July 2018, Volume 24, Number 3

California: Water, Napa
San Joaquin Valley farmers want more water from northern California, but they do not want to pay for the proposed 35-mile twin tunnels to move water

Meat and Migrants
ICE agents inspected workers at the Fresh Mark meat-packing plant in Salem, Ohio in June 2018 and arrested 146 suspected unauthorized

Labor H-1B
The US unemployment rate rose to four percent in June 2018, up from 3.8 percent in May 2018, which was the lowest rate since April 2000. Payroll

California: FLCs
Farm labor contractor X-Treme Ag Labor Inc operated a van taking six workers home after working at Valley Garlic Inc in Gilroy in June 2015 that

Florida, Southeast
Fast-food chain Wendy's has refused to join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers Fast Food Program, which requires buyers of Florida tomatoes to pay a

Midwest, Northeast, Northwest
New York. Dairy farmer John Collins complained that seven ICE agents arrested one of his dairy workers April 18, 2018, and handcuffed him when he

UFW, Gerawan, DOL
The UFW and D'Arrigo Brothers signed a three-year contract June 28, 2018 covering 1,200 workers in Salinas and 350 in the Imperial Valley. The

DACA, Travel, Sanctuary
President Trump, assessing his performance after 500 days in office June 5, 2018, claimed credit for "lower crime and illegal immigration, stronger

DHS: Families, ICE
President Trump in May 2018 sharply attacked DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen during a cabinet meeting for not doing enough to stop illegal entries and

H-2A; H-2B
President Trump, speaking in Michigan April 28, 2018, said "For the farmers, OK, it's going to get good. We're going to let your guest workers come

NAFTA, Canada, Mexico
Canada, Mexico and the US failed to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement. The talks broke down in May 2018 over a US demand that a revised

Europe, Asia
The EU 28 member states granted asylum to 538,000 foreigners in 2017; two-thirds were Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, and 60 percent of those recognized

Population and Migration
The UN released a final Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in July 2018 whose goal is to protect the basic human rights of all

California: Berries, Nuts, Cannabis
Berries. Fresh berries generate the most revenues in supermarket produce sections. Driscoll's is the largest player in berries, with projected

US Ag, Trade
A new five-year farm bill was debated in June 2018. The major issues were whether to require recipients of food-stamp benefits to work in order to

Wine, Food
California's 600,000 acres of wine grapes produced 4.2 million tons of wine grapes in 2017, an average yield of 7.2 tons an acre. New plantings are

Climate Change
A federal judge dismissed a suit filed by Oakland and San Francisco that accused oil firms such as Exxon of contributing to climate change and