Ag Alert Aug 4, 2021

$8.5 billion disaster bill heads to the House floor ByChristine Souza

fires occurring in calendar year 2020. “Fromextreme fires tohistoricdrought, our district and our nation have seen dev- astating disasters this year and last year,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, whose district continues to recover from the LNU Lightning Complex and Glass fires. “The federal government must pro- vide every tool and resource possible as we rebuild. That includes supporting fam- ily farmers and producers who had their crops ruinedbysmokedamage inthe2020 fires in our district.” Thompson first introduced theWHIP+ Reauthorization Act in November 2020

and reintroduced it in January 2021. The bill hasbeenamended toprovide relief for a broad range of events, including wild- fires, hurricanes, drought, high winds, freeze and excessive heat. Amendments also changed the eligi- bility requirements. Previously, drought had to be classified as U.S. Drought Monitor category “extreme” (D3) or “exceptional” (D4) for a USDA disaster declaration for farmers in that area to qualify for assistance. Now, a county under “severe” (D2) drought for eight consecutive weeks may qualify. “I’m glad that we were able to come impossible. The bill cleared the Assembly andSenateunanimouslyonthewaytoGov. GavinNewsom,whosignedthebill July23. CaliforniaFarmBureauPresident Jamie Johanssonwelcomed the bill’s signing. “As California continues to endure an- other significant wildfire season, we ap- preciate Gov. Newsom’s quick action to ensure that production agriculture has access toCalifornia’s insurer of last resort,” Johansson said. The bill allows farmers and ranchers to insure their farmbuildings andequipment undertheCaliforniaFAIRPlan,whichwrites policies for property owners otherwise un- able to obtain insurance. Previously, only privateresidenceswereeligible.FAIRstands for FairAccess to InsuranceRequirements. The FAIR Plan has 90 days fromwhen the bill was signed to submit insur- ance forms, guidelines and rates to the After three years of limited hiring due to budget constraints, the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources has announced it will re- cruit candidates for 10 UC Cooperative Extension positions. UC ANR is home to the county-based UCCE, Integrated Pest Management, MasterGardener, 4-HYouthDevelopment and other programs. ThenewUCpositions include: plant pa- thology area advisor, Santa Cruz County; soils and irrigation advisor, Kern County; urban agriculture/small farms area advi- sor , San Bernardino County; community nutritionand innovative technologies spe- cialist, UCDavis; forest and fuelsmanage- ment specialist, UC Berkeley; subtropical crops pathology specialist, UC Riverside; diversified agricultural systems area advi- sor, Lake County; forestry and natural re- sourcesareaadvisor, Sutter-Yubacounties; 4-H youth development, SanMateo-San Francisco counties; and integrated vine- yard systems area advisor, at Hopland Research and ExtensionCenter. Thecounty listedbeside theadvisor title iswhere theoffice for theemployeewill be located. All UCCE advisor positions will

together in a bipartisan way to pass this bill that, once enacted, will provide the frameworkforgettingmuch-neededdisas- ter assistance to our agricultural produc- ers,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott, D-Ga. “As we can see, through the ravaging fires through so many of our Western agriculture states in our country, our unanimous, bipartisan bill ismost timelyandverymuchneeded.” The bill is set to be folded into a supple- mental appropriations bill.

The U. S. Hous e Commi t t ee on Agriculture advanced an $8.5 billion re- authorization bill that expands the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus, knownasWHIP+, toprovidedisaster pay- ments for farmers and ranchers who suf- fered losses fromnatural disasters in2020. “Under the legislation, itwouldbeeasier for farmersandranchers toqualify for loss- es due to drought and wildfire,” said Sara Arsenault, California FarmBureau direc- tor of federal policy. “Disaster aid is a top priority for us andwill continue to be so.” The bill, which passed out of theHouse Committee on Agriculture last week, “contains many provisions important to California farmers, ranchers and rural res- idents,” Arsenault added. Under current law, the program pro- vides disaster payments to agricultur- al producers who suffered crop, tree, bush and vine losses resulting from hurricanes, wildfires and other quali- fying natural disasters that occurred in the 2018 and 2019 calendar years. The legislation, H.R. 267, expands disaster coverage for losses of crops, including smoke-tainted winegrapes, due to wild-

(Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.) FarmBureau-backed insurance bill signed ByKevinHecteman

California Department of Insurance for approval. Coverage may be available by the end of the year. Fa r m B u r e a u a n d I n s u r a n c e Commissioner Ricardo Lara held a series of roundtables inMay and June in Napa, SanLuisObispoandButtecounties tohear from farmers and ranchers whose insur- ancecarrierscanceledordeclinedtorenew their policies onaccount of wildfire risk. SB11wasauthoredbySen. SusanRubio, D-BaldwinPark.

SO MANY OPTIONS. VERSATILITY NEVER HAD SO MANY OPTIONS. VERSATILITY NEVER HAD California farmers and rancherswill be able to use the state’s insurer of last resort for their operations under a bill signed last month. Senate Bi l l 11, sponsored by the California Farm Bureau, is a response to thechallenges facedbyfarmerswholost in- surance coverage because of the state’s re- cord-settingwildfiresand foundobtaining newcoveragedifficult andexpensive, ifnot

“We would like to thank Sen. Susan Rubio forher leadershipandcommitment to California’s agricultural community during this time of crisis, and Insurance Commissioner Lara’s partnership to ad- dress this critical issue,” Johansson said. (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.) UC to recruit candidates for Cooperative Extension

servemultiple counties. In July, the state restored UC ANR’s budget to pre-COVID levels of fiscal year 2019-20 and provided a 5% increase, plus anadditional $32million inongoing fund- ing, bringing total state support to $107.9 million for thedivision.During thepast 20 years, it has seen its budget decrease by almost 50%when adjusted for inflation. “Thisbudget increase is transformation- al,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice presi- dent for agricultureandnatural resources. “It will allowus to rebuildUCCooperative Extension’s boots on the ground to help Californians cope with wildfire, drought, climate adaptation and economic devel- opment, among other issues.” TwentyUCCEpositions have beendes- ignated as critically urgent to fill. To avoid overwhelmingUCANR’shumanresources staff, another 10 positions will be opened for applicants in late September as UC ramps up hiring for future recruitment. “We look forward to releasing addition- al positions for recruitment—both aca- demic and program support members— throughout the next several months,” Humiston said.

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6 Ag Alert August 4, 2021