California Avocado Harvest is Wrapping Up and OSHA Releases COVID Mandates
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Udpate.
**California’s avocado harvest is nearly finished and appears to be meeting crop projections for the season.
By late October, farmers had harvested 263.5 million pounds of avocados, on pace for their predicted output of 265 million pounds.
That’s far lower than the 2019-2020 season, when the crop totaled 375.5 million pounds.
Growers say they were challenged by variable weather, with below-average temperatures followed by heat waves.
**OSHA released exemptions to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine mandate for large, private employers.
The Hagstrom Report says the mandate won’t take effect until January 4 and begins after harvest season.
Chuck Conner, president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, says he’s disappointed that OSHA’s exemptions don’t adopt several commonsense accommodations to recognize the unique nature of agriculture.
He says NCFC will provide formal comments to OSHA outlining their concerns and will work with members to find ways to minimize the disruptions.
**The USDA says export sales were higher across the board during the week ending on October 28.
Corn sales in those seven days were up 37% over the previous week and 10% higher than the four-week average.
Exports were 9% higher week-to-week.
Wheat sales were 49% higher than the previous week and 4% above the four-week average.
Wheat exports fell 27%.
