NASS Floriculture Crop Summary Released
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service has just released its 2019 Floriculture Crops summary (2018 data), after a two-year hiatus. The new report is available here.
SSA No-Match Vexes Employers; Guidance Available
Employers continue to struggle with how to handle “no-match” letters from the Social Security Administration, as underscored in a recent article that appeared in the New York Times. Just a reminder that AmericanHort has developed compliance guidance for members on the tricky subject. Also, premium members of AmericanHort have access to our labor and employment law counsel at CJ-Lake, […]
How Do You Use Neonics? Please Let Us Know!
AmericanHort and the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) need to better understand our stakeholders’ use of the following nitroguanidine neonicotinoids Clothianidin (Arena) Dinotefuran (Safari) Midacloprid (Merit, Marathon, others) Thiamethoxam (Meridian, Flagship) We anticipate that the EPA will announce proposed registration changes to these four products in the near future. Your responses will help us better represent […]
Good News from Some H-2B Users
Last week, employers began receiving receipts and approvals from the Department of Homeland Security for H-2B visa petitions submitted under the May 8 rule that established a process for employers to apply for an additional 30,000 H-2B visas for fiscal year 2019. These visas are limited to returning workers who received H-2B visas in one […]
AmericanHort Joins Delegations from Oregon, Florida
The AmericanHort advocacy team was glad to partner last week with leadership delegations from the Oregon Association of Nurseries and the Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association to raise Congressional awareness of our key shared federal priorities. Joined by members of the AmericanHort team, these state delegations met with Senate and House lawmakers to discuss […]
Dream Act and TPS Bills Advance in House
On May 22, the House Judiciary Committee approved the “Dream Act of 2019” (H.R. 2820). The bill would extend legal status and create a path to citizenship for many who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Legal status would be granted to persons who have been continuously physically present in the U.S. […]
Administration Proposes 5% Budget Cut to Agencies
Due to increasing federal budget deficits announced in October, the Trump Administration is proposing to cut 5% off of federal agencies’ bottom lines. The federal deficit climbed to $779 billion in FY 2018, which was a 17% increase over the previous year. With regard to the Department of Agriculture (USDA), a spokesman stated that “USDA […]
Update on Proposal to Move USDA Agencies
Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, has announced the top three locations under consideration for a new home for the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). They include multiple cities in Indiana, the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, and Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Two additional cities, St. […]
California Set to Ban Chlorpyrifos
Registration of chlorpyrifos will be canceled in the state of California. This process may take up to two years, and state officials have allocated $5.7 million to fund safer alternatives. California becomes the second state to take this action, following Hawaii’s announcement in 2018. New York is also considering registration cancelation. Debates over chlorpyrifos’ safety […]
Trucking: Regulatory Relief Ahead?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) states that June 7 is the likely date of publication of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on changes to the trucking Hours of Service (HOS) rules. FMCSA noted that the agency plans to take comments on the NPRM until July 26. FMCSA issued a pre-rule last August, […]