November 5, 2020

U.S. Trade Rep & International Trade Commission Seek Grower Input For Section 201 Blueberry Import Investigation

As you may have read in this week’s NJ Farm Bureau newsletter or heard about elsewhere, following-up on a side comment about unfair trade practices concerning produce imports from Canada on an earlier phone call regarding the impact of COVID-19 on NJ agriculture, Congressman Jeff Van Drew arranged a meeting for growers with USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Affairs Ted McKinney. The meeting last week was hosted by Frank Donio Inc. Owner David Arena at his facility in Hammonton.

While Under Secretary McKinney provided an overview of his role through the USDA in working on trade deals for US products around the world, there was also a frank discussion about the need for farmer input into current investigations by the US Trade Representative and International Trade Commission (ITC). Called a Section 201 investigation, the ITC studies data from the agricultural community regarding import-export irregularities that cause unfair/unequal market access for American products. Such has been identified in the blueberry industry (see summary here).

Since the meeting, Representative Van Drew’s Legislative Assistant Haddon Antonucci provided the following summary of actions needed by South Jersey blueberry growers to be represented in the current investigation, including a request for your immediate attention as you must respond using the attached documents by Monday, November 16, a little more than a week from today.

This is Mr. Antonucci’s summary “regarding the Section 201 blueberry import investigation.”

“For access to the entirety of documentation and timelines for this project, go to this link: https://usitc.gov/blueberries

“The most important action item is ensuring that everyone in the South Jersey agricultural community fills out the ITC questionnaire. … attached [is] the producer questionnaire, there are also importer and purchaser questionnaires available on the website. This questionnaire collects proprietary information and will be used to help the ITC evaluate the impact of foreign imports of blueberries on domestic farmers. Also attached is a letter explaining the questionnaire and a document with ID codes.

“In order for the ITC to recommend action, there needs to be demonstrable harm to domestic industry. It is very important … to get this information to the ITC [to] demonstrate [any] deleterious impact that these imports have had on South Jersey agriculture.

“Please fill out this form as it pertains to your operations, and please provide it to other producers in the community as it pertains to their operations, particularly if they have not been contacted by the ITC yet.

“The deadline for the questionnaire is November 16. The point of contact at USTR is Jordan.Harriman@usitc.gov . Send [your questionnaire to] that email address once … completed. Congressman Van Drew’s office would like to be copied on your submission email so that he can file a holistic submission on behalf of the entire South Jersey agricultural community. Please cc haddon.antonucci@mail.house.gov with your submission to the ITC.

And in answer to a question about his original message, he stated:

“This particular investigation pertains to blueberries exclusively. There are high level discussions regarding imports of bell peppers. It is possible that there will be another section 201 investigation later this year for bell peppers, but that has not been initiated yet.

Filed Under: Blueberry, Fruit, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , ,
November 2, 2020

NJ PPE Access Program For NJ Businesses

On the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub, there is news that NJ Businesses can receive discounts to purchase PPE from approved retailers. There is a 10% discount on PPE products for all businesses, and qualified small businesses may receive an additional 25% discount. If you are planning your PPE purchases for the winter or next season, this may be an opportunity to save some money in the process. The site links to participating vendors, has tools to determine if you qualify for additional discounts and estimating your PPE needs, as well as letting you sign up for notifications of future discount programs.

If you have questions about the program, you can ask them at SmallBusinessPPE@njeda.com.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , ,
November 2, 2020

Univ California Survey on Uses of Specialty Asian Produce

Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Ph.D., Small Farms and Specialty Crops Farm Advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Fresno and Tularie Counties is conducting a national survey of growers and consumers of specialty Asian produce.

The purpose is to identify which types of specialty Asian produce are almost always cooked before eating, so that Southeast Asian and other small-scale farmers can receive exemptions from federal food safety regulations for low-risk crops. She would appreciate your help by both taking the survey and also sharing it widely with consumers of these crops, so she can gather data to provide to the FDA on whether they are eaten cooked or raw.

Click here to take the survey and enter to win a $50 gift card

Food safety regulations have exemptions for produce that is usually cooked instead of eaten raw, because the risk to consumers from human pathogens is much lower. Crops like potatoes, pumpkins, or lima beans that are almost always cooked before eating have a much lower risk than leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach that are frequently eaten raw.

The FDA’s current list of “rarely consumed raw” produce does not include many types of produce that are culturally important to diverse communities of consumers across the US, because the FDA does not have data on how they are eaten. Because these crops are not on the list, small-scale farmers growing specialty produce cannot receive the exemptions that mainstream crops do, even if their crops are never eaten raw.

We now have an opportunity to submit data to the FDA on additional crops that usually are cooked, pickled, or fermented to kill any disease organisms before eating. Data will be shared with the FDA to recommend additional culturally important crops to be added to the “rarely consumed raw” list, so that these crops can receive the same exemptions as mainstream “rarely consumed raw” crops under the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

Please help us contribute to making federal food safety regulations more inclusive of diverse communities of farmers and consumers. Click here or on the link above to take the 15-minute survey, and please share widely with any individuals or organizations who might be interested.

As a thank you for completing the survey, respondents can enter a drawing to receive one of ten $50 gift cards.

Thank you for helping to support. This effort will help diversified farmers here in NJ as well!

If you have questions about the survey, you may contact Dr. Dahlquist-Willard at:

Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Ph.D.
Small Farms and Specialty Crops Farm Advisor
University of California Cooperative Extension, Fresno and Tulare Counties
Voicemail: 559-241-7513 (working remotely)

http://smallfarmsfresno.ucanr.edu/

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Food Safety, Fruit, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
October 27, 2020

Pre-register Today by 5pm to Apply for NJ Economic Development Authority Small Business Emergency Grants

The Atlantic County Economic Alliance shared this important news:

~ IMPORTANT! LAST DAY! ~

This is an important reminder from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority that preregistration for phase III of New Jersey’s emergency grants program for eligible small businesses is open until 5 p.m. today, Oct. 27.

Any small business that would like to apply for a grant must preregister. For more information and to preregister, please do so by clicking HERE and follow the instructions and links found on the FAQ page.

By preregistering, many small businesses and restaurants can join the many others that have already teamed up with the EDA to receive vital funding that has allowed them to remain open.

The ACEA Team

609-245-0019

www.aceanj.com

@ACEANJ

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , ,
September 22, 2020

Farm Worker Housing Simulator Shows How To Help Reduce COVID-19 Spread

Partnering with the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety (NEC), the Vessel Dynamics Laboratory at George Mason University created an online app that shows how various practices aimed to slow the spread of COVID-19 among farm workers in shared housing can work.

Room for Improvement:  An Online Tool for Reducing the Spread of COVID-19 in Farmworker Housing allows you to put in information about your on-farm housing and it will show how coronavirus can spread through farmworker housing. You can change the size of the room, type of beds, number of workers housed, and a variety of preventative practices to see the impact on spread of the disease.

The simulator is available at https://vesseldynamics.com/research/farmworker-housing-simulator/. (Note that the simulator works best in Google Chrome.)

More information about farmworker safety programs from the NEC are available at https://www.necenter.org/.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
August 28, 2020

Sept 11 Deadline Approaching for USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Application

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2020–U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds farmers and ranchers that the deadline to apply for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) is Sept. 11, 2020. This program provides direct relief to producers who faced price declines and additional marketing costs due to COVID-19.

“FSA offers several options for farmers and ranchers to apply for CFAP, including a call center where employees can answer your questions and help you get started on your application,” said Richard Fordyce, Farm Service Agency administrator. “With only two weeks before the deadline, now is the time to check out the resources on our website and contact the call center or your local office for your last-minute questions.”

Over 160 commodities are eligible for CFAP, including certain non-specialty crops, livestock, dairy, wool, specialty crops, eggs, aquaculture, and nursery crops and cut flowers. All eligible commodities, payment rates, and calculations can be found on farmers.gov/cfap.

Customers seeking one-on-one support with the CFAP application process can call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer general assistance. This is a recommended first step before a producer engages the team at the FSA county office at their local USDA Service Center.

Producers have several options for applying to the CFAP program by the Sept. 11 deadline:

  • Using an online portal, accessible at farmers.gov/cfap. This allows producers with secure USDA login credentials, known as eAuthentication, to certify eligible commodities online, digitally sign applications, and submit directly to the local USDA Service Center.
  • Completing the application form using our CFAP Application Generator and Payment Calculator found at farmers.gov/cfap. This Excel workbook allows customers to input information specific to their operation to determine estimated payments and populate the application form, which can be printed, then signed, and submitted to their local USDA Service Center.
  • Downloading the AD-3114 application form from farmers.gov/cfap and manually completing the form to submit to the local USDA Service Center by mail, electronically, or by hand delivery to an office drop box. In some limited cases, the office may be open for in-person business by appointment. Visit farmers.gov/coronavirus/service-center-status to check the status of your local office.

Go to Farmers.gov/CFAP

USDA Service Centers can also work with producers to complete and securely transmit digitally signed applications through two commercially available tools: Box and OneSpan. Producers who are interested in digitally signing their applications should notify their local service centers when calling to discuss the CFAP application process. You can learn more about these solutions at farmers.gov/mydocs.

All other eligibility forms, such as those related to adjusted gross income and payment information, can be downloaded from farmers.gov/cfap/apply. For existing FSA customers, these documents are likely already on file.

All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including some that are open to visitors to conduct business in person by appointment only. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. Service Centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors are also required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Our program delivery staff will be in the office, and they will be working with our producers in the office, by phone and using online tools. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.

Filed Under: Commercial Ag Updates, Field, Forage & Livestock, Fruit, Landscape, Nursery, & Turf, Vegetable Crops Tagged With: , ,