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Benefits of Belonging to CGFA
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- State & Federal Legislative Advocacy
- Industry & Small Business Issues
- Business Advocacy
- Weekly Updates on Current Issues
- Networking Opportunities
- Industry Specific Directories
- Advertising Venues
- Social Media Sites
- Cost Saving Insurance Programs
- Environmental and Safety Resource
- Continuing Education and Training
- Political Action Committee Administration
- Annual Convention
- Education Programs
- District Meetings
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Registration Open for CANC on May 4-5
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The 2016 California Animal Nutrition Conference (CANC) will take place on May 4-5 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Fresno Convention Center in Fresno, CA.;'
You can register to attend online or download a registration form here.
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The
at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego is right around the corner! Don't miss the great line up of speakers and entertainers.
Thursday Business Session
- Three Fundamental Shifts Impacting U.S Agriculture for Years to Come by: Richard Brock, Brock Associates
- Dairy Economics/Outlook by: Annie AcMoody, Western United Dairymen
- CGFA Annual Meeting/Reports by: President, John Kauffmann, J.D. Heiskell & Co. and Chief Executive Officer, Chris Zanobini and Legislative Advocate, Dennis Albiani
- Agriculture, Human Health, and the Environment by: Dr. Patrick Moore
Spouse Program: Brunch & Canvas Painting Adventure!
Group Luncheon & Keynote Address
Performance by Artist David Garibaldi
"Paint, Passion & Purpose" ( see video link click here)
There are still a few spot open for the Wed JDH Golf as well as some of the Friday group activities. Join your industry friends.
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| | Grand Manchester Hyatt San Diego |
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| USS MidWay Museum for Friday Night Dinner
Watch the Luncheon Performer Preview....
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$250 Gift Card Raffle through CGFA Careers Center
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CGFA is hosting a raffle for two $250 gift cards to the winner's choice of Costco, Cabela's, or Nordstrom!
You will receive a $5 Starbucks gift card just for providing CGFA with the contact person at your company who handles recruiting (name, email address, and phone number). Your company's HR person will also receive a $5 gift card once they create a profile on the CGFA Careers Center!
Details on how to enter the raffle are available below:
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Governor Brown Signs Legislation to Raise California's Minimum Wage
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Contact: Governor's Press Office
(916) 445-4571
LOS ANGELES - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. joined supporters from across the state on Monday in Los Angeles to sign landmark legislation that makes California the first state in the nation to commit to raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour statewide.
"This is about economic justice, it's about people," said Governor Brown. "This is an important day, it's not the end of the struggle but it's a very important step forward."
Under the legislation - SB 3 by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) - minimum wage will rise to $10.50 per hour on January 1, 2017 for businesses with 26 or more employees, and then rise each year until reaching $15 per hour in 2022. The bill also recognizes the contributions of small businesses - those with 25 or fewer employees - to California's economy and allows additional time for these employers to phase in the increases.
The legislation increases the minimum wage over time, consistent with economic expansion, while providing safety valves - known as "off-ramps" - to pause wage hikes if negative economic or budgetary conditions emerge. The Governor can act by September 1 of each year to pause the next year's wage increase for one year if there is a forecasted budget deficit (of more than one percent of annual revenue) or poor economic conditions (negative job growth and retail sales).
Once the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour for all businesses, wages could then be increased each year up to 3.5 percent (rounded to the nearest 10 cents) for inflation as measured by the national Consumer Price Index.
The new law also phases in sick leave for In-Home Supportive Services workers starting in July 2018.
Governor Brown signed AB 10 in September 2013 to raise California's minimum wage 25 percent, from $8 to $10 per hour, effective January 1, 2016. There are approximately 7 million hourly workers in California, of which about 2.2 million earn the minimum wage.
A fact sheet on the new legislation can be found here. For full text of the bill, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
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Governor Brown Announces Appointments
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, April 8, 2016
Contact: Governor's Press Office
(916) 445-4571
SACRAMENTO - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the following appointments:
Tom Martinez, 47, of Sacramento, has been appointed chief deputy general manager for the California Exposition and State Fair. Martinez has been state government relations manager at the Santa Clara Valley Water District since 2008. He was communications director for the California State Senate Democratic Caucus from 2004 to 2008, press secretary in the Office of California State Senate Majority Leader Don Perata from 2002 to 2004 and director of external affairs at the San Mateo County Recorder's Office from 2001 to 2002. Martinez was a government and community affairs representative at the San Francisco International Airport from 2000 to 2001 and director at California State Assemblymember Lou Papan's District Office from 1996 to 2000. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $130,008. Martinez is a Democrat.
Samantha Brown, 42, of Elk Grove, has been appointed administrative deputy general manager for the California Exposition and State Fair, where she has been a staff services manager since 1994. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,004. Brown is registered without party preference.
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FDA Publishes Final FSMA "Sanitary Transportation" Rule for Food, Feed
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The long-awaited final Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rule on the "sanitary transport" of food and feed was published by FDA April 6, bringing to seven the number of major "foundational" FSMA rulemakings released by the agency since January, 2013.
"The goal of this rule is to prevent practices during transportation that create food safety risks, such as failure to properly refrigerate food, inadequate cleaning of vehicles between loads and failure to properly protect food" and feed products and ingredients. The full text of the "Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food" rule, along with digests of key requirements, is found here. The agency said it intends to publish further guidance documents on the rule as well.
Most food groups were generally content with the final rule, and the American Feed Industry Assn. (AFIA) reported its initial reading shows FDA made "certain changes requested by the animal food industry to add flexibility in the final rule." Importantly, the animal food industry was able to convince FDA to simplify recordkeeping requirements significantly, bringing them into agreement with and avoiding redundancy with the preventive controls rule already published by FDA. However, AFIA also points out that while FDA estimates the cost of compliance for the new rule is $113-117 million per year across the food/feed industries, the agency was unable to quantify the benefits of the rule to regulated industry.
The feed association was also disappointed with some "inconsistent exemptions to the rule." AFIA specifically cited a change from the rule's proposed version that now exempts human food byproducts for use as an animal food without further processing, but an AFIA request to exempt finished feed shipments transported directly to farms was rejected.
The final rule applies to shippers, receivers, loaders and carriers who transport food/feed - FDA will allow individuals to fulfill more than one function as long as they meet all requirements of all roles they fill - in the U.S. by truck or rail, whether or not the food/feed moves in interstate commerce. Exempt are live animal shipments, except molluscan shellfish, and the rule explicitly states that while "all transportation functions performed by a farm are not subject to this rule," the agency intends to issue a formal guidance document - without the force of law - that will be "useful in setting forth good transportation practices, given the diverse practices that occur within the sector." Also exempt is "food when it is located in a food facility that is regulated throughout the entire facility" by USDA.
The rule does apply to exporters/shippers overseas who ship food to be consumed or distributed in the U.S. directly to the U.S. by truck, rail, ship or plane, or those who arrange the transfer of an intact container onto a mode of transport for movement within the U.S. Not covered are transshipments through the U.S. as long as the food/feed doesn't enter distribution in this country.
Focusing on avoiding practices that could create safety risks rather than on quality issues that don't affect food/feed safety, the rule requires sanitary practices to prevent food/feed contamination, setting requirements for trucks and transport equipment, transport operations, information exchange, training, records and waivers under certain circumstances.
Some responsibilities fall squarely on shippers when it comes to setting up transport operations, but other responsibilities can be shared with others through contractual agreements, the agency said. Shippers will have to develop and follow written plans ensuring food/feed shipped in bulk is not contaminated by a prior load, as well as making sure temperature controls are ensured where necessary.
Most companies will need to comply one year (April 6, 2017) after formal Federal Register publication, with small businesses as defined by FSMA getting two years to comply.
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Lockage Fee Proposal Threatens Waterways Bill
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A proposal to charge shippers lockage fees and/or tolls on certain waters to help private investors recoup their investment in lock and dam construction and rehab has drawn opposition from 75 manufacturing, producer, importer/exporter companies, ports and labor organizations. The groups contend such fees or tolls are unfair given shippers already agreed to increase the taxes they pay on barge fuels as part of the recently approved House version of the waterways bill.
The letter, signed by the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA), as well as major grain shippers and national farmer and cooperative groups, was sent this week to Sen. James Inhofe (R, OK), chair of the Environment & Public Works Committee, and Inhofe's ranking member Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, CA). Sen. David Vitter (R, LA), chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, also received the letter.
The lockage fee/toll idea is part of committee consideration of a provision that would allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enter a "public private partnership agreement" known as a P3. The P3 would be struck "to rehabilitate or construct locks and dams on a tributary waterway. P3 investors would be granted a multi-year concession to toll lock users to recoup their investment" as well a "rate of return."
Similar toll/fee ideas have been tried before, generally supported by taxpayer groups who contend the federal government should not bear the full cost of waterway maintenance and construction. All previous efforts to toll/fee the locks and dams failed.
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Bayer, EPA Face Off over Flubendiamide Next Month
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A May 10 Washington, DC, hearing has been scheduled before an EPA administrative law judge to hear arguments from the agency and Bayer CropScience over EPA moves to withdraw approval of Bayer's pesticide flubendiamide, marketed as Belt.
EPA seeks to cancel the conditional flubendiamide registration because it contends the chemical is placing aquatic animals at risk. The company says that monitoring data proves EPA's concerns are unfounded.
Belt is used on corn, cotton, tobacco, tree nuts, grapes, vegetables and pome and stone fruit, and has been conditionally cleared since 2008.
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USDA Announces Program to Help Farmers with Food Safety
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The rollout of a new USDA program to assist small and medium-sized farms voluntarily meet food safety certification criteria was announced by the department this week. GroupGAP is a "good agricultural practices" audit program resulting from a three-year pilot effort. The program is targeted to groups, cooperatives and "food hubs," USDA said, and lets multiple farms cut audit overhead through group certification.
Through the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Crops Inspection Division, GAP audits are done to verify farms follow industry-set and recognized food safety actions and recommendations from FDA, and stem from buyers wanting such certifications, the department said in announcing the new program.
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Dr. Jack Shere Named USDA Chief Vet, APHIS Deputy Administrator
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Dr. Jack Shere, USDA's acting chief veterinarian since February, has been officially designated as department chief vet, as well as Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) deputy administrator for veterinary services. Shere replaces Dr. John Clifford, who served 12 years in both positions, who is now Chief Trade Advisor to the APHIS Veterinary Services National Import Export Services, and remains the U.S. delegate to the OIE, the world animal health organization.
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Canada Says 2, 4-D Uses OK
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In sharp contrast to other governments which have either limited or questioned the use of the herbicide 2,4-D, including Norway's decision to ban the product several years ago, Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PRMA) this week announced "registered products containing 2,4-D are acceptable for continued registration" in Canada. The decision was part of a special review of products containing 2, 4-D, and is consistent with previous PRMA reviews, the government said.
PRMA said not all forms of 2, 4-D are not mutagenic or genotoxic, and that the "weight of evidence indicates the chemical is not carcinogenic in rats, mice and dogs." The agency also looked at data from several epidemiological studies on human exposure. The PRMA decision is open for public comment for the next 45 days, the agency said.
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Obama Announcement on U.S. Corporate "Tax Inversion"
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President Obama's announcement this week of new rules from the Treasury Department designed to stop "tax inversion" by U.S. companies - and which successfully prevented the monster Pfizer-Allergan merger - also trumped an earlier announcement by the House Ways & Means Committee that it will hold hearings on "fundamental tax reform proposals" next week.
As the White House explained, "Inversion is when a company moves its tax residence overseas on paper, typically to a low-tax country, to avoid paying their (sic) fair share in taxes here at home. When multinational corporations exploit these loopholes - enjoying the many benefits of locating in the U.S. without responsibly paying into the system - it erodes the...tax base (and) undercuts businesses that play by the rules. Business decisions should be driven by genuine business strategies and economic efficiencies, not by accounting gimmicks that game our broken tax system." Rep. Charles Boustany (R, LA), chair of the Ways & Means Committee's subcommittee on tax policy, announced March 31 his panel will hold an April 13 hearing, the latest in a series of hearings on tax reform. However, the President acknowledged the new Treasury actions are short-term fixes. "Only Congress can stop inversions outright, which is why (I've) proposed to fully close the loophole that allows for corporate inversions in each of my last three budget proposals. Congress should follow the Administration's lead by supporting workers and businesses that play by the rules rather than protecting corporations that ship jobs and profits overseas," the White House said. Ways & Means Committee Chair Kevin Brady (R, TX) said in response to the President's announcement, "While I'm pleased that President Obama acknowledged how our broken tax code continues to hurt our economy, it's clear that his new regulations won't solve the problem. We will also continue reviewing Treasury's new regulations, including how the proposed retroactive tax changes will impact our economy and American jobs, as well as Treasury's authority to issue such sweeping tax changes without consideration by Congress." The first hearing Boustany subcommittee hearing "kicked off an important and timely conversation" about reforming the federal tax code, he said, and "our next hearing will continue that discussion as we consider proposals to reform our complex, unfair and outdated tax code." The new Treasury rules include a temporary rule to make it less beneficial for foreign companies to acquire multiple U.S. subsidiaries over a short time or through a corporate inversion. The new rule would curb the practice by preventing a foreign company which acquires multiple U.S. companies in stock-based transactions from using the resulting increase in size to avoid the current inversion thresholds for a newly acquired U.S. subsidiary. More from the White House: "Treasury is also proposing new rules to tackle a practice known as 'earnings stripping.' After a company has moved its tax residence overseas, the U.S. subsidiary of the newly multinational company can take a loan from its foreign parent company. By issuing a debt against their new foreign company, the U.S. subsidiary can reduce its tax bills without these internal loans showing up on their earnings statement. This tax strategy is known as earnings stripping." The use of tax inversions by U.S. companies has long been part of a bipartisan Senate plan being hammered out by Sens. Rob Portman (R, OH) and Charles Schumer (D, NY) as recently as last summer. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R, WI) last July praised the Portman-Schumer effort. "Fixing our international tax system is an urgent task," Ryan said. "These ideas can serve as the basis for a bipartisan tax package to stem the tide of inversions and takeovers..." The Pfizer-Allergan merger, which both parties announced this week has been scuttled and which the White House says was not the target of Treasury action, would have been the largest inversion on record, creating the world's largest drug company. Allergan gets a $150-million "break-up" fee blamed on "adverse tax law change" per the original merger contract.
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Nominations Open for Leopold Conservation Award
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By California Farm Bureau Federation, Ag Alert
Sand County Foundation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation are accepting applications for the $10,000 Leopold Conservation Award. The award honors California farmers, ranchers and other private landowners who demonstrate responsible stewardship and management of natural resources. "There are a number of agriculturalists in California that are caring for the environment through ecologically sound practices and conservation on their farms and ranches," said 2015 award recipients Jim and Mary Rickert of Prather Ranch. "It's an honor to receive the Leopold Conservation Award, and we would like to encourage others to apply for this very prestigious award and share their story with others." Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award inspires other landowners by example and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders, said Sustainable Conservation Executive Director Ashley Boren. "Because approximately half of California is privately owned, farmers, ranchers and other landowners are on the front lines in keeping the state's environment-our land, air, water, wildlife and climate-vibrant," Boren said. "The Leopold Conservation Award is proud to celebrate those deserving, but often overlooked, landowner heroes who do their part every day to steward our environment in ways that benefit people, our economy and the planet." California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger said that farmers and ranchers must continually adapt to changing conditions from weather, markets for their products and regulatory compliance. "There is no blueprint for growing the unique and diverse cornucopia of crops California is known for, in equally unique and diverse geographical regions throughout our state," Wenger said. "The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes those farmers and ranchers who strive to maximize their economic opportunities while also protecting and enhancing the natural resources that are the basic foundation of their farm or ranch." The California Leopold Conservation Award is possible thanks to contributions from The Harvey L. & Maud S. Sorenson Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, American AgCredit, DuPont Pioneer and The Mosaic Company. The 2016 California Leopold Conservation Award will be presented in December at the California Farm Bureau Federation Annual Meeting in Monterey. The award recipient will receive $10,000 and a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold. Nominations must be postmarked by July 8 and mailed to Leopold Conservation Award c/o Sustainable Conservation, 98 Battery St., Suite 302, San Francisco, CA 94111. Nominations may be submitted on behalf of a landowner, or landowners may nominate themselves.
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