Preliminary Honey Bee Colony Losses Released
Preliminary results for honey bee colony losses for 2018-2019 estimate losses of 37.7% from October 2018 thru April 2019, the highest level of winter loss since the survey began in 2006-2007. Average reported survey winter loss rate is about 28.8%. The Bee Informed Partnership manages this annual survey and did not yet offer speculation for […]
H-2B and Appropriations
Federal fiscal year 2020 began on October 1. The federal government is currently operating under a temporary spending bill, or “continuing resolution,” that runs through November 21. The annual appropriations process is unpredictable and the House impeachment inquiry could increase the partisan tensions we always face around the annual spending bills. If Congress is unable […]
Trucking Agency Seeks Input on Loading/ Unloading Times
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a request for information last month to better understand driver detention times during the loading and unloading of commercial vehicles along with their impact on safety. The request contains seven areas where FMCSA is looking for feedback, including topics such as what they should consider an estimate […]
H-2B Appropriations Update
Congressional Democrats and the White House continue negotiations around a deal to increase the debt ceiling and impose annual federal spending caps. Speaker Pelosi hopes to reach an agreement before Congress goes on recess for the month of August. On July 19, the Speaker rejected an initial offer from the Administration that calls for $150 […]
Agricultural Trucking Relief Act Introduced in Senate
Senators David Perdue (R-GA) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Senate companion bill to the Agricultural Trucking Relief Act (S. 2025) at the end of June. The legislation specifically adds horticulture and floriculture to the definition of “agricultural commodity” as it pertains to transportation policy. Confusion has persisted as to what is considered an “agricultural […]
Update On Current Immigration-Related Workplace Enforcement Initatives And Practical Compliance Advice
Current Developments AmericanHort offers the following updated guidance with regard to enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for immigration-related workplace compliance. This update comes at a moment of extraordinary transformation in immigration enforcement. The change in the preceding 4 years since the most […]
Ag Secretary Perdue Announces Agency Moves to Kansas City
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced that the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Economic Research Service (ERS) divisions will be relocated out of the Washington, D.C. metro area to the Kansas City region. A cost-benefit analysis of the relocation was also released that cites an estimated annual savings around $20 […]
AmericanHort Comments on Two Agency Moves Affecting Plant Trade
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has proposed a fourth list of imported items from China that are likely to be subject to retaliatory tariffs, unless the ongoing trade dispute with China is resolved. Imports of these “list 4” items represent an estimated $300 billion in annual imports. If the proposal is finalized, they […]
Sudden Oak Death Findings in the Midwest
Phytophthora ramorum, the cause of so-called “sudden oak death,” was detected on plant material being sold in garden centers in Indiana and Kansas this spring. The pathogen is not expected to be established in these areas but entered the states via the plant trade. One source, Kansas State Extension, reported that infected rhododendrons were found […]
Appropriations and Pesticide-Related Amendments
In mid-June, the House of Representatives began taking action on a handful of fiscal 2020 funding bills. On June 19, the House passed a package of spending bills that would fund the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Defense, State, and Energy from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. Several amendments were […]