Business News
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With pear harvest underway, the Lake County ag community has been working hard to develop and implement safety protocols for farmworkers to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Since early June, an agricultural employer group has been meeting biweekly with Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace to develop these strategies, reduce the chance of outbreaks and keep the farmworker community safe.
“Developing safety protocols for farmworkers during Lake County harvest has been the number one priority of our Ag Employer Advisory group,” Lake County Executive Director Brenna Sullivan said. “In addition to discussing resources, safety standards and PPE distribution, we’ve also developed strategies for working with Lake County Public Health to test employees should there be a positive COVID case.”
Lake County Public Health has offered rooms free-of-charge to farmworkers who have tested positive for COVID-19 and need to quarantine.
The Lake County Department of Agriculture, which has also been an active participant in the Ag Employers Advisory group, has provided free face masks for ag employers and farmworkers.
The Lake County Farm Bureau has published resources for farmers and is working with Farm Bureaus in surrounding counties to develop distribution strategies for materials in Spanish.
At the Aug. 11 Board of Supervisors meeting, Dr. Pace acknowledged the ongoing efforts within the ag community to reduce the chance of COVID-19 transmission among farmworkers.
“The ag community has been really engaged in trying to do everything possible to keep people safe … People are coming in from the Central Valley now to pick and the ag community is really working hard to keep this under control,” Pce said.
Mitigations in the field such as requiring face masks, eliminating or minimizing shared surfaces, sanitizing common areas twice daily and daily pre-work temperature checks have become common in pear orchards. In the fields, employees work separately; the nature of working on orchard ladders ensures social distancing.
Additional shade structures are also mandated by the state to create enough room for social distancing at breaks. In the packing sheds, many precautions have been taken including daily temperature checks, mandatory masking, sanitizing surfaces and maximizing ventilation.
One challenge has been the congregate living spaces in domestic harvest crews from the Central Valley and H2A workers. Strategies to mitigate risks have included creating smaller crews who live, work and travel together, putting up barriers in congregate housing, and creating social distancing at meals and break periods by moving dining areas outside and separating seating areas.
COVID-19 has not been the only challenge facing the ag community this season. Extreme heat and now smoke from wildfires has created additional difficulties in the fields.
In addition to cloth masks for COVID-19 prevention, the Lake County Ag Department now has N-95 particulate masks available for farmworkers. Cal OSHA requires that employees wear N-95 particulate masks when the Air Quality Index is 151 or greater (‘unhealthy’ air quality).
Ag employers are encouraged to contact the Lake County Ag Department at 707-263-0217 for more information.
As winegrape and walnut harvest gears up over the next couple months, efforts through the county, ag groups and individual employers will continue to keep workers safe.
For more resources on COVID-19 safety standards for farmworkers, contact the Lake County Farm Bureau office at 707-263-0911.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
The first, on Thursday, Aug. 27, features the spirits of the American Craft and Tamar Distillery in Redwood Valley.
This will be followed on Thursday, Sept. 3, by a beer and barbeque dinner with libations from Kelsey Creek Brewery in Kelseyville.
The menu for the final dinner on Thursday, Sept. 24, will include the fine wines and other products from Six Sigma Ranch in Lower Lake.
With indoor dining on hold due to coronavirus restrictions, the Blue Wing Restaurant is now open outdoors only from Fridays through Mondays.
The venue has been popular because of its shaded outdoor garden setting, its well-spaced tables and the local musicians playing background music on the veranda of the Tallman Hotel.
All social-distancing, masking and other guidelines will also be observed for these special Thursday evening dinners.
The “Distiller’s Dinner” on Thursday, Aug. 27, will feature a five-course meal paired with tastings of mini-cocktails and the Low Gap Whiskeys produced by master distiller Crispin Cain.
American Craft and Tamar Distillery VP Tamar Kaye said they had been planning a paired dinner in the Tallman Hotel dining room that had to be canceled in the spring. “It’s really wonderful,” she said, “that we’ve been able to re-activate that plan in the safe and lovely atmosphere of the Blue Wing garden.”
The “Beer and Barbeque” dinner on Thursday, Sept. 3, has been paired by Blue Wing chef Pablo Aguilar to complement a variety of beers produced by Kelsey Creek Brewing.
“We’ve been doing a number of things to continue serving our customers,” says Kelsey Creek owner and brewer Jason Chavez, “but it’s been tough not seeing our customers inside the brewery on a regular basis. We’re really looking forward to working with Chef Pablo to create a tasty paired dinner at the Blue Wing for our many friends.”
The Six Sigma “Farm-to-Table” Dinner on Thursday, Sept. 24, features not only the fine Six Sigma wines but also a variety of other products from the Six Sigma Ranch.
“We’ve had lots of visits out to our ranch this summer,” said Six Sigma’s Christian Ahlmann, “but we’ve been unable to hold a number of our customary summer events there. This harvest-time dinner at the Blue Wing should be a great opportunity to show off our wines, meats and other ranch products at their best.”
Blue Wing chef Pablo Aguilar enjoys putting together special menus paired to enhance appreciation of the featured beverages. “Currently we’re only open four days a week,” he said, “so these dinners will allow us to make use of our outdoor facilities on Thursdays while devoting all of our attention to creating the best experience possible for our guests in a safe environment.”
The “Distiller’s Dinner” is priced at $85 plus tax, the Kelsey Creek “Beer and Barbeque Dinner” is $75 plus tax, while the Six Sigma “Farm-to-Table” Dinner is $95 ($85 for Six Sigma wine club members) plus tax. These prices include all beverages and service charges.
The Tallman Hotel is offering a special deal on hotel rooms associated with these special dinners. Reserve two seats for any of the dinners and receive a 20 percent discount on a hotel room for the evening.
The gate opens for each dinner at 6 p.m. with the first course served at 6:30 p.m. Keyboard artist Paul Kemp will provide background music for all three dinners.
Reservations can be made by calling the Tallman Hotel at 707-275-2244, Extension 0. Reservations may also be made online at www.eventbrite.com.
To maintain proper social distancing, attendance will be restricted to 40 people and table seating will be limited to parties of six or less.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Attorney General Becerra reminds all Californians that price gouging during a state of emergency is illegal under Penal Code Section 396.
“As families throughout the state face devastating fires and extremely dangerous weather, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether they’re being illegally cheated out of fair prices for essential goods and services,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Our state’s price gouging law protects people impacted by an emergency from illegal price gouging on housing, gas, food, and other essential supplies. I encourage anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or who has information regarding potential price gouging, to immediately file a complaint with our office online at oag.ca.gov/report, or to contact their local police department or sheriff’s office.”
California law generally prohibits charging a price that exceeds, by more than 10 percent, the price of an item before a state or local declaration of emergency. This law applies to those who sell food, emergency supplies, medical supplies, building materials, and gasoline.
The law also applies to repair or reconstruction services, emergency cleanup services, transportation, freight and storage services, hotel accommodations, and rental housing. Exceptions to this prohibition exist if, for example, the price of labor, goods, or materials has increased for the business.
Violators of the price gouging statute are subject to criminal prosecution that can result in a one-year imprisonment in county jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Violators are also subject to civil enforcement actions including civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation, injunctive relief, and mandatory restitution.
The attorney general and local district attorneys can enforce the statute.
- Details
- Written by: California Department of Food and Agriculture
Through a two-phase competitive solicitation process, the SCBGP awards funds to projects that solely enhance the competitiveness of California specialty crops.
Specialty crops include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops (including floriculture).
The SCBGP program priorities are intended to address the current needs of California's specialty crop industry and help guide prospective applicants to submit projects that address the most significant issues affecting the industry.
For 2021, CDFA is proposing changes to the priorities to respond to challenges related to COVID-19 and address issues of farmer equity.
Interested parties should review the Proposed Program Priorities and may attend a web-based public listening session or submit emailed comments.
To register for a webinar, please email
Public comments may also be submitted directly to
Comments from specialty crop stakeholders are strongly encouraged. The input received will be published on the CDFA SCBGP website and considered during the development of the final program priorities for 2021.
Listening Session Schedule:
– Webinar 1: Aug. 20, 1 to 3 p.m. PDT.
– Webinar 2: Aug. 26, 10 a.m. to noon PDT.
How to resolve AdBlock issue?