NORCAL (Association of Flower Growers & Shippers) honored Mellano & Company with their Distinguished Service Award at the Friday morning awards breakfast during the 2013 Fun 'N Sun Convention held July 17th - 20th at Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara. Congratulations to the Mellano family for the support and dedication they have given to the entire floral industry since 1925. This is truly a well-deserved honor as evidenced by the standing ovation and cheers from the audience.

The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Mellano & Company at the Awards Breakfast on Friday, 7/19 at the 2013 Fun 'N Sun Convention.

Special thanks to the NORCAL Board of Directors, the Convention Planning Committee and Staff for an incredible line up of events: Grower Tours, Flower Fair, Workshops, and Seminars. Jan DeLyser, Vice President of Marketing for the California Avocado Commission was the featured speaker at the Wednesday evening dinner. Ms. DeLyser is an amazing speaker and her presentation on the journey the California Avocado Commission embarked upon in 2008 to maximize grower returns by maintaining premium brand positioning and improving grower sustainability for California Avocados was phenomenal!

NORCAL sponsored the California State Flora Association's program for the Thursday evening "A Toast to California Flowers" dinner. The design Team of Anthony Alvarez AIFD, CCF, EMC, Debbie Alvarez AIFD, CCF, Rene van Rems AIFD, CCF, PFCI, Duane Rose, Gisele Chamberlain CCF, Keith Kemp, Kay Wolff AIFD, CCF and student volunteers treated the audience to a very fun 'Mad Hatters' and 'Project Floral Runway' extravaganza. Attendees were eager to participate and fun was had by all as they proudly wore their one of a kind floral hat creation! Please see pictures below.

Farm Bill Conference in Limbo; Stabenow Predicts Deal, House Talks Extension

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) is ready for a Farm Bill conference committee. She's got a Senate-passed bill - with a nutrition title - she's got her seven most senior committee members for conferees, and her boss, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, NV), has taken care of the procedural hurdles. She's even confident enough to predict this week a deal with the House, a finished conference report by September. Now, she's waiting on the House - again.

The Senate took the House-passed bill it received last week and sent it back to the House with the Senate language substituted for all but the bill's number, necessary because the Senate-passed bill contains revenue language the Constitution requires originate in the House.

It's not clear when House leadership will clear the Farm Bill for conference action. If action isn't taken quickly to get the two chambers together, a second extension of 2008 authority might be necessary as the current extension expires at the end of September. House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R, OK), who will eventually name five House conferees, says he wants a Farm Bill completed by the end of September, but admits a short-term extension may be needed. However, his ranking member Rep. Collin Peterson (D, MN) and Reid have publicly said they'll not support another short-term extension.

Stabenow also dismissed an extension, saying "eventually" the House will name conferees. Meanwhile, she said her committee will meet "informally" with the House ag committee during the five-week August recess. Stabenow confirmed she and her committee ranking member Sen. Thad Cochran (R, MS) met with Peterson and Lucas this week, and that respective committee staffs are setting meetings to begin discussion, but no firm schedule has emerged. There are only nine legislative working days in September, so her window of opportunity is small, and ag lobbyists close to the Farm Bill peg December for final action.

Peterson told reporters he's not seeing a lot of action among Republicans, either at the member or staff levels. The question is whether House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R, VA) can find consensus for a stand-alone nutrition program reauthorization bill that will pass the full House. Cantor reaffirmed that stance late in the week, saying nothing will happen on the Farm Bill until efforts "forging a consensus on a nutrition bill are complete."

There's a 20-member GOP nutrition program working group, but no consensus has been reached and no meetings scheduled until after the August break. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D, OH), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and member of the ag committee, said she met with Cantor this week on the nutrition bill and came away believing there's no plan to move the nutrition bill because Cantor "doesn't want a bill."

Growing California video series: Fun, Food, Festivals

CCF Exam Pro Classes

CALIFORNIA CERTIFIED FLORIST (CCF)

EXAM PREPARATION CLASSES SCHEDULED

The California State Floral Association (CSFA) &

The California Certified Florist (CCF) Program

Present:

CCF Prep Classes

Sunday, September 22nd

Two Locations:

A To Wholesale Floral Supply Inc.

1511 E. McFadden Avenue,

Santa Ana, CA 92705

Brannan Street Wholesale

640 Brannan Street

San Francisco, CA 94107

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!

For More Information call the CSFA office at 916-448-5266 or go to the CCF website at: www.californiacertifiedflorist.org

Senate Ag Committee Approves Harden, Bonnie Nominations

The Senate Agriculture Committee this week, saying it was "impressed by the nominees," quickly approved the nominations of Krysta Harden to be USDA deputy secretary of agriculture, and Robert Bonnie to be undersecretary for natural resources and environment.

Harden, who is currently Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's chief of staff, was former assistant secretary for congressional affairs. Bonnie is a former senior advisor to Vilsack.

House Increasingly Open to Immigration Reform

Both sides of the political aisle in the House appear to be mellowing to the notion of federal immigration reform, with the GOP this week saying there's a willingness to create a path to citizenship for the nation's 11 million undocumented workers, while the Democrats said they're now willing to forgo a single, comprehensive legislative package in favor of moving reform "in chunks." Both positions are key reversals from earlier, entrenched positions.

The House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, VA) is the center of all immigration reform action, with the panel having cleared already five bills, including an ag worker reform bill. Goodlatte and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R, VA) are also working on what's called "the KIDS Act," legislation that would grant citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants who brought minor children to the U.S. or who had their children after they entered the country illegally. A Judiciary Committee subcommittee held a hearing on the issue this week. The House Homeland Security Committee has also passed a bill on creating a system for measuring increases in border security.

And while even House Speaker John Boehner (R, OH) referred to the KIDS Act as "compassionate" - while criticizing the Senate bill as overly ambitious and lacking sufficient border controls - House Democrats were not willing to embrace the Goodlatte-Cantor approach, with most taking a wait-and-see attitude before endorsing the action.