Do you Want to Host a Vaccine Clinic at your Greenhouse?

The Michigan Primary Care Association has developed a centralized web form for collecting vaccine event interest for food processing and agricultural workers across the state of Michigan.

Intent of Form: This form is for employers, housing providers, and other organizational stakeholders to indicate their interest in hosting a COVID-19 vaccine event for agricultural workers.

This absolutely includes greenhouses and may be particularly helpful for those who employ H-2A workers.

After submission, the information will be sent to the community health center serving the request area and the health center will follow-up to discuss additional details.

Individual agricultural workers who would like a COVID-19 vaccine are not intended to complete this event request form. Instead, please visit Michigan.gov/COVIDVaccine or vaccinefinder.org to find a vaccine provider in your area.

Generally, a health center will make arrangements to provide on-site COVID-19 vaccine administration if there are 30 or more agricultural workers at the requesting location. If there are fewer than 30, the health center may serve the agricultural workers from the requesting location at a nearby health center site or another upcoming vaccine event in the area. If unsure, submit the interest form with your best available information.

Health centers will try to follow-up within 2 days of receiving your information, but may take up to 5 days, depending on the number of requests. We appreciate your patience and support in reaching this essential workforce with the vaccine.

Ginger Vallejo, Agricultural Employment Liaison
Workforce Development
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity

Employers Click Here for Interest Form

Good news! It looks like agriculture workers will be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine starting March 1.   Governor Whitmer’s office sent out a statement on next steps including this:

• Additionally, workers in food processing and agricultural settings, about 79,000 Michiganders, will be able to be vaccinated as of March 1. This will help ensure the health and safety of Michigan’s essential food and agriculture workers and keep the state’s food supply chain moving.

I believe this would include greenhouse workers as stated in the Michigan Farm News this week. The following is from the article:

According to Ben Tirrell, associate legislative counsel for the Michigan Farm Bureau, the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan tries to balance health risks while maintaining essential services to the broader population.

Tirrell said the CDC definition of food and agricultural workers includes almost all associated input supply, farm or greenhouse labor, transportation, and processing and retail workers associated with the human and animal food systems.

This is a great step in protecting the workers that are so important to the greenhouse industry. Your employees should be able to start signing up with their local health departments soon.

Please make sure you still follow the CDC guidelines for protecting workers and customers in your greenhouses until this is over. If you are having trouble locating supplies of PPE, give Cindy or me a call and we will see if we can help you locate what you need.

Goeff Hansen
Executive Director
231-301-4888 | Mainstreet@sbam.org

I have been waiting to write the 2020 review, to make sure it was actually gone.

2020 was the year that turned everything upside down and added stress to every part of our lives. Last year was a busy year for MGGC as we tried to make sure the greenhouse industry was not negatively affected by the COVID-19 virus and the closing of almost everything. Our retail outlets were closed for a while by the Governor and that is when MGGC went to work with a communications plan to put pressure on the state to allow the sales of greenhouse goods and products. Thanks to the hard work of our members around the state on tv, radio, and newspapers telling their plans of how to operate and still keep employees and customers safe, we were able to get our retail businesses open within 3 days! The response from the public was tremendous and most of the MGGC members were able to have a very good year.
The Michigan Department of Treasury was trying to charge sales tax to one of our members for a new greenhouse structure, so we went to work to educate the department on what the law says about this. MGGC hired an attorney to fight the Michigan Department of Treasury for our members and establish once and for all that greenhouse structures are agriculture and are not subject to sales tax. Our attorney reminded the Department of Treasury what the law states and they dropped their request for sales tax to be paid. Another big win for the greenhouse industry!
When the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans were offered by the Federal government, MGGC made sure all of our members were kept up to speed on what was being offered and how to participate in the forgivable loans for their business.
I was able to work directly with Senator Stabenow’s office to make sure that greenhouses were added to the specialty crops in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), as they were not listed in the original CFAP legislation. We were successful in getting greenhouses added within a month, so the dollars were available to be applied for by our members. This was an opportunity for greenhouses to make up some of the added costs for the PPE protections they had to supply to their workers. MGGC was also able to help our members find PPE when it was getting difficult to access enough supplies for their workers.
The discussion about a possible greenhouse crop insurance is on-going. Watts and Associates has hosted several virtual conversations to gather information and form a report for the RMA. They are trying to put something together that is cost effective and gives coverage in case of a government ordered destruction of your crops. This is the study that was in the 2018 Farm Bill and MGGC is working with many associations around the nation to find a solution that works for the industry.
Make sure you check out the Grower to Grower Marketplace on our website. You can list items for sale which you no longer need or are long on. You may also find something useful for your business that someone else no longer needs. Remember that as a MGGC member you have many benefits available to you through your free SBAM membership. Log in to www.SBAM.org to see if any of them work for your business.
If you have not become a member yet or know someone who would be interested in becoming a member of MGGC – The only greenhouse specific association in the state, please let Cindy or me know and we will send out some information on membership.

December 9, 2020

Happy Holidays to everyone. Wednesday, Governor Whitmer announced an extension of the current COVID-19 restrictions for an additional 12 days, through December 20. While the numbers are starting to trend down in recent days, Michigan Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun says the case rate is still “alarmingly high.”  We are seeing over 100 deaths on some days, she said, more than seven times the rate we were seeing in early October. We need to make sure everyone is following the proper protections for their employees and customers to help stop the spread.

If you have not applied for the CFAP 2, you should do it immediately as the final day is December 11. This federal program has helped many of our members and does not seem to take a lot of time to fill out. This is a too good to be true thing that is actually something that is true. Contact your Farm Services Agency representative for assistance with your application.

Next year will be critical to be a member of MGGC to make sure the greenhouse industry is strong in Michigan so that our voice is being heard loud and clear. There is strength in numbers, and we need everyone now more than ever to help stand up for the industry. If you have any neighbors, friends, or vendors who are not members, now is the time to let them know how important it is for them to belong to the only greenhouse specific statewide association in Michigan. We have information we can send you to share with them, just let us know what you need.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season!

Goeff

I have just received some good news for anyone filing for the CFAP 2. The new guidance that USDA has issued today says:

“Be aware that for sales values on Greenhouse plants this will include the costs of the pots (not decorative), soil and tags which are a necessary part of the plant and shall be included in total sales of the “raw” product.”

Read the  Nursery Clarification for CFAP 2 (1).

The good news for most of you is this will increase your payments. The only items excluded at this time would be decorative pots that add value, sales tax, and any fully grown plants purchased for resale that you didn’t grow yourself. This means if you may have to revise your CFAP2 application to include the new factor of the cost of soil, basic pots and tags. There was also an update to the CFAP2 handbook on how the payment limitation and how that is calculated. If multiple members make up your entity, each member can now receive the full $250,000 payment even if one member has a 90% interest and the other has only 10% interest. If you have filed or are working on your application, contact your USDA – Farm Service Agency representative soon.

If you have not looked into the CFAP2 filing, you should contact your FSA representative to see if it will help your business.  This is a too good to be true program, but it is true. Look into it soon before the deadline passes.

Lansing—The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development announced today the Michigan recipients of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. The program offers federal funding to state departments of agriculture to support the specialty crop industry. Grants focus on marketing, training, certifications, food safety, pest control, and plant health for specialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, plants and/or flowers.

“Unlike commodities such as grain, cotton, and oilseed, specialty crops do not receive direct aid from the farm bill, so these grants are critical for Michigan’s specialty crop industry,” said MDARD Director Gary McDowell. “And even though these are federal grants, they pass through the state departments of agriculture to help ensure the funds are allocated based on each state’s unique needs. It’s a great program, and we’re proud to help support Michigan’s specialty crop producers.”

• Michigan Greenhouse Growers Council – Greenhouse Growers Seek Innovative Solutions to Control Botrytis Blight, $70,000.   Dr. Roberto Lopez and Dr. Mary Hausbeck of Michigan State University will conduct this research.

Read the entire list of grantees HERE.

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) within the Michigan Dept. of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) is one of the first state OSHA programs to promulgate rules which clarify the safety requirements employers must follow to protect their employees from COVID-19. Governor Gretchen Whitmer today signed her concurrence of the need for a comprehensive set of Emergency Rules that will help protect Michigan workers, businesses, customers and communities from the spread of COVID-19.

To reduce confusion following last Friday’s Supreme Court decision, the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services (MDHHS) has issued orders that mirror executive orders that prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

This order covers the following:

• Masks must be worn over nose and mouth in gatherings of two or more people, including stores, offices, schools and events. Businesses cannot admit people without masks, with few exceptions.
• Capacity limits apply to indoor and outdoor gatherings, including business, social and recreational settings. They’re stricter inside.
• Restaurants and bars must limit capacity for gatherings, and may only serve alcohol to parties who are seated, 6 feet apart, and stay separate.
• Employees who are in isolation or quarantine because of COVID-19 exposure, symptoms or test results cannot go to work with others, or be required to go to work with others.

The following documents help break down the orders:
Order Infographic
Fact Sheet