The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program provides a legal means to bring in foreign-born workers into the United States on a short-term basis. Workers employed on an H-2A visa may remain in the U.S. for up to 10 months at a time. Employers must demonstrate and the U.S. Department of Labor must certify that efforts to recruit U.S. workers were not successful. Employers must also pay a State-specific minimum wage, known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR). The rate is set at the region’s average farm wage to prevent H-2A employment from negatively affecting domestic farmworkers by lowering their wages. For fiscal 2019, this minimum hourly wage was highest in Oregon and Washington at $15.03, followed by Hawaii at $14.73. The wage rate was also high in the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas at $14.38. By comparison, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina had the lowest minimum wages at $11.13. This chart appears in the Economic Research Service topic page for Farm Labor, updated January 2020.
Berry People (www.berrypeople.com), a year-round, full-line shipper of branded organic and conventional strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and avocados has created new positions within its organization, added team members, and moved operations to a larger central CA office to accommodate the growth, with team members temporarily working from home until the mitigation of COVID-19 matters.
Jerald Downs – President
“We are thankful to be an essential part of the nation’s food supply chain, allowing us to support the people in our Berry People community, including our growers, employees, customers and consumers,” said Jerald Downs, president, speaking of the worldwide effects of COVID-19. “We’re assessing the short and long-term effects of the pandemic, and taking measures to manage business risk, while also ensuring the safety of our field labor, consumers, and everyone in between. Our cloud-based and mobile work environment allow us to continue the quality of service that our buyers and growers expect, and we are effectively managing our supply-chain to support the market’s demands.”
These business moves are consistent with the company’s long-term strategic plan for continual expansion since launching in 2017. Recent key hires include the addition of an ERP-process analyst, financial controller and regional supply managers. “These specialized roles improve functional efficiency, optimize deployment of resources, tighten risk management, and deepen relationships with growers and suppliers,” said Michael Osumi, VP Supply-Operations.
“Strong core values and a clear company vision support our intentional organization and job design, so our valued team members convey a unified brand promise to our service providers and customers,” said Downs. “These characteristics support our ‘unity in diversity’ philosophy, leaning into each other’s strengths towards a common goal. Our growth and building balance sheet also enable us to increase our investment activity in technology, genetics, and packaging innovation, which supports our long-term growth and profitability.”
Damon Barkdull – Sr. Commodity-Sales Manager
“As we approach our third full year in business, our customers can increasingly rely on us for substantially increased volume coverage, and improved continuity across the entire berry and avocado categories, materially reducing the seasonal gaps that are common with young companies like ours,” added Damon Barkdull, senior commodity-sales manager. ”
With strong business results and overwhelmingly positive customer feedback to date, we never stop looking for better ways to anticipate needs and shorten response times.”Berry People and its alliance partners have operations in California, Mexico, Chile, and Peru. The company offers year-round availability of organic and conventional strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and avocados through the Berry People and Avo People brands.”As we build financial strength, we plan to build our ‘social balance sheet’ as well, increasing our position in and commitment to both the marketplace, and to the communities we work in,” said Downs. “We look forward to giving back to the stakeholders that have embraced our organization, appreciating the fact that we’re a company whose growth is driven fundamentally by trust.”
Michael Osumi – VP Supply-Operations
Berry People’s short-term plans include the significant expansion of its summer organic strawberry program and a substantially increased position in the Peruvian avocado and blueberry industries.
About Berry People:
Berry People is a year-round, full-line shipper of branded organic and conventional strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and avocados, and owner of the Berry People and Avo People brands. Headquartered in Hollister, California, the company’s ownership and key alliance partners hold important production assets in California, Mexico, Chile and Peru. All product is graded and allocated by pallet, and all growers are fully compliant with USDA and FDA regulations on food safety and organic practices. Berry People operates with a strong company ethos along its entire supply chain that emphasizes complementarity, stewardship and empathy. For more information, visit www.berrypeople.com, or www.avopeople.com.
Why is milk being dumped and produce left to rot in fieldswhile grocery store shelves go empty during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why are grocery stores running out of meat, and eggs becoming so expensive?
The head of California’s Department of Food and Agriculture, researchers from the University of California, Davis, and food purveyors will tackle these and other questions in an online panel discussion at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 12.
The 90-minute event, which will include a question-and-answer period with the Zoom audience, will feature:
Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture since 2011
Dan Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, professor of agricultural and resource economics at UC Davis, and former assistant secretary for economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Bu Nygrens, co-owner and director of purchasing at Veritable Vegetable of San Francisco, which distributes organic produce from more than 200 small and mid-size growers to restaurants, markets and co-ops across five states
Chelsea Minor, corporate director of public affairs for Raley’s Supermarkets of West Sacramento, a regional grocery chain in Northern California and Nevada
Moderating the event will be Catherine Brinkley,who, as an assistant professor in the Department of Human Ecology at UC Davis, studies the architecture of food supply networks.
The panel will discuss how the food supply chain works, why the COVID-19 pandemic has been so disruptive, how distributors and supply chains are adapting to serve restaurants and grocery stores, and whether changes can or should be made to make food systems more resilient.
The lecture is the third in the Savor series, which explores some of the biggest food and beverage topics being studied today at UC Davis — a world leader in the study of agriculture. The series is presented by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and the UC Davis Library.
– By Jessica Nusbaum and Julia Ann Easley, UC Davis
Berry People (www.berrypeople.com), a year-round, full-line shipper of branded organic and conventional strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and avocados has created new positions within its organization, added team members, and moved operations to a larger central CA office to accommodate the growth, with team members temporarily working from home until the mitigation of COVID-19 matters.
Damon Barkdull – Sr. Commodity-Sales Manager
“We are thankful to be an essential part of the nation’s food supply chain, allowing us to support the people in our Berry People community, including our growers, employees, customers and consumers,” said Jerald Downs, president, speaking of the worldwide effects of COVID-19. “We’re assessing the short and long-term effects of the pandemic, and taking measures to manage business risk, while also ensuring the safety of our field labor, consumers, and everyone in between. Our cloud-based and mobile work environment allow us to continue the quality of service that our buyers and growers expect, and we are effectively managing our supply-chain to support the market’s demands.”
These business moves are consistent with the company’s long-term strategic plan for continual expansion since launching in 2017. Recent key hires include the addition of an ERP-process analyst, financial controller and regional supply managers. “These specialized roles improve functional efficiency, optimize deployment of resources, tighten risk management, and deepen relationships with growers and suppliers,” said Michael Osumi, VP Supply-Operations.
“Strong core values and a clear company vision support our intentional organization and job design, so our valued team members convey a unified brand promise to our service providers and customers,” said Downs. “These characteristics support our ‘unity in diversity’ philosophy, leaning into each other’s strengths towards a common goal. Our growth and building balance sheet also enable us to increase our investment activity in technology, genetics, and packaging innovation, which supports our long-term growth and profitability.”
Michael Osumi – VP Supply-Operations
“As we approach our third full year in business, our customers can increasingly rely on us for substantially increased volume coverage, and improved continuity across the entire berry and avocado categories, materially reducing the seasonal gaps that are common with young companies like ours,” added Damon Barkdull, senior commodity-sales manager. “With strong business results and overwhelmingly positive customer feedback to date, we never stop looking for better ways to anticipate needs and shorten response times.”
Berry People and its alliance partners have operations in California, Mexico, Chile, and Peru. The company offers year-round availability of organic and conventional strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and avocados through the Berry People and Avo People brands.
“As we build financial strength, we plan to build our ‘social balance sheet’ as well, increasing our position in and commitment to both the marketplace, and to the communities we work in,” said Downs. “We look forward to giving back to the stakeholders that have embraced our organization, appreciating the fact that
Jerald Downs – President
we’re a company whose growth is driven fundamentally by trust.”
Berry People’s short-term plans include the significant expansion of its summer organic strawberry program and a substantially increased position in the Peruvian avocado and blueberry industries. About Berry People: Berry People is a year-round, full-line shipper of branded organic and conventional strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and avocados, and owner of the Berry People and Avo People brands. Headquartered in Hollister, California, the company’s ownership and key alliance partners hold important production assets in California, Mexico, Chile and Peru. All product is graded and allocated by pallet, and all growers are fully compliant with USDA and FDA regulations on food safety and organic practices. Berry People operates with a strong company ethos along its entire supply chain that emphasizes complementarity, stewardship and empathy. For more information, visit www.berrypeople.com, or www.avopeople.com.
Why is milk being dumped and produce left to rot in fields while grocery store shelves go empty during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why are grocery stores running out of meat, and eggs becoming so expensive?
The head of California’s Department of Food and Agriculture, researchers from the University of California, Davis, and food purveyors will tackle these and other questions in an online panel discussion at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 12.
The 90-minute event, which will include a question-and-answer period with the Zoom audience, will feature:
Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture since 2011
Dan Sumner, director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center, professor of agricultural and resource economics at UC Davis, and former assistant secretary for economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Bu Nygrens, co-owner and director of purchasing at Veritable Vegetable of San Francisco, which distributes organic produce from more than 200 small and mid-size growers to restaurants, markets and co-ops across five states
Chelsea Minor, corporate director of public affairs for Raley’s Supermarkets of West Sacramento, a regional grocery chain in Northern California and Nevada
Moderating the event will be Catherine Brinkley,who, as an assistant professor in the Department of Human Ecology at UC Davis, studies the architecture of food supply networks.
The panel will discuss how the food supply chain works, why the COVID-19 pandemic has been so disruptive, how distributors and supply chains are adapting to serve restaurants and grocery stores, and whether changes can or should be made to make food systems more resilient.
The lecture is the third in the Savor series, which explores some of the biggest food and beverage topics being studied today at UC Davis — a world leader in the study of agriculture. The series is presented by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and the UC Davis Library.
– By Jessica Nusbaum and Julia Ann Easley, UC Davis
Pick Safety is a new effort from the California Strawberry Commission to highlight farm worker safety and industry-leading training and safety practices by emphasizing that everybody is responsible to always pick safety.
“Our new I Pick Safety logo reminds people to be safe and healthy, and it highlights why this is important,” said Carolyn O’Donnell, communications director of the Commission. “Incorporating the tag line ‘For Me. For All.’ keeps the focus on every person’s role in protecting our families—from kids to seniors, along with the community at large.”
The Commission is highly respected for its award-winning food safety program, providing train-the-trainer, classroom and in-field training programs, as well as sustainability and a variety of workforce training and safety courses. As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic was identified, the Commission went straight to work, identifying how to keep workers safe and healthy, and working with government and medical experts to provide the best advice available to California strawberry farmers.
The Commission’s website has become the go-to source for current information on the coronavirus/COVID-19 situation, specifically tailored for farms and farm workers (https://www.calstrawberry.com/en-us/Coronavirus). This website has a series of audio, video, visual aids, guidance, and other resources that are available in English and translated into Spanish and Mixtec to help farm workers stay safe on the job and at home. Many materials are printed and suitable for posting on the ranch.
Over the past 60 days, the Commission staff has visited nearly every strawberry farm currently operating in California, and provided on-site training, signage and informative materials to keep farm workers healthy, highlighting the Centers for Disease Control guidance on creating a safer work environment, and how to protect oneself through daily activities.
California’s 400+ family strawberry farms provide over 70,000 well-paying jobs and generate over $3.4 billion of annual economic impact. “Strawberries are one of the most labor-intensive crops, and strawberry farmers are working diligently to protect farm workers while providing a consistent supply of this nutritious fruit to consumers,” saidO’Donnell. “Many strawberry farmers started in the fields planting and picking berries. This gives them a unique perspective and they are very appreciative and protective of their workforce.”
The Commission’s efforts include information on increased illness prevention training (at home and work), adopting crew and schedule modifications to implement social distancing during harvest, increasing the amount of hand washing facilities and hand sanitizing stations available in the field, sanitizing field facilities and work stations more frequently and keeping a watchful eye on employee health.
Strawberry farmers and field supervisors are also working to quickly identify any workers who may be exhibiting illness symptoms and are being trained to help them isolate the individual to avoid spreading the virus to others. In California, most strawberry farm workers have paid sick leave as well as health insurance.
While COVID-19 presents new challenges, for many years farmers in California have operated under the most stringent standards in the nation, governing field sanitation and worker safety. These existing standards have provided an important basis for the I Pick Safety program as farmers move with expediency to adopt worker protection protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19, maintain the health of our dedicated farm workers and ensure the safety of our food supply. The increased training and attention during this coronavirus pandemic should reassure consumers that wholesome and delicious strawberries will remain available for their families to enjoy.
About California Strawberries:
The California Strawberry Commission represents more than 400 strawberry farmers, shippers, and processors, proudly working together to advance strawberry farming for the future of our land and people. Commission programs create opportunities for success through groundbreaking programs focused on workforce training, strawberry production research, and nutrition research. Through science-based information and education, we deliver good news about sustainable farming practices that benefit the health of people, farms, and communities. California Strawberry Commission
Prima® Wawona (prima.com), the largest stone fruit producer in the U.S., has partnered with a leading fresh produce strategic insight and research company to provide retailers with key stone fruit category data. These insights help retailers identify areas of growth and opportunity within the category and allow Prima® Wawona to develop programs specifically tailored to their retail partners. Leveraging Nielsen data from thousands of grocery stores throughout the United States, this service from Prima® Wawona enables retailers to customize their programs and promotions to achieve higher sales performance.
“Our goal in everything we do is to help our retail partners provide consumers with the right quantities of the highest-quality stone fruit available,” said Ben Vived, Retail Sales Manager at Prima® Wawona. “Our category management program allows us to monitor national trends and analyze category data on a per-retailer basis to provide recommendations and keenly tailored retail programs. For example, we can see if a retailer isn’t experiencing the expected sales volumes on yellow peaches or if there’s a growth opportunity on white nectarines, and work with them to fill gaps and capitalize on opportunities.”
Prima® Wawona reviews and analyzes data such as margins, the effect of price on sales volumes over time, retailer performance compared to the industry average, sales promotion performance, price gaps and more, segmented by commodity across the stone fruit category.
“We’re the only producer offering this strategic data service so it’s a game-changer for retailers looking to serve existing customers and attract those who will buy organic—an increasingly important segment of the category,” added Dan Gerawan, CEO of Prima® Wawona. “We’re giving our retail partners insight on factors that drive success in this category, including how other leading retailers are performing, and that’s giving them a competitive edge in their market.”
Prima® Wawona offers a full line of organic and conventional stone fruit under the Prima® and Sweet2Eat® brands, allowing retailers to meet demand for this important summer fruit category. For more information or to place an order, please call 559-528-4000 or email b.hammack@gerawan.com.
About Prima® Wawona:
Prima® Wawona is the largest producer of stone fruit in the U.S. Based in the heart of California’s central San Joaquin Valley, the company is a category leader both in terms of volume, quality, and the unique data insights and services it provides to retail partners to support them and promote their success. Prima® Wawona offers a full line of premium-quality organic and conventional stone fruit and citrus under the Prima®, Sweet2Eat®, Sweet2Eat® Organic and Sweet Value® brands, with a robust stone fruit season running from May through October. Visit prima.com to learn more.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started making payments through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program – Plus (WHIP+) to agricultural producers who suffered eligible losses because of drought or excess moisture in 2018 and 2019. Signup for these causes of loss opened March 23, and producers who suffered losses from drought (in counties designated D3 or above), excess moisture, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, typhoons, volcanic activity, snowstorms or wildfires can still apply for assistance through WHIP+.
“To date, FSA has received more than 33,000 WHIP+ applications,” said Richard Fordyce, Administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “We want to remind producers that we are still accepting applications for WHIP+, and we encourage producers to call our offices for next steps on how to apply.”
To be eligible for WHIP+, producers must have suffered losses of certain crops, trees, bushes or vines in counties with a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration or a Secretarial Disaster Designation (primary counties only) for qualifying natural disaster events that occurred in calendar years 2018 or 2019. Also, losses located in a county not designated by the Secretary as a primary county may be eligible if a producer provides documentation showing that the loss was due to a qualifying natural disaster event.
For losses due to drought, a producer is eligible if any area of the county in which the loss occurred was rated D3, or extreme drought, or higher on the U.S. Drought Monitor during calendar years 2018 or 2019. Producers who suffered losses should contact their FSA county office.
In addition to the recently added eligible losses of drought and excess moisture, FSA will implement a WHIP+ provision for crop quality loss that resulted in price deductions or penalties when marketing crops damaged by eligible disaster events. To ensure an effective program for all impacted farmers, the Agency is currently gathering information on the extent of quality loss from producers and stakeholder organizations.
USDA Service Centers, including FSA county offices, are open for business by phone only, and field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. While program delivery staff will continue to come into the office, they will be working with producers by phone and using online tools whenever possible. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with the FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency are required to call their Service Center to schedule a phone appointment. More information on Service Centers can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus, and more information on WHIP+ can be found at Remind.
Washington State University celebrated the opening of its new Honey Bee & Pollinator Research, Extension, and Education Facility today with a formal ribbon cutting and self-guided tours of the building.
“This new facility will be a tremendous benefit to our WSU bee and pollinator researchers as well as the beekeeping and agricultural industries in Washington and around the world,” said André-Denis Wright, dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. “The support we’ve had from donors like the Hiatt family, Ken and Sue Christianson, and Eric and Sue Olson, and groups like the Washington State Beekeepers Association has made this possible. We look forward to developing these important relationships as our scientists work to help save the bees.”
The nearly 50-acre property, which WSU bought this winter, will house most of WSU’s Honey Bee and Pollinator program, which is part of the Department of Entomology. Over $3 million has been raised and fundraising is continuing to expand the impact of the Honey Bee and Pollinator program.
“Our industry needs to support the science WSU researchers are doing,” said Tim Hiatt, co-owner of Hiatt Honey Co. “We’re happy to have helped secure this new home for them and are looking forward to the valuable research that will come out of it.”
It’s not just beekeepers that will benefit, but the agriculture industry as a whole.
“The seed crops we grew are so dependent on healthy pollinators,” said Ken Christianson, a retired seed grower and WSU alum. “The WSU bee program and the work they do is so essential to the future of agriculture and feeding the planet.”
Research Work
The 2020 season for WSU bee scientists will mostly be focused on getting moved in and set up as well as increasing their stock of honey bees. One of the biggest benefits of the new location is being able to have a commercial-sized number of colonies.
“Having more colonies allows us to do larger field studies on a wide variety of topics,” said Steve Sheppard, P. F. Thurber Endowed Professor of Pollinator Ecology in WSU’s Department of Entomology. “We’re working on scaling up our fungi research to a commercially relevant scale, plus we hope to collaborate more with the seed production industry.”
The program has indoor cold storage chambers already located in Othello that will be used to ramp up previous work researchers have done on a smaller scale. Now they can test the impact of in-season bee hibernation to fight varroa mites, one of the major causes of colony collapse, on a commercial scale.
New Projects Possible With More Support
The new property has two other structures that the bee program plans to make the most of: a greenhouse and a large building with netting inside.
While they both will require updates to be functional, they will allow the program to expand its research into working with other pollinators like bumblebees and other native pollinators.
The program is now fundraising to allow for new projects, and the scientists feel their research track record will instill confidence in future donors.
This summer, WSU will host its annual beekeeping short course at the new facility, allowing both classes and bees to be located in the same place.
To learn more about bee research at WSU, visit the program website: http://bees.wsu.edu/
Pollinator insects play a critical role in the agricultural world. Without their natural transference of pollen from plant to plant while obtaining nutrients, many types of vegetables and fruit for human consumption would not exist.
More than 80 percent of plants are pollinated by animals, mainly insects. In recent years, there has been a decline in pollinator insects for many reasons, one being the decline or loss of habitat.
This is one area people can help support pollinator populations, by growing native flowering plants from which the pollinators obtain protein and lipids from the pollen, and carbohydrates and amino acids from the nectar.
Researchers at New Mexico State University’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences are studying the activity of insects, both pollinator and beneficial, around native plants to determine what mix of flowering cultivars will attract the different insect types.
“We have evaluated 22 different perennial native plants in seven different mixes, or combinations,” said Miranda Kersten, senior program specialist at NMSU’s Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas, of the study that began in 2017. “For the last two summers, we have done visual observations where we record the number of different insect groups visiting the flower, and taken vacuum samples from each of the plots to see which species are attracted to the plants.”
From the current study, which is supported by a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Extension Implementation Program grant, the researchers can suggest plants to attract bumble bees, large and small native bees, and natural enemies of pests such as the ladybeetles, syrphid flies, and large and small wasps.
“The flowers range in color from various shades of purple and pink, to orange, yellow and white,” Kersten said. “We did not use red flowers because insects don’t see that color well and are less attracted to the blossoms.”
When planning a pollinator garden, it is important to include plants that flower at different times of the season.
“All during the season, bees are busy collecting nectar and pollen, depending if they are honey bees or native bees, to feed their babies during the winter,” said Amanda Skidmore, NMSU Cooperative Extension Service small farm integrated pest management specialist.
“Spring blooms help the early emerging pollinators,” she said. “Blooms throughout the summer that are different colors and shapes help attract the insects while they are building their nest. Fall blooms help them store up an energy source for their babies’ development.”
Bees are considered to be the most efficient pollinator. They are the only pollinator that feeds on pollen/nectar as larvae and adults.
“Some of our native bees are generalists, visiting many types of flowers, while others are specialists, visiting a specific species,” Skidmore said. “Bumblebees are generalists that are active from early spring to late fall, while different species of native bees are active in different times of the year.”
A little-known fact is that New Mexico has more than 1,000 unique native bee species – the third-highest number in the nation behind California and Arizona.
During the project, the researchers learned that Riddell’s ragwort was the latest-blooming flower of the plants included in the study and it was highly visited by bees and wasps in the fall. Plants with extra-floral nectaries, such as Rocky Mountain penstemon, can provide additional resources through the growing season and benefit a variety of insects.
To learn more about identifying these beneficial insect groups, visit https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H172/welcome.html for the Extension publication “Backyard Beneficial Insects of New Mexico.” — By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University
Why is milk being dumped and produce left to rot in fieldswhile grocery store shelves go empty during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why are grocery stores running out of meat, and eggs becoming so expensive?
ped and produce left to rot in fields while grocery store shelves go empty during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why are grocery stores running out of meat, and eggs becoming so expensive?
Pick Safety is a new effort from the California Strawberry Commission to highlight farm worker safety and industry-leading training and safety practices by emphasizing that everybody is responsible to always pick safety.