YOUR SOURCE FOR CAWG AND INDUSTRY NEWS. FOR CAWG MEMBERS ONLY. | |
- California Election Results
- Federal Election Analysis by Cornerstone
- FP’s Workplace Law Forecast 2023
- FIVE Upcoming CAWG Webinars
- Wildfire Weapon: California Aims to Ignite 400,000 Acres a Year
- APHIS and CBP Strategic Planning for Ag Quarantine Inspection Program
- USDA Nationwide Prospective Customer Survey
- Colorado River May Require 'Decisive Action,' U.S. Warns
- Efforts to Protect Groundwater are Tested by Drought
- UW&GS - Sponsor or Advertise Today!
- Call for Applications for the Ninth Annual California Green Medal Sustainable Winegrowing Leadership Awards
- Crop Protection Material Registration Report
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DPR Statewide Pesticide App Notification System Workshops
- AMOS Power to Showcase Autonomous Equipment
- Nominations are Open for the 2023 Rich Smith Award
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California Election Results | |
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While we may not know the final results in many of the closest races for several days, the election earlier this week could have profound implications for both Congress and the state legislature.
In Congress, the outcome of the House of Representatives seat representing the area in and around Stanislaus County may be key to determining whether the Republicans or Democrats are in control of the House. On Election Night, former CAWG director John Duarte (R) was leading Adam Gray (D) by 213 votes. This is the second closest race in the nation. With this close of a vote count, it is likely that the lead will go back and forth a few times in the coming weeks.
Additionally, at the south end of the Central Valley, Congressman David Valadeo (R) held off Republican challengers supported by President Trump in June and a Democrat challenger supported by Nancy Pelosi in November. Valadao appears to be headed back to congress by a comfortable margin.
At the state level, there does not appear to be a major shift in party control or in party make up of either the Senate or the Assembly – California continues to be a very blue state. However, there were several races with two Democrats facing off. In many of these races in the Assembly there was a moderate Democrat taking on a progressive Democrat. In most of these races, the moderate candidate was leading on Election Night. This could have a profound effect on who is selected to be Speaker of the Assembly when the legislature reconvenes in December.
If moderate Assembly Democrats have a stronger voice in Sacramento, and in determining the leadership of the legislature, this could help create a political climate that is less polarized and more willing to thoroughly vet legislation. Such a political shift would help in making sure that Sacramento develops workable solutions to address real problems and not just create more needless regulatory burdens.
In other news: Governor Newsom’s reelection begs the question of whether he will now set his sights on the White House in 2024.
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Federal Election Analysis | |
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CAWG's Federal Lobbyist, Cornerstone Government Affairs has assembled the following report to interpret the implications of the 2022 midterm elections. As you know, this has been an extremely uncertain — and unusual — election cycle. At time of publication, neither chamber has been called by the Associated Press, and many races remain up for grabs. Cornerstone is aware that some information in this report may quickly become dated and will update this document periodically.
Cornerstone writes with the assumption that Republicans are likely to win a majority in the House of Representatives. Because who controls the Senate may not be known until after the Georgia runoff on Dec. 6, insights into both a Democratic-controlled and Republican-controlled Senate are provided.
VIEW ANALYSIS
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FP’s Workplace Law Forecast 2023 | |
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It’s never easy to make accurate predictions about what we might expect to see in the workplace in the coming year.
After all:
- At the start of 2020, no one could have predicted COVID-19.
- None of us had heard the phrase “the Great Resignation” in January 2021.
- And a year ago at this time, “quiet quitting” wasn’t on anyone’s radar.
Despite the ever-present uncertainty, Fisher Phillips leaders put together their best predictions for workplace law in 2023.
As you flip through the pages, you’ll see some common themes. The economic uncertainty we’re experiencing won’t be going away anytime soon, for example, and it will have ripple effects across your workplace. And the indelible mark that the pandemic left on the workplace is still present, too, and will continue to have some unexpected consequences.
FP’s Workplace Law Forecast 2023
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Wildfire Weapon: California Aims to Ignite 400,000 Acres a Year | |
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After a long dry summer, the Santa Cruz Mountains were cool and damp, signaling the perfect time for crews to gather in an open meadow, drip torches in hand.
Their goal: fight fire with fire.
The blaze at Soquel Demonstration State Forest, part of the state’s ambitious new plan to ignite more small fires to prevent large ones, was only four acres in size, or 0.15% of the 2,681-acre wilderness. It was extinguished by nightfall.
But it’s taken 11 years to plan and 19 months to prepare, foreshadowing the challenge faced by the Golden State as it seeks to improve the health of forests and the safety of communities.
Friday’s strategy, part of a larger multi-phase plan at the site, will need to be repeated thousands of times to meet the state’s goal of burning 400,000 acres every year by 2025. Between 10 and 30 million acres of California’s landscape need some form of fuel reduction treatment — and burning is the most efficient approach.
This week a 300-acre burn was conducted on Wilder Ranch State Park, north of Santa Cruz. Last month, 20 acres were burned near Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir in San Mateo County. Sonoma County has held two recent burns, one in Pepperwood Preserve and another in Jack London State Historic Park, on the ridge above historic buildings.
Without careful preparation, burns can turn disastrous. Earlier this year, an escaped blaze in New Mexico scorched hundreds of structures, triggering new restrictions and a 90-day pause on all U.S. Forest Service prescribed burns.
READ MORE
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APHIS and CBP Strategic Planning for Ag Quarantine Inspection Program | |
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USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are pleased to announce the release of the 2022 – 2026 Joint Agency Strategic Plan for their shared Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) program.
The AQI program plays a critical role in protecting U.S. agriculture and the environment by preventing the introduction and spread of potentially devastating plant pests and animal and plant diseases. It protects America’s 1.1 trillion-dollar agricultural and food economy, the 2 million farms across the country, and the 331 million people living in the United States that rely on agricultural security to survive.
APHIS and CBP work together at the Nation’s borders and ports of entry to carry out all AQI program activities to intercept and exclude any foreign agricultural pests that could affect U.S. agriculture, trade, and commerce. This joint mission is outlined under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and USDA 2003 Memorandum of Agreement.
Under this agreement, APHIS is responsible for developing regulations, policy, and procedures for the AQI program; providing risk analysis guidance; setting inspection protocols; inspecting imported propagative material; identifying pests found during APHIS and CBP inspections; training the AQI workforce across both agencies; and managing AQI user fee funds, among other functions. CBP oversees operations at over 300 U.S. ports of entry and manages the daily inspection and targeting of agricultural products, conveyances, international mail, and passengers to protect against the entry of exotic pests and diseases.
In this joint mission, the strategic plan will guide program activities and set the program’s focus for the next 5 years, driving planning and setting mission priorities.
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USDA Nationwide Prospective Customer Survey | |
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Producers can now take a nationwide survey to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) improve and increase access to its programs and services for America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest managers. The survey includes new and existing customers. USDA encourages all agricultural producers to take the survey, especially those who have not worked with USDA previously. The survey gathers feedback on programs and services available through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA).
The survey is available online at farmers.gov/survey, and producers should complete by March 31, 2023.
TAKE SURVEY
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Colorado River May Require 'Decisive Action,' U.S. Warns | |
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Federal officials have issued a thinly veiled threat to impose new cuts in water deliveries from the Colorado River if California and six other western states fail to reach a conservation agreement to protect severely depleted reservoirs.
The warnings from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation come after California water agencies proposed measures on Oct. 5 to curb their water consumption—despite being entitled to the largest share of water from the river.
Four California water agencies offered to implement conservation measures to conserve an additional 400,000 acre-feet of water over each of the next three years. Some 250,000 acre-feet would come from the Imperial Irrigation District, which relies on the river water for the Imperial Valley’s robust winter vegetable farming economy. That would curb irrigation supplies by another 8% for farmers who have already cut water use by 16% since 2003.
But federal officials demand 2 million to 4 million acre-feet in water savings to protect the river and keep Lake Mead—behind Hoover Dam in Nevada—from reaching “deadpool” status when no water could flow downstream.
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Efforts to Protect Groundwater are Tested by Drought | |
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Balancing the state’s groundwater supplies for a sustainable future may not be easy due to severe drought and ongoing economic challenges facing farmers.
“We’ve got the lowest prices and highest production costs and the least-reliable water supply that we’ve had since I’ve been farming,” said Bill Diedrich of Firebaugh, who farms row crops and permanent crops on the west side in Madera and Fresno counties. “We’ve had one or the other but not all three at the same time.”
Diedrich, who relies on groundwater for irrigating farmland in Madera County and surface water for ground in Fresno County, said farming at this time “is very difficult.” He said the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which tasks local agencies to balance groundwater supplies in affected basins by 2040 and 2042, means farmland must come out of production.
For his Madera County farmland, which is entirely groundwater dependent, he estimates that he will need to fallow 150 acres.
READ MORE
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Unified Wine and Grape Symposium
Registration is Open! See you Jan 24-26 in Sacramento
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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
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NEW! Spanish Track Sponsorships: $1,500 - $5,000
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Breakout Session Sponsor: $3,500
- Tote Bag Sponsor: $10,000
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Keynote Speaker Table Sponsor: $1,500
- Welcome Reception Hors D’oeuvres Sponsor: $3,500
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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 Devine or visit unifiedsymposium.org.
VIEW BROCHURE
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Call for Applications for the Ninth Annual California Green Medal Sustainable Winegrowing Leadership Awards | |
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California vineyards and wineries are encouraged to apply for the 2023 California Green Medal Sustainable Winegrowing Leadership Awards.
Applications are accepted on greenmedal.org through Friday, January 20, 2023!
Vineyards and wineries that participate in a sustainability program in California are eligible to apply in four award categories, recognizing outstanding achievement in sustainability:
Leader Award, given to the vineyard or winery that demonstrates success and innovation in all of the below three areas of sustainable winegrowing and inspires others.
The 2022 California Green Medal recipients were:
- Wente Family Estates, Leader Award
- Trefethen Family Vineyards, Environment Award
- McManis Family Vineyards, Community Award
- Jackson Family Wines, Business Award
Applications are being accepted through Friday, January 20th, 2023
APPLY AT GREENMEDAL.ORG
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Crop Protection Material Registration Report | |
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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.
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DPR Statewide Pesticde Application Notification System Workshops | |
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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:
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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).
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AMOS Power to Host “Amos Showcase & Social Tour 2022” | |
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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)
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Nominations are Open for the 2023 Rich Smith Award | |
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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.
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