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Senator Dianne Feinstein has added her voice to industry leaders asking for timely processing of Mexican H-2A workers needed to harvest U.S. produce crops.

A new temporary rule will allow H-2A workers to stay in the U.S. beyond the current three-year maximum and should give U.S. growers a bigger pool of guest farmworkers to fill their needs.

After 164 migrant workers at an Ontario asparagus farm tested positive for COVID-19 about halfway through harvest season, farm leaders worked with the local health department to contain the spread.

Recommendations on protecting agriculture workers from exposure to the coronavirus have been issued by the U.S. government.

A California startup, Vinergy Inc., has equipment it says will improve vineyard efficiency by reducing a labor-intensive part of harvest — transporting grapes to the end of rows.

Three federal agencies are hosting a web seminar to update food companies on COVID-19 pandemic operating guidelines.

The California Fresh Fruit Association and California Farmworker Foundation have distributed more than 50,000 N-95 masks and single-use surgical masks to agricultural workers in the Central San Joaquin Valley.

Stemilt Growers has achieved a three-year Equitable Food Initiative certification at its Quincy, Wash., apple and cherry orchard operation. The company has plans to expand the program, according to a news release.

How much growers will pay for guest workers in the H-2A program in 2021 is unknown because of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to suspend a report used to set wages.

The National Council of Agricultural Employers, a trade association focused on farm labor issues, will have its annual Ag Labor Forum online this year.