The CRC provided information about online continuing education courses early in October. More recently, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) approved a course for 4-hours of laws and regulations. The course is $20 as a printed version, free when completed online and available only in 2020.
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By Tyson Redpath, The Russell Group
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced September 17 an expansion of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP2) to include rice grown in California. Applications for the program must be received by December 11. Several reports from the USDA Farm Service Agency encourage producers who have not applied to complete the application now to avoid missing the December 11 deadline. Due to COVID restrictions and staffing safeguards processing, applications may take longer than expected. The agency offers multiple options to apply which can be found on this website.
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From Louie Brown, Kahn, Soares & Conway
Proposition 15, the effort to rewrite a portion of the infamous Proposition 13 and raise property taxes on commercial and agricultural properties, seems to be heading towards defeat. On election night, the No on Prop 15 Committee was pleased to be leading with slightly more than 51 percent of the vote opposing the measure. However, with millions of votes left to counted, no one felt comfortable calling it. After of this afternoon, with slightly more than four million votes remaining, the trends seem to be showing that the No on Prop 15 effort will likely hold its lead and defeat the measure.
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There are important changes for businesses regarding COVD-19 in the workplace, when Assembly Bill 685 becomes law January 1.
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The US Department of Agriculture has announced that signup is underway for Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for the 2021 crop year.
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SB 1159 made a number of changes relating to COVID-19 presumptions for workers’ compensation and also adds reporting requirements for employers.
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Working with haulers and stomper operators, we have identified a path forward for the movement of combines and stompers for this year through additional permitting and documentation of business structure.
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Several weeks ago, contract haulers of farm equipment in the Sacramento Valley reported enforcement actions when moving combines. At issue was the interpretation of the vehicle code that allows farmers to haul their own equipment without a permit but not contract haulers. Shortly thereafter, the movement of stompers was impacted due to their oversized width. CHP indicated that a CHP escort was needed to move the equipment. Booking an escort is about two weeks out and comes at a cost of $1,500.
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The CRC is providing this information to our members and industry allies to assist with your license/certificate renewals. The Department of Pesticide Regulation has not modified the renewal deadlines for license/certificate holders required to renew by December 31, 2020. It is recommended you submit your renewal packet by November 1 to receive your license/certificate by January 1. The licenses/certificates holders renewing every two years such as the pest control adviser split the alphabet using the last names starting with A to L in 2020. The prohibition of in person events has increased the availability of online continuing education courses approved for all license/certificate types related to the rice industry. Several more courses will become available after the first of the year. In the interim, the CRC has compiled the following information to help you renew and maintain your license/certificate. For more information, contact CRC Industry Affairs Manager Roberta Firoved at rfiroved@calrice.org or (916) 206-5039.
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The Governor recently issued an Executive Order (N-79-20) calling for all off-road equipment to be zero emission by 2035 (wrongly reported last week as 2045). This is clearly a tall order, given the state of technologies capable of replacing the heavy-duty horsepower levels required to run major tillage equipment, harvesters, etc. The Governor has provided directives to the Air Resources Board to begin regulatory processes consistent with his stated objectives in the Executive Order.
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