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October 8, 2010
Inside This Issue.....
California Passes Budget - Record 100 Days Late
Governor Vetoes Remaining Bills of Concern to Ag
Sponsorship Opportunity
Bee-Killing Disease May Be Combination Attack
New White House Chief of Staff Brings Ag Background to Capitol Hill
October to See Major Farm Program Payments
Chambliss Introduces Immigration/Visa Bill
EPA Extends by One Year the Compliance Date on Spill Prevention Rule for Certain Facilities
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California Passes Budget - Record 100 Days Late

 

This morning, after an all night session, the California State Senate passed the final budget bill that was approved earlier in the morning by the State Assembly.  The bill was immediately sent to the Governor and will likely be signed this afternoon or tomorrow morning.  While the summary below illustrates a balanced budget, most observers believe that the budget will be immediately out of balance and still require some

 

Below are three summaries; the first, a general overview of the budget as it was compiled to address the approximately $18 billion deficit. Second, is a synopsis of one the pension reform and finally, a short summary of some of the impact on agricultural business. 

 

General Budget Framework

The budget package includes a combination of significant expenditure reductions,federal relief, additional revenues, and fund shifts. In addition to addressing the 2010-11 budget, the package includes many ongoing solutions and permanent reforms: (dollars in billions):

 

IOU's to be provided to businesses.  This budget will likely require the new legislature and Governor to readdress the budget in January.  The budget includes approximately $7.4 billion in actual cuts and $10 billion in other budget tricks such as increase in borrowing from special funds, reliance on unrealistic financial assistance from the federal government of $5.4 billion and an increase in revenue assumptions. The budget also includes a constitutional amendment that will be voted upon in June 2012 creating yet another "rainy day fund."

 


Starting Problem.............................................................-$17.9

� Expenditure Reductions.................................................. 7.4

� Federal Funds...................................................................5.4

� Additional Revenues ........................................................2.4

� Fund Shifts, Other Revenues............................................2.9

� Alternative Funding..........................................................0.5

� Baseline Workload Adjustments.................................... -0.3

Total Solutions................................................................ $18.3

Final Reserve ....................................................................$0.4

Pension Reform

One of the Governor's main issues this year was to make progress in addressing public employee pensions and the state growing unfunded pension liability.  The budget makes the following changes to state pensions for new state employees hired on or after November 10, 2010. These changes would impact state employees in bargaining units that do not currently have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the state, as well as employees of the California State University system, the judicial branch of government, and the Legislature. These changes do not apply to current employees.

 

Rolls Back SB 400 Pension Benefits. New state employees' retirement benefits would be returned to the pension benefit levels that existed prior to the adoption of SB 400 (Chapter 555, Statutes of 1999) as detailed in the chart below:

 

Retirement Category Current RetirementProposed Formulas

Miscellaneous 2% at Age 55  (up to 2.5% at 63)

2% at Age 60  (up to 2.418% at 63)

Industrial 2% at Age 55  (up to 2.5% at age 63)

2% at Age 60  (up to 2.418% at age 63)

State Public Safety  2.5% at Age 55 2% at Age 55

Peace Officer and Firefighters, with the State, CSU, Legislature and Judicial branch

3% at Age 50 2.5% at Age 55

Ends Pension "Spiking." Requires three-year final compensation method of calculating benefit levels for new state employees who are not already under this calculation method.

Transparency. Requires additional analysis and oversight of CalPERS' actuarial assumptions.

 

Agricultural Issues

The California Department of Food and Agriculture and other entities that provide services for the agricultural community generally escaped significant budgetary impact.

 

CDFA funding was generally stable from current year.  They will endure some unallocated cuts but this should be absorbable.  There is a $15 million "loan" to the general fund from the "agricultural fund" which is compiled from fees on licenses and regulated businesses.

 

Williamson Act - The Williamson Act was funded at $10 million.  This is a significant reductions from the statutory allocation of approximately $40 million but a significant increase from current year which was funded at $1,000. 

 

Water Board Fees - a coalition of agricultural water interests were successful in getting a proposed $13 million cost for additional enforcement and permitting authority allocated from the general fund rather than fees as was proposed by the Governor and earlier legislative budgets.   

 

Elimination of all negative "trailer bill language" - in the final week of negotiations, several elements arose in the budget "trailer bills" that would have negatively impacted agriculture including additional delta water fees, additional regulations on pesticides and uses and additional environmental regulations.  After much opposition by the agricultural community these provisions were removed from the final bills.  

 

Governor Vetoes Remaining Bills of Concern to Ag

 

Governor Schwarzenegger finished his final bill signing by vetoing four bills that all were a threat to agriculture interests.  Throughout his 7 year term, the Governor was a solid backstop for ag labor bills. He vetoed "card check for ag" and several other threats to ag employers.  He maintained this pattern and vetoed other bills of concern when he ended his final legislative signing term on September 30th.  Below is a short synopsis of the four final bills. 

 

SB 1474 (Steinberg) addresses farm labor union organizing and create "card check" as a remedy when a vote is contested alleging unfair labor practices. Vetoed

 

SB 1157 (DeSaulnier) removes the statutory cap on the pesticide mill tax and would use the tax increase to fund Integrated Pest Management plans and staff at schools. Vetoed

 

AB 1778 (Lieu) Impacts agricultural commissions and marketing orders by requiring any entity that uses "public funds," which includes industry assessments, to film all promotional activities in California.  This will impact foreign trade shows, trade promotion activities and "celebrity chef" promotions.  Vetoed

 

AB 1778 (Lieu) Impacts agricultural commissions and marketing orders by requiring any entity that uses "public funds," which includes industry assessments, to film all promotional activities in California.  This will impact foreign trade shows, trade promotion activities and "celebrity chef" promotions.  Vetoed

 


Sponsorship Opportunity
 

As you know this year our 2011 CSA Annual Convention is being held in conjunction with the ASTA's 50th Anniversary Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference which will be at the Hyatt Hotel in Huntington Beach, California from January 22-25, 2011.  This is a unique one-time opportunity to leverage our resources and combine efforts, but I want to assure you that CSA's Annual Convention will have all the same elements we always do - we are just adding much more with ASTA events, creating a wonderful experience for all attendees!

 

Since it is a little earlier than we typically have our Annual Convention, the ASTA's meeting planner, Jennifer and I are finalizing  the Event Brochure so that we will be able to start the promotion of the event and the registration process. I apologize for the short notice, but there is an opportunity to list some of our major CSA sponsors in the brochure which will be mailed to the entire CSA mailing list as well as the ASTA mailing list.  This would be an excellent advertising opportunity for your company.  There would be no need to send any monies right away, all I am looking for at this point is the commitment and would like to be able to list your company in our Event Brochure.  This would be a commitment of $1,000.00 or more to be included in the brochure.  All I need at this point is your agreement by Tuesday, October 12th and I will have your company name and logo included in the brochure.   The only catch is that they are printing next week so I need to know if you would like to be included in the next few days.  I typically don't solicit sponsorships until after the brochure goes out, but this opportunity presented itself and I thought you might like to give this some consideration.

 

A schedule of events, registration fees and hotel information are available on our CSA website at http://www.calseed.org/calendar.html ~ Thank you in advance and again, I appreciate all your support of CSA and our activities.

 

Donna Boggs

Associate Director

1521 I Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

Ph: (916) 441-2251 /Fx: (916) 446-1063

[email protected]

 

 

q YES, count me in for $1,000.00 or $___________   (please invoice me closer to the event) and I will email you a high resolution copy of our company logo by Tuesday, Oct. 12th

 

q NO, unfortunately I will have to pass right now.

 

q MAYBE, cannot commit yet, but contact me later in the year and I understand that my company name will not be listed in the Event Brochure, but will be included on all on-site brochures and signs at the actual event.

 

 

NAME: _______________________________________________________    

 

COMPANY: ___________________________________________________

 

Thank you!


 

Bee-Killing Disease May Be Combination Attack, Researchers Say
Bloomberg - 06-Oct-2010 - By Drew Armstrong


The mysterious deaths of billions of honeybees since 2006 that have harmed the U.S. agricultural industry may be caused by a common fungus and a previously unknown virus, University of Montana researchers say.

The virus, Invertebrate Iridescent Virus, or IIV6, seems to work together with the Nosema fungus to kill the bees, said the researchers, Colin Henderson and Jerry Bromenshenk, in findings published in the online science journal PLoS ONE. The bee disease known as Colony Collapse Disorder first appeared in 2006 and causes entire hives to die off without explanation.

Honeybees pollinate $15 billion of U.S. crops each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and companies such as General Mills Inc. and Clorox Co. use pollinated crops in their products. Scientists had looked toward viruses and fungal infections as a cause of the disorder. The disease has been reported in at least 35 states and been found in Europe, Asia and South America.

We have a strong suspect, Im convinced we have what it is, Henderson, an associate professor at the universitys College of Technology, said yesterday in a telephone interview.

Since the first outbreak in 2006, the disorder has showed up in 26 percent to 36 percent of hives each year, according to a survey released in April by the Department of Agriculture. The primary indication of colony collapse is whether hives were found empty. The disorder is characterized by a massive flight of bees, which dont return to their hives to die.

Pollinated Products
The tool to dig up the surprise virus from the dead bees came from a U.S. Department of Defense program meant to monitor disease outbreaks in people, specifically from biological weapons.

The Defense Department technology essentially took ground up bee parts and pulled out chains of proteins, some of which may have been the virus infecting the bees. Henderson and Bromenshenk compared the discoveries against a giant database of known proteins funded by the National Science Foundation.

We just looked for everything, Henderson said. What they found was IIV6, a virus that was common in moths though it wasnt known to exist in bees.

Having identified the virus and the fungus, the researchers tested bees in the lab. First they infected the bees with the fungus alone, and some died, though not as many as with Colony Collapse Disorder. Then they infected some with just the virus, with the same result. When the combination of virus and fungus was used, the results resembled the deadly disorder that had been wiping out hives across the country, the researchers said.

The next step will be to test the theory in the field to see if it proves true, Henderson said.

The real closure of the circle for us is to take the two pathogens to inoculate a colony, see it collapse, then pull out the pathogens again, he said. That will allow scientists to be sure they have identified the cause, he said.
Were eight-tenths of the way there, in my opinion, Henderson said.

Bees are essential for the health of pollinator-dependent crops such as almonds and blueberries. Fruit-pollinated products are found in items such as Haagen-Dazs ice cream from Minneapolis-based General Mills. Lip balm made by Burts Bees Inc., a unit of Oakland, California-based Clorox, contains wax from the honeycombs of beehives.

Henderson and Bromenshenk began looking into the cause of the bee disorder in 2006, when the first cases appeared. They found Nosema, a single-celled fungus that was already well known, and uncovered a suspicious DNA virus, IIV6, that nobody had looked for, Henderson said.

That pattern of those two showed up about 100 percent in the first infected colonies that we found, Henderson said. When a second outbreak of the mysterious illness hit, the scientists collected more samples, and again the virus and the fungus appeared in the dead bees.

Then came more evidence. One of the bee colonies kept by the University of Montana researchers got the disease, and for the first time, scientists we were able to track the malady from beginning to end, Henderson said.


New White House Chief of Staff Brings Ag Background to Capitol Hill

 

New White House Chief of Staff Peter Rouse comes to Capitol Hill with experience grounded in work for major ag state members of Congress.  However, even the old farm hands in Washington, DC, aren't sure what Rouse's ag policy views might be, reports Jim Webster, former assistant secretary of agriculture for information for President Jimmy Carter.  Rouse was a staffer for former Sen. Jim Abourezk (R, SD) and former Rep. Berkeley Bedell in the 1970s and early 1980s, and spent nearly two decades on the staff of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D, SD). 


 

 

October to See Major Farm Program Payments: USDA

 

USDA will mail nearly $5.5 billion in major program payments this month, with $3.8 billion in final 2010 direct payments going out, along with about $1.6 billion in annual Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) funds being mailed.  CRP rental payments, direct and counter cyclical payments (DCP) and Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) monies are all paid during October, the first month of the federal fiscal year.  CRP contracts will average $52.56 per acre, with producers earning an average $3,955 per farm enrolled, said USDA.  These payments cover about 31.3 million acres under both continuous CRP enrollments and general CRP signup.  DCP and ACRE payments will go to about 1.1 million producers.  USDA also reported that because the effective prices for wheat, barley, oats, corn, soybeans, grain sorghum, dry peas and lentils exceed the target price, the Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) will not issue any countercyclical payments for 2009 crops.


Chambliss Introduces Immigration/Visa Bill

 

Legislation to change the H-2A temporary worker visa program to assist agriculture with seasonal workers but not create an amnesty program for illegal aliens was introduced by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R, GA), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.  Called the "Helping Agriculture Receive Verifiable Employees Securely and Temporarily Act" - the "HARVEST" Act - Chambliss' bill takes on what critics have called a cumbersome and difficult temporary worker visa program.  The bill also addresses undocumented workers on farm; protection of workers "in place" on farms; requires the Department of Labor to increase the number of random audits and investigations required of H-2A employers to ensure compliance with existing law; mandates visa workers return to their home countries periodically; requires H-2A employers to verify the worker eligibility of all ag workers they hire, and ensures the H-2A program works for employers with year-round operations. Similar legislation has been introduced by New England legislators citing difficulties for dairy operations which rely on seasonal workers.

 


USDA Cites Study on Genetically Engineered Corn Benefits

 

USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), along with several university agricultural scientists, published in this month's edition of Science magazine a study showing Bt corn has "significant economic benefits," even to neighboring farmers who grow non-Bt corn.  Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said the study "provides important information about the benefits of biotechnology by directly examining how area-wide suppression of corn borers using Bt corn can improve the yield and grain quality of even non-Bt varieties."  The report says farmers in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin had cumulative economic benefits of nearly $7 billion from 1996-2009, with benefits of over $4 billion for non-Bt corn farmers alone.  The benefits accrue from regional suppression of corn borers based on long-term use of the genetically engineered corn, they said. The report says by 2009, nearly 55 million acres of U.S. corn land was planed to Bt corn, accounting for nearly 63% of the total U.S. corn crop.  Universities participating in the study included the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Pennsylvania State University, University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, Iowa State University, and industry researchers.


EPA News

 

EPA Lists Five-Year Priorities -- EPA's strategic goals for 2011-2015 were laid out this week by Administrator Lisa Jackson, who said the goals are combined with "five cross-cutting strategies to meet the growing environmental protection needs of the day."  The priorities also reflect Jackson's seven area priorities.  Benchmarks are included in the plan, Jackson said, including action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  The five goals are: Taking action on climate change and improving air quality; protecting America's waters; cleaning up communities and advancing sustainable development; ensuring the safety of chemicals and preventing pollution and enforcing environmental laws. 

The full plan can be found at www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm.

 

Baucus Joins Chorus Opposing EPA Climate Rules - Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D, MT) said this week that as a coal-state senator he supports action to stop EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, a job he believes Congress should tackle. He said he prefers legislation representing regional priorities and bringing more expertise to bear on the issues.  Baucus' statements make him a prime target for Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), another coal-state senator, who hopes to bring up legislation during the lame duck session to halt EPA regulatory action on greenhouse gases for two years.  A previous effort to ban the agency's action altogether, introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R, AK), failed.

 

Jackson Takes on "Anti-Ag" Allegations During First Meeting of Advisory Committee - During the inaugural meeting of the Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee (FRRCC), an independent panel of ag, food and environmental groups set up to ensure EPA has an agriculture/rural community context for its action, Administrator Lisa Jackson took on the allegations her agency is "anti-ag."  Said the administrator: "EPA is working to ensure that America's farmers, ranchers and rural communities are more environmentally sustainable and economically resilient than ever before. American farmers have a broad impact on everything from daily food prices to widespread environmental impacts to emerging fuel technologies.  We need them to be part of our decision-making process, and this meeting is yet another step in our engagement with the agriculture community."  She also cited "ongoing" efforts to engage with the agriculture community to create opportunities for cooperation between farmers, ranchers and environmental groups. 

 

EPA Expected to Announce Ethanol Blend Decision Next Week - A long-awaited decision on whether EPA will allow gasoline manufacturers to blend up to 15% ethanol in their fuels is expected on or about October 15.  The current maximum blend rate is 10%.  The initial decision is expected to allow the higher E15 ethanol blend in newer vehicles - cars and light trucks manufactured after 2007 - with a second decision on older vehicles expected as early as December 1.  Once the approval is granted, however, the Department of Energy (DOE) will embark on a year-long effort for new rules on underground storage tank systems and labeling options on the 15% blend to avoid "misfueling." In addition, there are steps outside of EPA and DOE control to be taken, including testing of pump equipment, changes to state laws to allow E15 blend sales and a new fuels registration process by industry.  Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is a long-time supporter to the higher blend. Tom Buis, head of Growth Energy, an ethanol trade association, said this week DOE sent a letter to all states receiving federal energy grants confirming actions expected by 2022, including the following: 50% of new vehicles made in the U.S. will be flex-fuel capable by 2012; a need to increase the number of outlets at which blended fuels are available; encouraging grantees to consider allocating or increasing funding to renewable fuel infrastructure, and committing to work with USDA field offices and "national and regional stakeholders" to provide technical assistance on program implementation. It's estimated the current Administration's commitment to biofuels infrastructure improvement is now more than $800 million.

 

Farm Bureau Calls for Consolidated, Bipartisan Legislation to Fix Court Decision on Pesticide, Clean Water Act

 

The "potential regulatory nightmare" created by a 2009 court decision that overturned an exemption for pesticide application under the Clean Water Act (CWA) can be solved by "consolidated, bipartisan legislation," the American Farm Bureau Federation said this week.  AFBF said there are three bills in Congress to fix the situation, and AFBF President Bob Stallman called on legislators to coordinate and cooperate on a single legislative vehicle.  At issue are efforts to amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to prohibit EPA from requiring additional CWA permitting if producers are in compliance with FIFRA requirements.  Bills have been introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chair Collin Peterson (D, MN), House ag panel ranking member Rep. Frank Lucas (R, OK), and by Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D, AR) and Saxby Chambliss, chair and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

 


EPA Extends by One Year the Compliance Date on Spill Prevention Rule for Certain Facilities

 

Offshore drilling, production, workover, and certain onshore facilities are not eligible for extension

 

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the compliance date by one year for certain facilities subject to recent amendments to the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule. The agency is also announcing that some facilities will not be eligible for the one year extension and will have to comply by the current date of November 10, 2010.

 

Last year, EPA amended the SPCC rule to strengthen certain provisions. Regulated facilities are required to amend and implement these changes as part of their overall SPCC plans. The purpose of the SPCC rule, which was finalized in 1973, is to establish requirements for facilities to prevent a discharge of oil into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines. EPA has no SPCC jurisdiction over drilling, production or workover facilities seaward of the coastline.

 

Types of facilities not eligible for the extension must comply by November 10, 2010:

 

Drilling, production or workover facilities that are offshore or that have an offshore component, or onshore facilities required to have and submit facility response plans (FRPs), due to the threats these facilities could pose of significant oil spills to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.

 

Types of facilities eligible for the one year extension:

 

Onshore oil production, farms, electric utility plants, petroleum refining and related industries, chemical manufacturing, food manufacturing, manufacturing facilities using and storing animal fats and vegetable oils, metal and other manufacturing, real estate rental and leasing, retail trade, contract construction, wholesale trade, other commercial, transportation, arts entertainment & recreation, other services (except public administration), petroleum bulk stations and terminals, education, hospitals & other health care, accommodation and food services, fuel oil dealers, gasoline stations, information finance and insurance, mining, warehousing and storage, religious organizations, military installations, and government facilities.

 

In summary, the rule would:

 

�         Extend the date by which the owners or operators of certain facilities must prepare or amend and implement an SPCC plan by one year to November 10, 2011

 

�         Delay the compliance date by which facilities must address milk and milk product containers that are constructed according to the current applicable 3-A sanitary standards, and subject to the current applicable grade "A" pasteurized milk ordinance (PMO) or a state dairy regulatory requirement equivalent to the current applicable PMO until one year after EPA finalizes a rule for these facilities.

 

�         Maintain the current November 10, 2010 compliance date for drilling, production and workover facilities that are offshore or that have an offshore component, and for onshore facilities required to have and submit FRPs

 

�         Reconcile the compliance dates for new production facilities

 

These amendments do not remove the regulatory requirement for owners or operators of facilities in operation before August 16, 2002, to maintain and continue implementing an SPCC plan in accordance with the SPCC regulations then in effect.

 

More information on the rule:  http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/spcc/compliance_dates.htm


UPCOMING DATES
   
 
2011
 
January 22-25, 2011 - CSA Annual Convention in Conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of ASTA's Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference, Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, CA     


  
  

  
 
 
October 11-12, 2011 - Mid Year Meeting, InterContinental Hotel in Monterey, CA