Page 3 - Jon Devaney News Today

The Washington State Tree Fruit Association is urging members and others in agriculture to let your legislators know they should not be supporting SB 5996.

The Washington State Tree Fruit Association is urging members and others in agriculture to let your legislators know they should not be supporting SB 5996.

ORONDO — At a Washington Senate Labor and Commerce Committee hearing last month, April Clayton, owner of Red Apple Orchards, a second-generation-owned farm in Orondo, tearfully told lawmakers her family

OLYMPIA - Senate Bill 5476 which aimed to provide agricultural employers with the flexibility to schedule up to 12 weeks of 50-hour of “special circumstance” workweeks without triggering overtime pay requirements met its end in the Senate Committee on Labor and Commerce.

Since Jan. 1, agriculture has a 40-hour work week. But the system drew concerns from some growers over labor costs — and has workers split, too.

OLYMPIA — Orchard industry leaders and workers traveled to the Washington State Capitol this week to ask lawmakers to change Senate Bill 5172, which requires overtime pay for agriculture workers.

Quite a challenging cherry season in Washington State

WENATCHEE — The 2023 cherry harvest brought in plenty of fruit. However, industry leaders are calling on policy makers to call the harvest season a disaster.

Topics for presentations included plants and pests, new technologies, agricultural economics and a new apple from Washington State University, WA-64.

Here’s why all the pickup trucks are parked at Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick this week.