Lake County’s opinions on local/state issues
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Spring is around the corner and Lake County’s agricultural community continues its efforts to create safe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Agricultural work takes place year round in Lake County. After walnut and olive harvests end in late fall, pruning season begins during the winter for pears, winegrapes and walnuts. Work continues throughout the spring before the big pulse of ag work in July when the pear packing season starts.
The 2020 harvest season presented a number of challenges within Lake County agriculture. Lake County’s pear harvest is a short, intense season and winegrape harvest also requires out-of county crews that work together and live in congregate settings. Prior to the harvest season, the agricultural community worked closely with Lake County’s Public Health Officer, Dr. Gary Pace, to address these issues and together develop a set of protocols to mitigate against COVID 19 outbreaks.
The group met every two weeks to receive updates and develop strategies to share with the rest of the ag community.
The packing sheds took safety precautions seriously with significant investments into social distancing infrastructure, air flow, high tech temperature monitors, and PPE. They also developed many mitigating strategies in normal operations and were able to get through the summer successfully with no COVID-19 outbreaks. This was a huge accomplishment given the scope of work and the indoor setting. Similar efforts were made to ensure safety within outdoor harvest crews, in congregate farmworker housing and in the wineries.
In spring 2020, the Lake County Agricultural Commissioner’s office received supplies of face masks and sanitizers from the California Department of Food and Agriculture that were distributed to Lake County farm labor contractors and growers upon request. Over the past year, the Lake County Ag Department distributed over 70,000 face masks. The Lake County Ag Commissioner was a regular participant in the ag meetings with Dr. Pace and helped reach out to the farm labor contractors regarding PPE.
With continuing pandemic conditions and the arrival of more transmissible strains, the ag community has turned the focus on vaccinating its workforce. Farm workers are included in the State of California’s vaccination priority plan under Phase 1B Tier 1. Most counties around the state, including Lake, have begun to implement this phase. In addition to adding farmworker slots to the regular vaccination clinics in Clearlake and Lakeport, there are also plans for mobile vaccination clinics. Due to limited supply, rollout is slow. Farmworkers are urged to get the vaccine and should check regularly with their employer for updates.
With continuing pandemic conditions and the arrival of more transmissible strains, the ag community has turned the focus on vaccinating its workforce.