sept-oct-2020

industry has addressed COVID-19, incorporated safety guidance and have continued to provide our industry the needed resources and information to navigate through these challenging times. I was appointed to the Governor’s Economic Recovery Task Force as a voice for California agriculture where I regularly expresses the industry’s workforce and employer needs and concerns. Specifically, I have advocated for more PPE, employment and workers compensation relief, liability protections, childcare for essential employees, COVID-19 isolation housing and rural mobile testing sites. State Legislation On the legislative front, the Almond Alliance was excited to start out the year with two very important bills for our industry. • AB 2831 (Flora) Carbon offset credits: whole orchard recycling: healthy soils This bill would require the California Air Resources Board to develop a carbon offset credit for whole orchard recycling. • AB 3103 (Dahle) Commercial feed: Feed Inspection Advisory Board This bill would allow the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary to authorize state accredited, certified, or licensed laboratories to be established or designated for testing, sampling, and analyzing California almond hulls and agricultural products. The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt on many bills this year, as a result, both Almond Alliance sponsored bills did not move forward. COVID-19 related bills was the focus for the legislature, and because of that, the policy committees the bills were referred to did not feel they directly impacted the pandemic; therefore, they were held. However, each policy committee indicated that the bills have merit and should be reintroduced next year. The Almond Alliance will continue to work with authors and their staff to identify a legislative roadmap and strategy for next year’s reintroduction. With the onset of COVID-19 our focus shifted to PPE, guidance and standards for coronavirus infection prevention, labor, workers compensation, family leave, expansion of family rights act, single use packaging, biomass, classification of solar energy and more. While our efforts and coalition partnerships were able to defeat many bad bills, there are still some on the Governor’s desk for signature that we were not able to defeat. A summary of bills that the Almond Alliance focused on will be outlined in our 2020 Advocacy Report that will be emailed soon. Our Work is Making a Difference The Almond Alliance received a letter from USDA leadership thanking us for our request for USDA to purchase almonds and let us know that since 2018, because of the advocacy efforts of the Almond Alliance and industry partners, the industry has received over $112 million in direct funding relief. This figure does not include CFAP 1 funding which is at $100 million to date, the upcoming CFAP 2 program or the recently announced USDA Section 32 buy at $40 million. While direct payments and government almond purchases are not the ideal solution, they will help assist those who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. The Almond Alliance remains focused on helping the industry resume strong international trade and market growth. The industry has worked hard over the last 30 years to develop strong international commercial partnerships and new markets, and our goal is to see those relationships come to fruition. Needless to say, I am very proud of our team and our efforts. My thanks to all of those who take the time to be involved with and support ongoing Almond Alliance activities. We advocate on behalf of the entire California almond community. You can learn more about the Almond Alliance at www.almondalliance.org. Elaine Trevino, President, Almond Alliance of California 2 7 S E P T E M B E R – O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0