Budget Continued from Page 1 future,” he said.
REAL ESTATE
299-ACRE YOLO COUNTY WALNUT ORCHARD : Very nice Walnut orchard in Yolo County between Winters and Davis. Class I and II soils, two sources of water with three wells. 70 acres of open ground to plant and 190 acres of producing walnuts, nice older main house and smaller second house. Many outbuildings. Lots of potential with this one! $7,500,000. CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL PROPERTIES, INC. SCOTT STONE, BKR 530-681-1410 • www.calagprop.com
current or former employee believes that meeting a quotacausedaviolationof their right toameal or rest periodor required themto violate any occupational healthandsafety lawor standard,” theemployeecan ask for copiesof thestandardsbywhich theyaregov- erned. That could include thepast 90days’ worthof information the employer has on them. AB 701—sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-SanDiego—alsowould allowemploy- ees to take legal actionover suchmetricsandrecover their legal fees should they prevail. Little said FarmBureau opposes this bill because “it will create some legal peril in using numerical performancemeasures”of the sort “commonlyused in agriculture and in packing.” “Our members who do their own packing will be impacted by that bill,” Little said. “We don’t want to see the Legislature do things that would discourage the use of reasonable performance measurements by exposing themto legal liability for doing so.” While thebill references “warehousing,”Littlesaid the term is defined broadly enough that “it includes any type of producer that does their own packing if they employmore than 100 people.” Alsoof concern to frominterests is SenateBill 606 from Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach. SB 606 calls for enhancedenforcement attention for opera- tionsdubbed“egregiousemployers.”Thebill allowsa presumption that aviolationat oneof anemployer’s locations is occurring at other locations operatedby that employer. “We think it’s going tobe very subjective, and it’s a decisionthat’sgoingtobemadebythelaborcommis- sioner,”Littlesaid, callingthedesignation“verymuch an eye-of-the-beholder type of decision” that could put a thumbon thescaleof unionizationcampaigns. There’s also confusion in how the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal OSHA, might apply the standard, Little added.
Little emphasized that agricultural employers shouldmaintain their ownsupplyofN95 respirators and consider the state’s stockpile as a backup. “AB73doesn’tdoanythingtochangethetypeof res- piratoryou’rerequiredtoprovide,”Littlesaid. “It’s just intended tomake it relatively easier for employers to access that stockpile if theyneed to inanemergency.” The bill unanimously cleared both chambers of the Legislature and is nowon the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who Little expects is likely to sign it. Some of the state’swildfire spending is contained inabudget trailerbill, SenateBill 155,whichwas sent to the governor’s desk earlier thismonth. This bill establishes an ongoing appropriation of $200 million from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to help pay for healthy forests, fire prevention programs and prescribed burns. The funding is an extension of SB 901, enacted in 2018, which was intended to appropriate $1 billion over five years for wildfire-prevention efforts. The bill also requires the California Natural Resources Agency to report on expenditures and implementation of all programs related to wildfire and forest resilience funded in the 2021budget. The report is due inApril. Anotherbudget trailerbill, SB170, allocatesnearly $1 billion to several wildfire-related projects. The bill includes $257 million for various forest health, resiliency and private land ownership pro- grams. Itwouldallocate$139millionfor stateconser- vancies to undertake wildfire prevention programs. Inaddition, itwouldspend$282million forCalFire’s fire-prevention grant programs, prescribed fire and other projects and $51million for forestry industry economic stimulus andworkforce development. Themoney iscoming fromthestate’sgeneral fund ($758million) and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund ($230million).
MISCELLANEOUS
D U A R T E N U R S E R Y
Friday September 3 RD & FridayOctober 1 ST , 2021 CLONES VARIET IES
Clonal walks starting @ 9 AM followed by lunch
Duarte Georgetown Vineyards 4717 Spanish Dry Diggins Rd. Greenwood, CA 95635
Please RSVP 1 week prior to event @marketing@duartenursery.com or 1-800-GRAFTED | www.duartenursery.com for more information
Meanwhile, severalotherbills thathaveagricultur- al interestsworriedarenowawaitingaction fromthe governor after clearing the Legislature. AB701takesaimatperformancemetrics—“you’re expected to produce Xpieces per hour,” as Little put it—in theworkplace. The legislativecounsel’sdigest for thebill says “if a “If you have the same violative condition that im- pacts10employees, that’snot oneviolation,”hesaid. “That’s 10 violations. Youcan seehowquickly viola- tions canpile up, and themore youhave, the higher penalties tend to go.” Newsomhas until Oct. 10 to sign or veto bills sent to himbefore the Legislature adjourned. (KevinHecteman is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. Hemay be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.) UC Extension has 10 ag jobs to fill
The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources looks to f i l l 10 more UC Cooperative Extension academic positions. “These positions aremade possible by the histor- ic 2021-22 state budget increase Governor (Gavin) Newsom approved in July,” Glenda Humiston, UC vicepresident for agriculture andnatural resources, said in a statement. “We are grateful that the gover- nor andsomanyCalifornia legislators recognize the benefits of reinvesting inUCANR research.” Applicants are being recruited for the follow- ing positions: • Orchard systems area advisor, Tehama County • Nut crops advisor, MercedCounty • Invasiveweedandrestorationecology specialist, UCDavis • Water justice policy and planning specialist, UC Berkeley • Nutrition, family and consumer science ad- visor, Central Sierra Multicounty Partnership • Nutrition, family and consumer science ad- visor, Tulare County, supporting the lower San Joaquin Valley • Fire advisor, Mariposa County
• Environmental horticulture advisor, Capitol Corridor Multicounty Partnership, serving the SacramentoValley • Agricultural engineer advisor, Intermountain Research and ExtensionCenter, Tulelake • Integrated pest management area advisor, Butte County UCCE advisor positions servemultiple counties. Locationsgivenafter job titlesarewhere theadvisors will be based. InMay 2021, the UCANR ProgramCouncil iden- tified 15 UCCE advisor and five UCCE specialist po- sitions as critically urgent to fill froma list of the re- mainingpositions fromthe2018positioncallprocess, updated in 2019, andmore recent personnel depar- turesandpriorities.ToavoidoverwhelmingUCANR’s human resources staff, 10 positionswere released in July and this second set of 10 is being releasednow. “We look forward toreleasingadditional positions for recruitment,” saidHumiston, who also serves as an advisorymember to theCalifornia FarmBureau Board of Directors. To see UC ANR job openings, visit https:// ucanr.edu/About/Jobs. September 22, 2021 Ag Alert 19
www.norcalpump.com TEST HOLES &WELL DRILLING Agricultural • Municipal • Domestic
Serving California for 30+ Years Contractors Lic. #908591
530-674-5861 Sacramento Valley
661-725-0250 Southern Valley
“I’mmooving fast to place my ad in Ag Alert® Classifieds! You’d better hurry & get your ad in too. I got great results!!! ” agalert@cfbf.com
Powered by FlippingBook