California Ag Network

Category: Vegetable Industry

  • Agtech Startups to Compete for $250,000 in AgSharks Pitch Competition

    Western Growers and S2G Ventures are now accepting applications for the 2022 AgSharks Competition, a unique event where startup companies pitch their innovations in front of a live audience of the world’s largest specialty crop producers to win a $250,000 minimum investment. Impact-driven entrepreneurs and startups developing technologies that promote a more healthy and sustainable food and agriculture system can apply for the AgSharks Competition at 2022agsharksevent.splashthat.com. Applications close on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.

    “With a proven track record of rewarding cutting-edge agtech innovators and enabling them to grow their businesses, we look forward to this year’s competitors engaging in a live, spirited back-and-forth with our members on how best to use technology to solve the most pressing needs of our industry,” said Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia. “With its real-world financial stakes for the start-ups and the potential long-term benefits for our members, the AgSharks Competition is one of the highlights of our Annual Meeting.” 

    Three startups will be selected to pitch their inventions to a panel of growers, shippers, processors and venture capitalists in front of more than 300 fresh produce farmers and industry leaders during the WG Annual Meeting in Las Vegas on Nov. 2-5, 2022. The AgSharks finalists will be the only presenting startups featured on stage. In addition to potential investment capital, the winner(s) will receive international recognition, mentoring from S2G and WG, potential access to farm acreage to pilot their technologies and access to WG’s expansive network of leading fresh produce companies.

    “AgSharks leads as the only pitch competition that offers agtech startups an audience with the biggest agricultural companies across the globe,” said Audre Kapacinskas, Principal at S2G Ventures. “The combination of exclusive access to hundreds of industry leaders, plus investment capital to fuel growth, are two elements that are crucial for a startup’s success in this industry.”

    AgSharks was first held in 2017, and through the competition, past winners Hazel Technologies and Burro have since brought their products from development to market. Hazel Technologies has raised over $87.8 million in funding over six rounds and is advancing the industry with sachets that extend the shelf life of fresh produce by as much as three times. Burro raised a $10.9 million Series A round in September 2021 led by S2G Ventures and Toyota Ventures and continues to help solve farmers’ labor woes with the expansion of its fleet of autonomous robots to farms across the west.

    About Western Growers:

    Founded in 1926, Western Growers represents local and regional family farmers growing fresh produce in California, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Western Growers’ members and their workers provide over half the nation’s fresh fruits, vegetables and tree nuts, including half of America’s fresh organic produce. Connect and learn more about Western Growers on Twitter and Facebook.

    About S2G Ventures:

    S2G Ventures, the direct investment team of Builders Vision, partners with entrepreneurs who are working on solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges across the food, agriculture, oceans, and clean energy markets. We provide capital, mentorship and value-added resources to companies pursuing innovative market-based solutions that generate positive social, environmental and financial returns. We provide our partners with flexible capital solutions that can range from seed and venture funding through growth equity to debt and infrastructure financing. For more information about S2G, visit s2gventures.com, tune-in to our podcast, or connect with us on LinkedIn.

  • Novel Strawberry IPM Tool Included in CA DPR Grant Funding

    The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced $1.78 million in Alliance Grants for five projects that aim to increase the speed and the scale at which safer, more sustainable pest management practices are adopted across the state. Each project will promote innovative Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems and practices in agricultural, urban or wildland settings.

    “Alliance Grants directly support the department’s mission to foster methods and tools to reduce reliance on pesticides and their impact on human health and the environment,” said DPR Director Julie Henderson. “We are excited by the potential of these five projects and will continue to invest in projects that promote the development and use of safer, more sustainable pest management.”

    DPR’s Alliance Grants Program funds projects that promote IPM, an approach that uses the least-toxic, effective method to solve pest problems. Since 2007, DPR has awarded more than $7.8 million in Alliance Grants. The enhanced funds for the 2022 DPR Grants Programs cycle were allocated by the 2021-22 state budget and represent a more than five-fold increase in available funding opportunities compared to historical funding levels.

    Alliance Grants are awarded to groups of experts and partners, also referred to as Alliance Teams, who work collaboratively to accomplish the goals of a given project.

    Alliance projects funded for agricultural pest management:

    • Promoting IPM practices that incorporate natural-enemy habitat to control pest insects. This project’s Alliance Team will engage in outreach with producers and agricultural professionals through videos that feature producers and researchers, field days and webinars, which will include an online continuing education course for pesticide applicators. This project will be led by Jo Ann Baumgartner at Wild Farm Alliance, a local non-profit conservation group in Watsonville.
    • Promoting the adoption of UV-C light, a non-chemical control, by strawberry growers on California strawberry farms. This project’s Alliance Team will showcase UV-C light as an effective, non-chemical alternative to chemical pesticides for controlling mites, mildew and mold. This project will be led by Dr. John Lin at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

    Alliance projects funded for urban pest management:

    • Addressing management of Argentine ants, the most common nuisance ant for which pesticide treatments are applied in urban environments. The Alliance Team for this project is focused on the implementation and promotion of a low-impact IPM approach for pest management professionals that uses pheromone attractants during initial treatment visits and targeted chemical baiting for maintenance visits, to reduce reliance on repeated use of insecticide sprays. This project will be led by Dr. Dong-Hwan Choe at University of California, Riverside.
    • Home visits to provide IPM education and intervention to disadvantaged communities in South Los Angeles. To improve the health and well-being of South Los Angeles residents, this project’s Alliance Team will make home visits to each family that enrolls in the program. The team will assess housing conditions; provide IPM interventions, including caulking cracks and sealing large holes; and offer other IPM education on reducing pest infestations. This project will be led by Nancy Ibrahim at Esperanza Community Housing.

    Alliance projects funded for wildlands pest management:

    • Combining manual removal of invasive primrose with native plant restoration through a private property owner incentive program, and an AmeriCorps partnership that will provide education and outreach to the community. The Alliance Team for this project is focused on management of creeping water primrose, an invasive aquatic plant, that is usually controlled with chemical pesticides. This project’s combination of IPM methods will improve water quality, protect fish habitat and enhance flood protection and prevention, as well as create strong and sustainable natural vegetative wetland communities around the shores of Clear Lake, California. This project will be led by Angela De Palma-Dow at the Lake County Watershed Protection District.For details about past recipients of DPR’s Grants Programs, please visit our department’s Pest Management Grants webpage.

      ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF PESTICIDE REGULATION

      The California Department of Pesticide Regulation protects human health and the environment by fostering safer and sustainable pest management practices and operating a robust regulatory system to evaluate and register pesticides and monitor and regulate their sale and use across the state.

      DPR’s work includes conducting scientific evaluations of pesticides to assess and mitigate potential harm to human health and the environment prior to and following registration registering all pesticides prior to sale or use in California, monitoring for pesticides in the air and water, and enforcing pesticide laws and regulations in coordination with 55 County Agricultural Commissioners and their combined 400 field inspectors across the state’s 58 counties. DPR invests in innovative research, outreach, and education to encourage the development and adoption of integrated pest management tools and practices and conducts outreach to ensure pesticide workers, farmworkers and local communities have access to pesticide safety information.

  • Impacts of Water Restrictions on Agriculture Production Cannot Be Understated

    United Vegetable Growers Cooperative — Our most precious resource is in critical condition. Chances are if you have driven through the Central San Joaquin Valley over the past 20 years you have seen prominent signs and billboards scattered along the interstate highways as well as the backroads.

    Many can attest to driving by one of these signs countless times while checking their fall lettuce in Huron. The simple five-word message has been crystal clear and prophetic for many years: “Food Grows Where Water Flows.” The message seems so basic and elementary that the critical message became tone deaf.

    West Coast farmers for generations have navigated multi-year cyclical drought conditions and have always managed to survive these conditions. Several seasons of heavy Sierra Nevada and Colorado Rockies snowpacks, along with above-average rainfall, and a short-term emergency was averted.

    The current West Coast water conditions are not an overnight development, it has been gradually building for years. As a result of the ongoing drought, the western region of the country’s most strategic water storage reservoirs have been reduced to historic levels.

    To provide context, the following are current levels of a few of California’s critical reservoir as of June 26: Lake Shasta is currently at 39% of its capacity and 50% of its historical average. Trinity is currently at 29% of its capacity and 38% of its historical average. Oroville is currently at 50% capacity and 65% of historical average. San Luis is currently at 40% capacity and 71% of its historical average.

    As a result, multiple CSJ irrigation districts have been subject to extensive water allocations, which have gotten more severe over the past two years. These allocations cover all agriculture farming, be it row crops or orchards. And as the season moves toward its midway point, unless there is record precipitation along with snowpack, conditions will remain dire. Water allocations will only be deeper next season and farm acres will continue to be furrowed.

    The challenge of this drought is not exclusive to California farmers. The Colorado River Basin is at its lowest levels ever recorded. With Lake Powell currently at 27% of capacity and Lake Mead at 29% of capacity. Now in an effort to preserve the water levels of these two critical reservoirs, drastic conservation measures are now being implemented. Targeted conservation levels of between two- and four-million-acre-feet of water (one acre-foot of water = 325,000 gallons) have been implemented to protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell reservoirs for the next four years.

    The primary effects of this conservation will be on the backs of the desert southwest agriculture, which ranges from the greater Yuma growing district to the Imperial Valley. The current outline of agriculture water conservation comes via usage restrictions, such as forcing farmers to determine which crops will be the most financially viable to farm. This is in addition to impacting the volume of crops that can be farmed, all while limiting the use of irrigation water. Keep in mind that during the winter months of November through March, over 85% of all leafy greens and vegetables consumed in North America is grown in the Greater Yuma and Imperial Valley growing districts.

    This is more than just a growing concern. The impact of agriculture production limitations based upon water restrictions cannot be understated. And long-term water storage solutions can no longer be ignored.

    Because, as the signs proclaim, only “Food Grows Where Water Flows.”

  • Best Farming Practices for Treated Seeds Underscores Commitment to Environmental Stewardship

    As planting season begins across the West, Western Plant Health is reminding farmers about the importance of following basic steps that will help ensure the ongoing stewardship of pesticide-treated seeds, which help reduce the overall use of pesticides.

    This major agricultural advance provides seed treatments that help protect developing seeds during their most vulnerable time – at planting and germination. Their highly targeted, precise application means less impact on the surrounding environment.

    Studies have shown that without this innovation, up to 5X’s more pesticides would have to be applied by traditional means to the crop. Fewer applications also require fewer tractor passes, which in turn reduces greenhouse gas emissions and offers yet another way for farmers to mitigate climate change.

    Treated seeds represent one of many valuable and innovative approaches enabling farmers in the West to be more productive, while using resources more efficiently and protecting the environment. That is why adopting these best practices is critical:

    1) Follow label directions on seed containers;

    2) Eliminate flowering plants and weeds in the field prior to planting;

    3) Minimize dust by using advanced seed flow lubricants and mechanisms;

    4) “Bee Aware” of honey bees and hives located near the field;

    5) Ensure that any spilled seeds are removed to protect wildlife and the environment; and

    6) Remove all treated seed left in containers and equipment after each planting, and dispose of any remaining seeds after planting is completed.

    These are simple, effective and important stewardship practices when it comes to treated seeds. Let’s help protect this critical technology for farmers by observing these practices. Remember, always follow label directions on seed containers for proper handling, storage, planting and disposal to minimize risk to applicators, wildlife and the environment!

    Farmers are the original environmentalists; properly using treated seeds is a way to continue that tradition and value to protect the land for future generations. – By Renee Pinel, President & CEO of Western Plant Health Association

  • Vertical, Indoor Farming Boosts Yield and Anti-Cancer Nutrition of Watercress

    How does it sound to grow plants without sunlight or soil, in racks going up and down instead of in rows on the ground? That’s how crops grow in indoor vertical farms, where nutrient-rich, recycled water feeds plants under red and blue LED lights. This innovative approach gives farmers the chance to alter crops as they like, whether that means making lettuce red or producing extra-flavorful herbs. The added benefits: Amid continuing drought across the western United States and water scarcity in many other parts of the world, this system uses up to 95% less water than traditional farming. And, it has no need for pesticides.

    Watercress is an ideal crop for vertical farming. Traditionally, this semi-aquatic, leafy green from the nasturtium family grows in high-quality chalk streams in Europe. It’s also packed with nutrients, with a distinctive peppery taste that makes it a yummy addition to salads. The flavor hints at anti-cancer benefits conferred by the same natural chemical compound that creates watercress’s flavor

    Now, scientists from the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences have discovered that watercress grown in indoor, vertical farms has the highest phytonutrient content and yield, compared to cress grown in soil in California and in traditional, outdoor farms in the United Kingdom, according to a study just published in Scientia Horticulturae. Levels of the plant’s anti-cancer compound also were further elevated by increased blue light when grown indoors. This discovery shows how the quality of food can be improved for people’s health when crops are grown indoors.

    This work has been made possible with a new, specialized growing facility on campus for research in controlled environment agriculture. Multiple faculty members in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are working in this area. The indoor farm also is being used to train the next generation of high-tech farmers, with students visiting the facility and growing red romaine lettuce this year. — By Yufei Qian & Lauren Hibbert, UC Davis

  • Duda Farm Fresh Foods Announces Sammy Duda as CEO-Elect of Duda

    Duda Farm Fresh Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of DUDA and a leading grower of fresh vegetables and citrus, announces the company’s president, Samuel “Sammy” Duda, has been named CEO-elect of DUDA. This decision marks the culmination of a nearly year-long process led by DUDA’s Board of Directors with support from an international leadership advisory firm.

    Sammy will continue to fulfill the responsibilities of his existing role until transitioning to CEO of DUDA on January 1, 2023. At that time, his role will shift to one of oversight for Duda Farm Fresh Foods as he begins guiding the family-owned and operated diversified land company’s consolidated business vision, goals, and values.

    “I couldn’t be more humbled and proud to have the opportunity to lead DUDA as a fourth-generation family member and continue our commitment to our values,” says Sammy. “I look forward to learning from and working with DUDA’s leaders and Board of Directors for the continued success of the company and all of its stakeholders.”

    DUDA’s current CEO, David Duda, has served in this role since 2010 and was the first member of the Duda family’s fourth generation to earn the position. The legacy of family leadership will continue with Sammy’s selection as CEO-elect. According to noted family business experts, only three percent of family businesses make it beyond their third generation in terms of leadership succession.

    “We have been blessed with great foresight by previous generations, plus an ongoing commitment to leadership succession within this fourth generation of the Duda family,” says David. “I’m grateful to everyone for my 12 years as CEO and am excited to work closely with Sammy through the remainder of my tenure as we prepare for the transition. Sammy is skilled at building relationships, and I am confident he will do a great job as the new CEO.”

    Over the next six months, Sammy will work alongside David Duda, DUDA’s executive leadership team, and the company’s Board of Directors to make his transition as seamless and productive as possible at both the Duda Farm Fresh Foods and DUDA corporate executive levels.

    About Duda Farm Fresh Foods

    For nearly 100 years, Duda Farm Fresh Foods has been a leading grower, shipper, processor, and marketer of fresh vegetables and citrus. Known for their superior celery, the company has expanded their facilities over the years to accommodate recent developments such as celery juicing and other health and wellness trends in order to provide consumers with the freshest celery possible. With primary locations in Florida, California, Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan, Duda Farm Fresh Foods carries a commitment to innovation and sustainability and believes in growing a healthy future for generations to come. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of A. Duda & Sons, Inc., a family-owned, diversified land company headquartered in Oviedo, Fla. For more information, please visit www.dudafresh.com.

  • Researchers Create Artificial Diet to Raise Beneficial Insect

    Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are looking for the perfect diet. Not just any diet, but one that’s special; a diet that encourages bugs to thrive.

    Most people have an aversion to bugs, so what Guadalupe Rojas and Juan A. Morales-Ramos are trying to do may seem a bit odd to some. But Rojas and Morales-Ramos, research entomologists at the ARS Biological Control of Pests Research Unit in Stoneville, MS, are actually attempting to pit insects against each other – to fight fire with fire, so to speak.

    “The pink spotted lady beetle, Coleomegilla maculate, is a predator of important pests such as the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, and several aphid species that attack crops and cause great economical loss,” she said.

    (Most people are familiar with the term “ladybug,” but lady beetle is more accurate. Technically, ladybugs are beetles rather than true bugs, which fall under the scientific order Hemiptera.)

    If left unchecked, Rojas said, the “bad bug” population can explode. That situation is rare in nature because of the presence of natural predators, but predators sometimes cannot keep up with their prey in large fields or greenhouses because of the abundance of food provided by crops. This situation can lead to major economic losses to farmers and less produce for consumers.

    That’s why it’s necessary to rear and mass produce predatory lady beetles, Morales-Ramos said. Releasing beneficial insects like these beetles to combat bad bugs is common practice when using integrated pest management (IPM) techniques. The key to IPM, though, often comes down to timing.

    Pink spotted lady beetle larvae of the third instar (about 7-8 days old) feeding on the new artificial diet created by ARS scientists at the Biological Control of Pests Research lab in Stoneville, MS. (Juan A. Morales-Ramos)

    “IPM uses multiple tactics to control an agricultural pest in an integrated manner, including chemical, biological, microbial, and environmental modification,” Rojas said. “Not all the tactics are compatible to use simultaneously, but they can be timed to prevent interference. The use of lady beetles follows on biological control tactics.”

    However, actual application is not so easy. While adult pink spotted lady beetles can live up to 8 months, it takes them a while to grow from larvae to maturity. Trying to feed the young lady beetles their natural diet would require greenhouses full of plants to raise spider mites and aphids, and that could lead to major expenses or other unwelcome complications. An artificial diet of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and mineral salts would eliminate those needs and risks.

    Creating that diet, however, is easier said than done.

    “It’s easy to create a formula that will keep beetles alive, but it may fail to get them to develop completely and later to reproduce,” Rojas said. “It’s a lengthy process of experimentation and evaluation to develop a diet that will be adequate for growth and reproduction.”

    To further complicate matters, even if the scientists find initial success, a formula may not be effective in the long run.

    “Feeding any animal with a single food formulation requires full knowledge of its nutritional needs,” Rojas said. “In most cases, the first version will lack a few nutrients and the colony will fail and we’ll need to revise the formulation. In other words, refining the diet is never completely done; it will be continuously improved to maintain the colony indefinitely.”

    The next challenge for Rojas and her colleagues is to reduce the number of ingredients or substitute them with byproducts to reduce production costs, so anybody could make it since ingredients used are from ordinary food products.

    “If lady beetles can be produced cheaply and in abundance, then they would be available for homeowners to purchase. And, biological control is more sustainable than using pesticides because using lady beetles reduces the reliance on chemical pesticides,” Morales-Ramos said.

    “Lady beetles are cool,” Rojas said. “What can be cooler than growing your own lady beetles at home?” — By Scott Elliott, USDA-ARS Office of Communications.

  • Terrestrial Fungus May be Key to Farming in Space

    Mold is something that most people try to avoid, but NASA may soon welcome a certain type of mold aboard its spacecraft.

    On long-distance space voyages of the future, astronauts will have to grow some of their own food. That could be problematic, as there is notoriously little unused space aboard ship and crops take a long time to grow. But what if science could find a way around those issues?

    Cladosporium sphaerospermum strain TC09 stimulates plant growth. (Stephen Ausmus)

    “Some plants grow extremely fast, like many common weeds, while others grow very slowly,” said Chris Dardick, molecular biologist at the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, WV. “What if we could make crop plants grow as fast as weeds? We have done just that.”

    ARS scientists found that an airborne fungus, Cladosporium sphaerospermumstrain TC09, speeds up plant growth. TC09 produces gasses, known as volatiles, that dramatically accelerate plant growth. TC09 is commonly found indoors and is not known to cause disease in plants or any ailments to humans or animals.

    In a Lab at the Kennedy Space center in Florida, ARS research technician Mark Sperry evaluates the performance of the fungus Cladosporium sphaerospermum strain TC09 with lettuce and simulated soil. (Cory Spern)

    “When the mold is grown alongside plants in a sealed container, the TC09-exposed plants grow 2 to 5 times faster,” Dardick said. “And if you feed the plants sugar at the same time, they can grow 10 to 25 times faster in the presence of TC09.”

    Not only do the plants grow faster, they tend to have thicker stems, larger leaves, and a more robust root system than plants not exposed to TC09. They also produce far greater yield – pepper plants produced up to 213% more fruit. Lettuce, arugula, kale, basil, and other leafy greens showed similar results.

    “How TC09 stimulates such rapid plant growth is currently unknown,” he said, “but it has become the interest of NASA to find out.”

    According to Dardick, NASA has tested TC09 on some of their most prized crops including “outredgeous” (red romaine) lettuce and mizuna, finding that TC09 worked extremely well in the artificial media typically used in spaceflight. In addition, NASA is constructing two plant growth chambers similar to what is used on the International Space Station that will be housed at the ARS research lab in Disney’s Epcot Center.

    Discovering how TC09 works could give NASA the solutions it’s looking for, regarding space and time limitations, Dardick said. Such technology could also revolutionize food production here on Earth as farmers face the challenge of feeding a population projected to reach 9.9 billion by 2050.

    This initial investigation was sponsored by the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, which works in coordination with NASA to fully utilize the orbiting laboratory to bring value to our nation through space-based research and technology development. – By Scott Elliott, USDA-ARS Office of Communications. Autumn Canaday contributed to this story.

  • May is National Salad Month, Celebrate with More US Grown Salad on the Table

    What is arguably the foundational ingredient in salad? Lettuce! USDA’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture (NIFA) supports research that is leading to stronger, healthier, more disease-resistant lettuce cultivars. See what NIFA is doing to keep healthy, safe salads on the menu for consumers everywhere.

    Current funded projects in California and Illinois include the following:

    The USDA Agricultural Research Service, Pacific West Area, in Albany, California, is working to improve the safety and survival of lettuce during fresh-cut processing and cold storage. Mechanical damage of processed leaf tissue offers new opportunities for the proliferation of E. coli, the main bacterial agent that causes lettuce-linked foodborne outbreaks. Researchers are working to identify lettuce cultivars that effectively reduce population sizes of E. coli upon shredding and cold storage and characterize defense responses on cut tissue.

    The USDA Agricultural Research Service in Berkeley, California, is studying the prevention of pathogen contamination in agriculture water in lettuce production. Researchers are developing and implementing a screening tool to test the effectiveness of sanitizer, antimicrobial resistance and tolerance to oxidizing compounds, and provide recommendations on keeping resistant strains from developing.

    The University of California – Davis is enhancing the use of resources to increase sustainable lettuce production in changing climates. This research project seeks to improve water, nitrogen and phosphate use in lettuce, and determine heat/cold/saline tolerance, to improve lettuce’s resilience. The research findings will be shared with breeders and students.

    The University of Chicago is modifying lettuce by altering its genetic makeup without introducing genetically modified genes. Researchers are using tiny fibers to inject substances that will enable changing the gene content of lettuce.

  • US Department of Labor Penalizes CA Ag Employers $225K for Failure to Meet H-2A Obligations

    Migrant workers in the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program provide critical seasonal labor on farms across California, spending weeks away from home doing the grueling work needed to support the state’s $49 billion agricultural industry.

    The H-2A program allows employers who anticipate a shortage of U.S.-based workers to bring workers here from other countries to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. An ongoing U.S. Department of Labor effort has revealed some California vegetable farms have not been providing H-2A workers with the pay and benefits, and personal protections the law requires.

    In a series of investigations from April 2020 to February 2022 by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, several farms were found to be failing to meet their responsibilities under the H-2A program. The investigations found five farmers failed to provide meals or kitchen facilities, did not pay required inbound and outbound transportation and meal costs, and allowed workers to be transported unsafely. The division also determined some farms shortchanged workers’ wages and failed to provide a contract to workers as required or did not abide by the terms of workers’ contracts.

    The five investigations led to the recovery of $225,114 in back wages for 588 workers, and assessments of $54,617 in penalties. They also yielded findings and administrative settlements with the following employers:

    • Adam Bros Farming in Santa Maria: Failed to provide meals or kitchen facilities, transportation and meal costs. Did not provide contract at time of hire, failed to pay all required wages and unlawfully deducting meal costs, including when meals were not provided. Failed to comply with other state and federal law. The employer paid $94,146 in back wages to 30 employees, and $7,862 in penalties.
    • Boavista Farms in Santa Maria: Failed to pay required inbound and outbound transportation and meal costs. Did not provide contract at time of hire and failed to pay all required wages and comply with other state and federal law. Boavista Farms was ordered to pay $43,297 in back wages to 28 employees, and $5,361 in penalties.
    • Profresco Inc. in Santa Maria: Failed to pay all required inbound and outbound transportation and meal costs, and transportation failed to meet safety requirements. Failed to satisfy requirements of the job order by not stating actual terms and conditions and failed to comply with other state and federal law as applicable. Profresco Farms paid $50,789 in back wages to 471 employees, and $7,505 in penalties.
    • SARC in Nipomo: Failed to pay inbound transportation and meal costs and made improper deductions for meals and unpaid hours worked. Did not ensure health and safety standards, and prepared meals failed to meet local health standards causing some workers to become ill after consuming spoiled lunch. SARC also failed to provide personal protective equipment and supplies to workers. The employer paid $34,996 in back wages to 42 employees, and $13,160 in penalties.
    • Togliatti Farms LLC in San Martin: Failed to pay for required inbound transportation and did not pay the required rate of pay. Failed to maintain required records and did not comply with pay statement requirements. Failed to contact former U.S. employees to solicit their return to the job as required and did not post H-2A information visibly for workers to see. Provided housing that failed to meet safety and health requirements. Togliatti Farms was ordered to pay $1,885 in back wages to 17 workers, and $20,729 in penalties. The employer also agreed to future compliance and paid all monetary liabilities.

    “Employers that benefit from the H-2A guest worker program must be aware of all their responsibilities,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Ruben Rosalez in San Francisco. “Agricultural workers employed under the H-2A program must be paid as their contracts require and be provided with what they need to live and work safely while contributing critical labor to California’s agriculture industry.”

    Nationally, the Wage and Hour Division investigated 735 cases with H-2A violations in the last two fiscal years.These investigations recovered $9,092,624 in back wages for 13,408 workers and assessed $9,520,624 in civil penalties from employers for violations of federal labor laws.

    For more information about farmworkers’ rights and laws enforced by the division, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division enforces the law regardless of a worker’s immigration status and can speak confidentially with callers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.