WAPA’s 2023 Annual Meeting Comes to a Successful Close

The 2023 Annual Meeting of the Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) was the biggest one ever. It was representative of the fact that WAPA Continues to grow. There were more attendees, more exhibitors, more golfers, and more sponsors than any year in the short 15-year history of WAPA. While it was a lot of fun, it was short, sweet and to the point. It started Wednesday evening with our Associate Member Appreciation night reception, where Association President/CEO Roger A. Isom recognized the support and contribution of our Associate members and the role they play in the success of the Association and the entire tree nut industry. The next morning the WAPA Annual Meeting Golf Tournament kicked off with a record 97 golfers, and the WAPA Exhibits opened at 4:00 pm. The evening reception began amongst the exhibitors at 5:00 pm and then rolled into Dinner.  Following Dinner, outgoing Chairwoman Kim Keyawa-Musselman passed the gavel to incoming Chair Pat Andersen, of Andersen and Sons Ranch and Andersen and Sons Shelling in Vina. The Association’s President/CEO Roger A. Isom then closed out the evening thanking Keyawa-Musselman for her service to the Association. The next day was the WAPA Business Meeting that got underway with a report from Todd Landry with the Association’s Accounting Firm of Spafford and Landry who discussed the Association’s financial condition and results of the 2022 Audit. Then Alden Parker and Rebecca Hause-Schultz of the law firm Fisher Phillips provided an update on critical labor laws affecting the tree nut industry including recent PAGA cases. Following an exhibit break, Assemblyman Heath Flora and Assemblyman Carlos Villapudua discussed the Problem Solvers Caucus and their goals with that group. The day finished with a staff update from Assistant Vice President Priscilla Rodriguez, Director of Technical Services Christopher McGlothlin and President/CEO Roger A. Isom. Overall, it was the biggest and best meeting WAPA has ever held! We would like to extend a special thank you to all of our sponsors for this year’s annual meeting. Their contributions were generous and made this meeting what it was!

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Association Presents on Indoor Heat Illness

In a special unprecedented presentation, Association President/CEO Roger Isom testified before the CalOSHA Standards Board on their proposed new standard “Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment.” The presentation occurred last week during the CalOSHA Standards Board regular Board Meeting, but the presentation by the Association was the only item on the agenda and the Board allowed Isom 15 minutes to present the topic.  As a reminder the proposed standard is triggered when indoor paces of employment hit 82 °F, and requires engineering controls to bring indoor temperatures to below 87 °F. This would apply to any cotton gin, nut huller or processor and any farm warehouse or shop building.The requirement to cool the buildings to below 87 °F is the primary issue and presents the biggest and most expensive challenge to meeting such a low target temperature. Isom provided cost estimates from $1 million for a single building to $9.5 million for multiple buildings to install air conditioning, but also stated it would present operational issues with cotton gins and almond hullers as those operations require large volumes of air to either move products from point A to point B, or is used to pull hulls, shells, and dust from the conveyance of products.The proposed regulation states this is only required unless it is not feasible, but “feasible” is not defined.The lack of a definition is what causes the most concern as it leaves it up to enforcement discretion and subjectivity.The Association emphasized the need to define “feasible” in the context of this regulation. No other presentation was provided and we will now have to wait and see what CalOSHA does with the proposed regulation in response.

OSH

Associations Join Forces to Tackle Sacramento

This past week the leadership of both the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association (CCGGA) and Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) went to Sacramento for three days of regulatory and legislative issues. The Associations’ Executive leadership and staff met with legislative and regulatory representatives on a multitude of critical issues including water rights legislation, FARMER funding, property and stock throughput insurance, the proposed indoor heat illness regulation, water quality fees, air quality legislation for the SJV, funding of water projects for medium and high priority area GSAs, port issues, and several other important topics. The entourage met with legislators including Assemblyman David Alvarez (80th), Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (4th), Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal (69th), Assemblyman Juan Carrillo (39th), Assemblyman Vince Fong (32nd), Assemblyman James Gallagher ( 3rd), Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria (27th), Assemblyman Greg Wallis (47th), Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner (77th), and the staff of Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur, and Senator Lena Gonzalez (33rd). The group also met with Agency staff from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Director Katie Hagen, State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and State Water Resources Control Board Member Dorene D’Adamo. CCGGA was represented by Chairman Matt Toste, First Vice Chair Gary Martin, Second Vice Chair Adriane Carbonel and Secretary/Treasurer Jake Cauzza. WAPA was represented by First Vice Chair Pat Andersen, Past Chairman Michael Kelley and Board Member John Rodriguez. Association staff included President/CEO Roger Isom, Assistant Vice President Priscilla Rodriguez and Director of Technical Services Christopher McGlothlin.

sacramentoA

SCE Proposes Major Rate Increase in Next General Rate Case

Southern California Edison has proposed a 45% rate increase over already approved 2024 rates, which would generate another $3.9 billion in revenue for SCE. This follows the proposed 46% increase in rates by PG&E by 2026. With the state’s push to electrify everything how can businesses survive in this state? The association will be working with the Ag Energy Consumers Association (AECA) on both of these important general rate cases (GRCs). Association President/CEO Roger Isom is the President of the Board of AECA and Association Assistant Vice President Priscilla Rodriguez also sits on the AECA Board of Directors, so this will be a priority!

 

SCE 2025 GRC

Revenue Requirement

$ increase

Total $ increase over 2024 rates

% increase over 2024 rates

2024

$8.367B

2025

$10.267B

$1.9B 

$1.9B

23% increase

2026

$10.985B

$619M

$2.5B

30% increase

2027

$11.549B

$664M

$3.2B

38% increase

2028

$12.253B

$704M

$3.9B

45% increase

 

From the Central California Intelligence Center /Sacramento County Sheriff's Office

This flyer was created by Taskforce Member Thomas Waltz of the Central California Intelligence Center (CCIC) to inform farmers and ranchers that they have a resource if they see or find suspicious drone activity on their property!

WAPA – Bringing a United and More Powerful Voice to Regulatory and Legislative Issues for Tree Nut Hullers and Processors in California

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Governor Signs Ag Overtime Bill

Ignoring the pleas of real farmworkers and the agricultural industry, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 1066, the ag overtime legislation. This means that California will have the most stringent trigger of any state in the country for overtime for farmworkers, with 45 states having no overtime protection at all. The Governor signed this bill, supposedly to bring “equality to all workers”, yet taxi cab drivers, commercial fishermen, car salesmen, student nurses, computer programmers, and carnival workers all work without any overtime provisions whatsoever. The Governor signed this ag overtime bill in the same year that minimum wage legislation was also passed that will take California to the highest minimum wage as well as legislation forcing California to adopt additional greenhouse gas regulations for businesses in California. California is the only state in the country subject to such regulations. Today’s signing occurred despite numerous requests by the agricultural industry to meet with the Governor to discuss our concerns. The message is clear. California simply doesn’t care. These provisions will be phased in over the next few years ending with the overtime provisions to be triggered at 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

In the Beginning As folks transitioned out of cotton and into tree nuts, the industry recognized the need to have active and effective representation at the local, state and national levels. Having enjoyed such effective representation over the years from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, these folks yearned for the same representation in the tree nut processing industry. Issues such as air quality, food safety, labor, taxes, employee safety, and environmental concerns are at the forefront, and there is a significant need for an aggressive and dynamic Association to lead the industry into the next decade and beyond. In recognition of this, the Western Agricultural Processors Association was created in 2009. The Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) shares staff and office space with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations taking advantage of a unique and opportunistic situation. WAPA is a voluntary dues organization with four shared staff and one dedicated staff person. Regulatory, legislative and legal issues fall under the purview of this new organization for the tree nut processing industry, which includes almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. From air quality permits to conditional use permits, from regulatory hearings on greenhouse gases to federal legislation on food safety, and from OSHA violations to assisting members on hazardous materials business plans, no issue is too small or too large for WAPA. WAPA has assembled one of the best and most capable staffs in the industry, and the results are already starting to show Membership The Western Agricultural Processors Association represents facilities involved in the processing of almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.Membership in the Association is classified as Regular memberships are limited to almond hullers or processors, pecan and pistachio processors, and walnut dehydrators and processors. Associate memberships are limited to any individual or business entity which is not engaged in agricultural processing, but which provides products or services directly related to the agricultural processing industry. WAPA Associate members include, but are not limited to, commodity brokers, accounting firms, and insurance brokers. Organization The Western Agricultural Processors Association is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by its membership.The Board consists of up to 15 members from throughout the state, and throughout the industry.The Board meets on a quarterly basis and conducts an Annual Meeting in the spring of each year.WAPA, in conjunction with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, conducts a special training school for its members focused on safety.In combination with the school, the Association holds a Labor Management Seminar for all of the managers. Consulting Services In researching and considering the concept of forming a new organization, the Boards of Directors for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations instructed staff to perform some of the work on a consulting basis first. The point was to determine the workload from consulting and to determine if there was sufficient interest. In November of 2007, the Association began conducting services under consulting contracts for such services as air quality permits and safety plans.The effort has been so successful that demand has progressed outside the tree nut industry into other agricultural processing facilities, including vegetable dehydration facilities, tomato processing facilities, and wheat mills, as well as cotton gins in Arizona.It was determined by the new Board of Directors of WAPA, that WAPA would maintain the consulting services to provide offsetting income to help with the expenses of getting the new organization up and running.Today, WAPA provides for a long list of satisfied clients in the agricultural processing industry, by providing critical services such as air quality, safety, food safety, and environmental issues (Hazardous Materials Business Plan, Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans, etc.).