transparency Requirements: A Roadmap for Compliance

Hosted by: Fisher Phillips

Date: Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Time: 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PST

With the enactment of SB 1162, California has joined the growing list of state and local jurisdictions that are requiring pay scale information to be included in job postings and provided to current employees upon request, among other requirements. This is a new requirement for California employers effective January 2023 and raises a host of compliance questions and challenges – and not a lot of time to figure it all out.

Please note: although this webinar will briefly discuss the pay data reporting changes enacted by SB 1162, the focus of this webinar will be on the pay transparency provisions. A future webinar will take a “deep dive” specifically on the pay data reporting requirements of the amended law.

Employer Survival Guide to Office Parties, Charity Events, Volunteering and More...

Hosted by: Fisher Phillips

Date: Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Time: 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PST

As many employers transition employees back to the office who have been working remotely, it is a good time to re-evaluate your volunteer programs, training sessions and other corporate events. November's Wage and Hour Wednesday will provide the analysis for common scenarios under the FLSA when determining whether in-person, fully remote or hybrid events are compensable. Failing to properly treat some events as compensable may land you in hot water and lead to unwanted minimum wage and/or overtime claims.

Drought Conditions Bring Financial Hit to Valley

A research team from UC Merced studying the California drought found conditions between 2020-2022 to be warmer than previous dry periods.

They told a meeting of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, in Sacramento, that heat waves and stress led to large crop losses. Their drought assessment revealed a 2022 water shortage in the Valley of 2.6 million acre-feet, which resulted in 695,000 idle acres of farmland.

"This comes at a cost of $1.7 billion in crop losses, or $1.4 billion in the Central Valley," says UC Merced Environmental Engineering Professor Josue Medellin- Azuara.

Unified Wine and Grape Symposium

Registration is Open! See you Jan 24-26 in Sacramento

The Unified Symposium is the ideal location to promote your company to thousands of industry professionals who attend. Our varied sponsorship and advertising program offers several different options for all size budgets. Banners and signs in the newly renovated SAFE Credit Union convention center proclaim your presence, print and online ads showcase your product, and exclusive sponsorship opportunities increase your brand visibility.

This is THE wine & grape industry show to attend where you invest in your future and discover new ideas and technologies—a can’t miss!

Sponsorship & Advertisement Opportunities Include

Program & Exhibit Directory: $10,000
NEW! Spanish Track Sponsorships: $1,500 - $5,000
Breakout Session Sponsor: $3,500
Tote Bag Sponsor: $10,000
Keynote Speaker Table Sponsor: $1,500
Welcome Reception Hors D’oeuvres Sponsor: $3,500
NEW! Charging Station: $7,500
Thursday General Session Coffee Sponsor: $5,000
Regional Wine Tasting Sponsor: $2,000
Escalator Decals: $8,000
Free Standing Banner: $7,000
Wall Cling: $7,000
Column Wrap: $6,000

For questions regarding the opportunities available, please contact Jenny Devin e or visit unifiedsymposium.org.

VIEW BROCHURE

PG&E Files First Documents with NRC Seeking Process for Relicensing Diablo Canyon

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Monday filed its first licensing action with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the company’s quest to continue operating Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s twin reactors beyond 2024 and 2025, when their current licenses will expire.

PG&E asked the NRC to designate the appropriate licensing process to follow, since the company withdrew its license renewal application in 2018 based on state energy policies at the time and because the plant was becoming less profitable to operate.

The company reversed course on shuttering the plant this year after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration asked the federal government to allow the company to apply for some of the $6 billion in a fund established by the Biden administration to help nuclear plants in danger of closing to continue operating.

In August, Newsom asked the Legislature to approve a $1.4 billion loan to PG&E to pay for deferred maintenance and help cover the expense of renewing its NRC operating licenses.

Legislators responded by passing Senate Bill 846, which extended the life of Diablo Canyon until 2030 and authorized the loan, but the bill also charged the California Public Utilities Commission with monitoring cost increases that might make the plant uneconomical to operate.

It also directed the CPUC to close the plant if its operations “prove to be economically disadvantageous, or even financially catastrophic, for California electricity consumers.”

Tree & Vine Expo - Featuring CAWG Director of Govt Relations

WHEN: November 8, 2022

WHERE: Stanislaus County Fairgrounds

FEATURING: 4 hrs of PCA Credits & 4.5 CCA Credits, Free Breakfast & Tri-Tip Lunch, Industry Trade Show,

Presentations and seminars on: New & Upcoming Ag Legislation, California’s Water Future, Supply Chain Solutions & Farm Bill, Grapevine Canopy Management, Tree & Vine Disease Management, Rootstock Selection, Vine Mealybug IPM, and an Update on Pesticide Laws & Regulations.

AGENDA: Click HERE

PRE-REGISTRATION: Click HERE

Crop Protection Material Registration Report

With the support of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant, Wine Institute has partnered with global market access firm Bryant Christie to provide customized, easy-to-access and timely reports with detailed analyses on crop protection material regulations in key export markets. If you are exporting your wines, this is important information — with active ingredient trade names, mode of action, usage, residues and whether a substance is included in a foreign market’s monitoring program. To opt-in to receive these exclusive twice-yearly reports from Bryant Christie, click here.

Read more via the News Alert sent out last week.

View a sample of a Wine Grape MRL Issues Review and download a spreadsheet of global MRLs.

DPR Statewide Pesticde Application Notification System Workshops

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) will hold three public workshops to collect feedback and provide an update on the development of the upcoming statewide pesticide application notification system. DPR has stated that the purpose of the system will be to notify neighbors when pesticides will be sprayed in nearby fields, orchards or vineyards.

However, if the system is not properly designed, it could result in widespread, frequent and meaningless notification. This means the primary users of the information would be nonprofit environmental organizations that would mischaracterize the data and use it to attack growers.

The workshops are scheduled at the following times and locations:

In-person: Monday, Nov. 7 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center in Ventura County: 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA 93030
In-person: Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Orosi Memorial Hall in Tulare County: 41645 Rd 128, Orosi, CA 93647
Virtual: Thursday, Nov. 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Zoom via Link (us02web.zoom.us/j/85867200295?pwd=ZGNIMlJOVnFCTEp4VVVsRzBnbmpGQT09; Meeting ID: 858 6720 0295; Passcode: 750189; Call In Number: +1-669-900-9128)

Growers are encouraged to participate in the workshops. While there is no stopping this new system, we need to be sure that it serves a public purpose (regional notification of neighbors) and not a political purpose (banning all pesticides statewide).

AMOS Power to Host “Amos Showcase & Social Tour 2022”

CAWG Member AMOS Power, an American made electric tractor manufacturer based in Cedar Falls, Iowa will be showcasing the two newest builds of their autonomous tractors throughout the state of California on their first ever “AMOS Showcase & Social Tour 2022.”

Each stop will showcase AMOS’s compact modular tractor frame design that provides tractor-quality power and capabilities.

Each event will culminate with a Q&A and social hour serving complimentary local wines paired with light hors d'oeuvres made from home grown California fields.

The social tour will hit 15 locations from Fresno, Lodi, Napa, Sonoma, and Paso Robles.

VIEW PRESS RELEASE (with dates and locations)

Nominations are Open for the 2023 Rich Smith Award

Richard (Rich) Smith, founder of Valley Farm Management , Paraiso Vineyards and Smith Family Wines in California’s Santa Lucia Highlands wine region, was first and foremost a family man, and also a successful grape grower, winery owner and respected colleague. He was a highly effective, collegial and tireless leader whose significant and selfless contribution of time, energy and funds helped to shape public policy and scientific research to advance the American grape and wine industry. He passed away in December 2015.

Three of the organizations Rich helped to establish—National Grape Research Alliance, WineAmerica and Winegrape Growers of America —annually join with the Smith Family to bestow the Rich Smith Distinguished Service Award. It recognizes an industry representative who exemplifies the passion, commitment and collaboration Rich was known for and who has had a similarly positive impact on the industry. For each organization, it is our highest and most coveted award.

Do you know a colleague who emulates Rich’s exceptional leadership? Nominate him or her by November 16, 2022.