THANK YOU
TO OUR 2017 CONVENTION SPONSORS
THUS FAR
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The MWFPA News Bulletin is underwritten in part by Bug Blocker Doors & Screens
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AG Economist, Consultant Swanson To Address MWFPA Convention
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Michael Swanson, an agricultural economist and consultant for Wells Fargo, the largest commercial agricultural lender in the United States, will provide his economic outlook and strategic advice to MWFPA members as our Thursday, November 29th breakfast keynote speaker during this year's annual convention in Rochester, MN.
Good producers and companies deal well with the changes in the market. The difficulty comes from knowing which changes to respond to and when. What is changing in agriculture today? And, what should a good producer or operator do about it?
Michael's presentation will discuss real choices that make a big difference to the producers and their input suppliers. Based in Minneapolis, his responsibilities include analyzing the impact of energy on agriculture and forecasting for key agricultural commodities and livestock sectors. He helps develop credit and risk strategies for Wells Fargo's customers, and performs macroeconomic and international analysis on agricultural production and agribusiness.
Register now for the convention!
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Keep up with the convention
conversation at #mwfpa17.
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Donate Silent Auction Items Now! Deadline Nov. 17
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Have you donated an item to the silent auction yet? The deadline is Nov. 17, 2017.
Proceeds raised support the MWFPA Scholarship Fund which provides financial assistance to the children of MWFPA members seeking to further their education after high school. In 2017, 16 students each received $1,000.
Donating to the MWFPA Silent Auction generates great exposure and recognition for your company including:
- Your company name on the silent auction table with your displayed donation
- Your company listed on the silent auction donor list and on the MWFPA Convention website
- Exposure to more than 900 MWFPA convention attendees and booth vendors
Please fill out a donation form and capitalize on this wonderful opportunity to showcase your company name at the convention.
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Panel Passes New Farmworker Visa Program
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 The House Judiciary Committee narrowly approved a proposed new agricultural guestworker program.
The Agricultural Guestworker Act would replace the existing H-2A program with an H-2C system that allow imported workers to work year-round, a priority for dairy producers, at potentially lower wage rates than now required.
The new program would also drop requirements that employers provide housing and transportation to farmworkers. However, employees would no longer be limited to working on the farm that applied for their visa.
The bill would initially allow as many as 450,000 visas to be issued, including 40,000 set aside for meat and poultry processors. The cap could be increased on an annual basis to meet demand.
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Judiciary Committee Passes Mandatory E-Verify Bill
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 The House Judiciary Committee passed the
Legal Workforce Act (LWA) (H.R. 3711) requiring all businesses to use E-Verify within two years.
Employers will face heightened employment-related immigration responsibilities and fines for hiring undocumented aliens if Congress passes the bill.
Among its provisions, LWA would:
- Phase-in mandatory E-Verify participation for new hires for employers with more than 10,000 employees, within 6 months of enactment and remaining employers over stage periods of not longer than 24 months.
- Allow employers to seek a one-time six-month extension of the initial phase-in from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
- Require employers to perform an E-Verify check on employees who perform "agricultural labor or services within 18 months after enactment."
- Grant employers a safe harbor from prosecution if they use the E-Verify program in good faith and, through no fault of their own, receive an incorrect eligibility confirmation.
- Raise penalties on employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants and create a penalty for individuals (employees or employers) who knowingly submit false information to the E-Verify system.
The bill passed by a 20-10 vote with all Republicans voting in favor of the bill and all the Democrats voting against.
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Some Consumers See "Organic" and "Non-GM" Food Labels As Synonymous
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Consumers are confused between foods labeled as "organic" and "non-genetically modified," according to a recent study from researchers at the Univ. of Florida (UF) and Purdue University. In fact, the researchers found that some consumers view the two labels as synonymous.
When consumers looked at packages of Granola bars labeled "non-GMO Project," they were willing to spend 35 cents more than for the boxes that had text that read, "contains genetically engineered ingredients." With the "USDA Organic" label, consumers were willing to pay 9 cents more. With apples, respondents were willing to pay 35 cents more for those labeled "non-GMO Project" and 40 cents more for those labeled "USDA Organic."
Participants' responses led to the conclusion that consumers don't distinguish definitions of the two food labels.
The study "Effects of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard: Willingness To Pay for Labels that Communicate the Presence or Absence of Genetic Modification" is published in
Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.
Read the news release
here.
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Reports Show WI Medical Costs For Worker's Comp Higher
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 Two new reports this month continue to prove that medical costs for worker's compensation injuries are much higher in WI than in other states.
The first report from the National Academy of Social Insurance shows that WI spends more per dollar on worker's compensation medical care than any other state, 77%. Nationally, the average is 50%, which was WI's ranking as well until medical costs started skyrocketing in the 1990s.
The same report also shows that compared to our Midwest neighbors, WI has the most expensive insurance per $100 of payroll - 46% above the Midwest median.
The second report, from the Workers Compensation Research Institute out of Boston, once again found that WI's medical costs per claim for worker's compensation is the most expensive in the nation, 61% above the median for injuries that require a week or more off work, 46% above the median for all injuries.
MWFPA has joined a coalition of 56 employer groups working to pass legislation in WI that would provide a fee schedule to bring worker's compensation costs under control. As proposed, the WI Department of Workforce Development (DWD) will use various
data made available to them to determine the appropriate fees per service provided.
This will include comparing the average negotiated price of care for group health plans, self-insured plans and Medicare. There will also be an increase to the fee ranging between 2.5 to 10 percent to pay for the administrative costs of treating worker's compensation patients.
DWD, no less than every ten years, will adjust those fees annually by the change in the consumer price index for medical care services.
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IL Legislature Finishes First Week of Veto Session
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 The IL Legislature has completed week one of the two week fall veto session. While the business community took a few losses, the majority of the week was a success.
Major victories include fending off
an initiative of organized labor to prohibit the ability of local units of government to enact so-called local right to work zones. However, more alarming was language in the bill that made it a Class A misdemeanor for any local unit of government that enacted a right to work zone.
Another victory
was the defeat of a proposal that would establish a workers' compensation mutual insurance company funded by a $10 million loan from the IL Workers' Compensation Operations Fund.
Under the proposal, the $10 million is a "loan" to be paid back with interest; however, given the track record regarding finances in IL state government, it is difficult to believe the loan would be paid back in a timely fashion. Manufacturing and business groups including the IL Chamber of Commerce opposed the proposal.
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WI Legislature Returns As Session Time Grows Short
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 The WI State Senate and Assembly are set to be on the floor this week. The Assembly will be in session on Thursday, Nov. 2, and Thursday, Nov. 9. Assembly members were also told to keep Tuesday, Nov.7, open for a potential session day. The Senate met on Oct. 31, and will meet again on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
Legislative committees have been hard at work over the last few weeks with quick deadlines for passing bills to get them on this week's calendars.
Neither chamber is expected to meet more than a handful of times in the remainder of 2017. Getting bills in line for the few session days left will be crucial because once the new year begins bills will be harder to pass given the limited time until the session ends in March, 2018.
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WI Rural Initiative Could Benefit Food Manufacturing
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WI Governor Scott Walker recently unveiled his comprehensive
Rural Agenda. The agenda focuses on addressing the concerns of rural communities across the state which includes full implementation of the
manufacturing and agriculture production tax credit (MAC)
The MAC is an income tax credit adopted by the Legislature in 2011 and may be claimed on 7.5% of the state's flat 7.9% corporate income tax rate or the top personal income tax bracket of 7.65%, yielding an effective rate of 0.4% or 0.15%, respectively, for manufacturers or farmers who produce in Wisconsin. Many companies have chosen either to relocate in WI or expand current production there due to the credit.
The Governor's rural initiative also includes an expansion of trade. In 2016, WI ranked 12
th overall for agricultural exports, climbing five spots from 2010.
Wisconsin food product exports were valued at $1.9 billion and was the state's fifth largest export category in 2016.
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Check Out MWFPA's Customized Property & Casualty Insurance For Members Only
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The Midwest Food Products Association is pleased to announce that
its members now have access to an exclusive insurance program that is written specifically for our industry. With assistance from the risk management firm Hays Companies, this program offers a customized Property and Casualty insurance program.
The program offers a complete insurance program for all business types, from processor to manufacturers, logistics to wholesaler and anything in between. No market segment is excluded, and no organization is too large or too small.
Learn more about what the MWFPA Insurance Program can do for you by visiting the program's website:
https://mwfpa.haysprograms.com/.
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