Farm Bureau Weekly Update 11/17

Your 2021 membership renewal is due now! Take advantage of the early-pay discount when paid before Nov. 30. Pay by check, online at NYFB.org, or by phone at 1-800-342-4143. Remember to sign up for AutoRenewal to save yourself time next year. If you have already paid, we thank you for your continued support in keeping New York agriculture strong.

In this issue:

• Virtual Labor Roadshow Starts Tomorrow
• Farm Labor Wage Board to Hold Virtual Public Presentations
• NYFB Signs on to Letter to Slow Unemployment Insurance Premium Increases
• Onboarding Webinar Series: Safe, Productive and Engaged from Day One
• Employers of CDL Drivers Reminded of Conducting Clearinghouse Query
• NYAAC Launching Dairy Television Ads
• AFBF Announces New Climate Initiative

strong>Virtual Labor Roadshow Starts Tomorrow The Agriculture Workforce Development Council is hosting the Labor Roadshow IV beginning tomorrow. A series of five, virtual one to two-hour webinars will be held online through Zoom at noon on Nov. 18, 19, 20, 23, and 24. Cost is $55 per person to attend all five webinars and to receive links to the webinar recordings. Click here for more information and to register. Farm Labor Wage Board to Hold Virtual Public Presentations The New York State Farm Labor Wage Board convened by law to consider whether to lower the 60-hour farm labor overtime threshold will hold three additional meetings to hear presentations from the Department of Labor to discuss the written submissions and testimony received at the hearings and to make recommendations on the overtime work threshold for farm laborers and the extent to which the threshold may be lowered. The meetings are open to members of the public and will be conducted via videoconference. No public testimony will be taken at these meetings. The additional meetings are scheduled Nov. 19, Dec. 1 and 2. Click here for more information and how to view the virtual presentations . NYFB Signs on to Letter to Slow Unemployment Insurance Premium Increases New York Farm Bureau joined with other organizations representing hundreds of thousands of businesses across New York State to strongly encourage the NYS Labor Commissioner to support efforts to curb devastating increases to unemployment insurance premiums. The letter reads in part, “With a long road to recovery, New York State must make every effort to limit and mitigate damaging cost increases for businesses in the months and years ahead. Right now, businesses are facing the potential of unprecedented hikes to unemployment insurance premiums as a result of the pandemic. Between March and September, the New York State Department of Labor has provided almost $40 billion in unemployment benefits to more than 3.3 million New Yorkers, which according to DOL is over 18 years’ worth of benefits in just over five months. Furthermore, New York State has already borrowed $7.9 billion from the federal government to pay UI benefits, which will need to be repaid unless it is forgiven. This is an unprecedented amount of money flowing out of the unemployment insurance system that simply cannot be replenished through higher premiums on small businesses.” Click here to read the full letter. Onboarding Webinar Series: Safe, Productive and Engaged from Day One Cornell Ag Workforce Development is partnering with Cornell Cooperative Extension to offer a one-hour three-session Onboarding Webinar Series via Zoom on Dec. 2, 9, and 16. Register here. The first days and weeks on the job set the course for a new employee. A successful onboarding program can be an essential tool to help reduce employee turnover, increase employee safety and productivity, and contribute to a farm’s success. The Onboarding Webinar Series focuses on navigating employment requirements and improving human resource management practices, including enhancing training skills. Each webinar includes a 20-minute presentation, followed by 15 to 20 minute breakout sessions, and finishes with a 15-minute general Q&A session. Assigned “homework” between each session, completed with the support of a CCE educator or consultant, ensures participants exit the series with a personalized onboarding template, onboarding materials, trainings, and methods. To sign up for this or future Onboarding projects, contact Lucas Smith ( ls678@cornell.edu), Ag Workforce Development, or your local Cornell Cooperative Extension educator. Click here for more information about the webinar series. And click here for more information about onboarding. Employers of CDL Drivers Reminded of Conducting Clearinghouse Query Per Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations, employers of CDL drivers must conduct a query in the Clearinghouse at least once per year for each CDL driver they employ, and before hiring a prospective driver. The annual query requirement is tracked on a rolling 12-month basis. Download the Queries and Consent Requests Factsheet to learn more. The Clearinghouse is an online database that gives employers, the FMCSA, State Driver Licensing Agencies, and State law enforcement personnel real-time information about CDL and commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders’ drug and alcohol program violations. An act of Congress directed the Secretary of Transportation to establish the Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse enables employers to identify drivers who commit a drug and alcohol program violation while working for one employer, but who fail to subsequently inform another employer (as required by current regulations). Employers of CDL drivers must purchase a query plan to meet this regulatory requirement. Registered employers may purchase query plans only on the FMCSA Clearinghouse website. Consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) may not purchase query plans on behalf of an employer. A separate query plan must be purchased for each individual company. To learn more about the Clearinghouse, click here. NYAAC Launching Dairy Television Ads The New York Animal Agriculture Coalition (NYAAC) is debuting local television ads on Spectrum News promoting New York dairy products. They will air in five media markets including Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Central NY and the Hudson Valley. NYAAC says the dairy checkoff funds that are allowing this opportunity to happen this year were from the re-allocation of NYAAC money earmarked for the State Fair to this project by the Dairy Promotion Order (DPO) Board. The ads will be promoted on social media as well. New York Farm Bureau is a founding member organization of NYAAC and has two seats on its Board of Directors that governs the organization. You can view the spots by clicking on the links below:

• 60 second spot
• 30 second spot

AFBF Announces New Climate Initiative American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall took part in the announcement today of the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance (FACA). FACA consists of organizations representing a cross-section of farmers, ranchers, forest owners, the food sector, State governments and environmental advocates that are working together to develop and promote shared climate policy priorities. The goal is to include agriculture at the table on discussions around climate change and environmental public policy initiatives. FACA recommendations are aligned with AFBF policy and approved by the AFBF board of directors. The alliance united around three principles that guide all 40 recommendations:

• Support voluntary, market- and incentive-based policies;
• Advance science-based outcomes; and
• Promote resilience and help rural economies better adapt to changes in the climate.

The eight organizations currently involved in the Alliance include:

• American Farm Bureau Federation
• Environmental Defense Fund
• FMI – The Food Industry Association
• National Alliance of Forest Owners
• National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
• National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
• National Farmers Union
• The Nature Conservancy

Other national trade organizations and non-governmental organizations are invited to join the alliance to stand-up for policies that support farmers, ranchers and foresters. FACA developed more than 40 recommendations in six categories: soil health; livestock and dairy; forests and wood products; energy; research; and food loss and waste. Click here for more information on FACA.

__________________________________________________________________________ NYFB has created a Farmworker Relief Program, a database whereby a farmworker seeking work can complete a form to be included in the database, and a farmer seeking workers can use the database as a recruiting resource NY FarmNet is Open Please keep these numbers and websites available to call or share should you, a family member or friends need someone to speak with in these uncertain times. Support is available at 1-800-547-3276 and www.nyfarmnet.org. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 (TALK), www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org Crisis Text Line Text “GOT 5” to 741-741, www.crisistextline.org