Fruit and Nut Growers Better Batten Down the Hatches
February 24, 2020 Every year kicks off with a host of new laws going into effect. Some of them kind of nutty sounding, frankly, so it didn’t come as any surprise that growers would face some inane new farming regulations in 2020. But even I was taken aback by a couple things I have seen and heard so far this winter at off-season industry events.
For example, if you’re a California grower, you know there’s a lot more farming going on at night, mainly so workers can avoid the heat of the day, especially during harvest. In fact, heat illness prevention violations account for by far the most safety violations in the state, according to Amy Wolfe, President of AgSafe of Modesto, CA.
Wolfe, speaking at The Almond Conference, which is put on by The Almond Board of California (ABC) in Sacramento, CA, noted the nature of the violations highlight an important point, that documenting is critical. Fully half of those violations went to growers for simply not having written copies of their heat illness prevention plans in the field.
A new law mandating much more extensive illness and injury reporting went into effect in California on Jan. 1, says Wolfe. From now on, with just a few exceptions, all in-patient hospitalizations must be reported to state regulators.
But perhaps the most onerous law will come down on those growers/labor companies who have crews going at night. (It’s kind of ironic, when you think about it, as in avoiding heat for their workers, they’re getting more heat from regulators.)
California supervisors will now have to conduct training to show the locations of various things to the night crews that would be more obvious during the day, such as the location of the meal/rest area, restrooms, drinking water, as well as potential hazards such as high-traffic areas and bodies of water.
But the real shocker is that such training is to be conducted at the beginning of every shift. Does that sound practical to you? Me neither.
Because it sounds so outrageous, the new law really sticks out. And that is just one instance where growers are going to have to become increasingly careful about how they farm in 2020 and beyond.
Another example was the overwhelming attendance at another ABC seminar, “Alternatives for Managing Replant Pests and Problematic Weeds.” There was a standing-room-only crowd to hear about potential alternatives to fumigation, and the widely used herbicide, glyphosate. There is keen interest in the latter because of rapidly increasing resistance problems, said Brad Hanson of University of California Cooperative Extension.
Also at The Almond Conference, ABC officials took the opportunity to lay out “Almond Orchard 2025 Goals: The Roadmap to Success.”
I tweeted about these live from the event, @dave_wfg_avg. Here’s a sample:
ABC's Josette Lewis says one of the keys is reducing the amount of water used, specifically cutting the water used to produce a pound of almonds by 20%. One way is to boost yields. pic.twitter.com/d9Cd5O7grc
— David Eddy (@dave_wfg_avg) December 10, 2019
ABC's Daren Williams gestures with the "roadmap" for the 2025 goals, including zero waste, which means recycling the entire orchard, trees and all. pic.twitter.com/qHn9kENeFa
— David Eddy (@dave_wfg_avg) December 10, 2019
Mel Machado of Blue Diamond Growers says the ABC didn't get to be an ag industry leader by shying away from problems. That's why tackling tough goals like whole orchard recycling is critical to maintaining its position. pic.twitter.com/Lb2wtNdOUV
— David Eddy (@dave_wfg_avg) December 10, 2019
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