COVID-19 Resources for Agriculture

August 1, 2021

talk to your doctor, get the vaccine

SLO County Farm Bureau Executive Director spoke recently at the SLO County Public Health Department's COVID-19 press conference. To watch Burchett's comments click here. See the latest pandemic news, resources, and vaccine site information from the County here

 

All san luis obispo county food and agriculture industry workers are now eligible to register for a covid-19 vaccine appointment!

Visit recoverslo.org/vaccine to register and find out what is included in this category at covid19.ca.gov/essential-workforce. In addition to this, the County will continue to reach out to the farmworker community through special Farmworker Friday vaccine projects over the next few weeks.

March 16, 2021 Update:  In response to a request from Farm Bureau, SLO County Public Health Dept. clarified today that County residents in the food and ag industry DO NOT need a pay-stub or other documentation to prove they work in the industry. Self-attestation is now sufficient to prove Food & Agriculture Industry affiliation to get a COVID-19 vaccine through the County. San Luis Obispo County opened up vaccine eligibility to the food and agriculture industry last week.

 

FARMworker fridays

To help lower barriers to getting farmworkers vaccinated, the County is coordinating directly with employers to facilitate holding large blocks of vaccine appointment slots at specially-designated times for farmworkers, known as “Farmworker Fridays.” These events include translators and community support organizations who work closely with Latino and Indigenous communities.

  • If you are a Farm Labor Contractor or have large numbers of employees that work in SLO County, please contact County staff Javiar Alfaro at 805-788-2071 or email jalfaro@co.slo.ca.us to book your employees as a group.
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  • The County plans to rotate this project between their Paso Robles and Arroyo Grande vaccine sites every other Friday in coming weeks as long as supplies allow and interest continues from the agriculture community. 

San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau - COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Survey for Agriculture Employers

San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau represents the ag industry on the County's COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. From January to March 2021, we collected information from local farmers, ranchers, wineries and other ag businesses to help guide the County's distribution of the COVID-19 Vaccine.  This survey is now closed, as the County has opened up vaccine appointments to all food and agriculture industry workers.

Farm Bureau is Still Here to Protect Our 'Essential' Industry

San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau is here for our members during this public health crisis. We are still working everyday to advocate on behalf of our members and provide critical information regarding COVID-19 impacts to our agriculture community.  If we can answer questions or offer assistance, please contact Executive Director Brent Burchett at bburchett@slofarmbureau.org, 805-543-3654 (to leave a message at the office) or 805-503-0150 (cell).  Our most up-to-date resources are emailed to members every Friday in our SLO County Farm Bureau Weekly E-News.  Are you a member and not receiving your email? Please let us know. These weekly updates are also posted to our website.


San Luis Obispo County's Latest Status

SLO County's reopening status is determined by the State of California's Blueprint for a Safer Economy The best local source of SLO County reopening information remains the County's ReadySLO.org website.  San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau is representing the agriculture industry on the SLO County COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.  Follow the latest information on the vaccine delivery by clicking here.

 

Cal/OSHA COVID Testing Regulations for Employers

Dec. 18, 2020 Update - California approved emergency temporary Cal/OSHA standards on COVID-19 infection prevention on November 30, 2020. These new temporary standards apply to most workers in California not covered by Cal/OSHA’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases standard. Learn more on the standard here. The COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards Frequently Asked Questions from Cal/OSHA is here.

 

COVID 19 Resources for Farmers & Ranchers

California Farm Bureau Federation

In these unprecedented times, keeping up with daily announcements and directives from all levels of government has been all-consuming. For our Farm Bureau members and agriculturalists, we have worked to compile the latest guidance documents and regulatory changes in an easily accessible format, with the goal of quickly providing the information farmers and ranchers need so they can remain focused on the health and safety of their families and employees.  Learn more at:  https://www.cfbf.com/covid-19-information/

San Luis Obispo County Agriculture Commissioner - COVID-19 Testing for Farm Workers - Click Here

San Luis Obispo County Office of Emergency Services - Resources for Agriculture - Click here 

Spanish Language Translation Assistance from San Luis Obispo County Government:

Laura Gabriela Zarate
Multilingual Outreach Lead
County of San Luis Obispo Emergency Operations Center
COVID-19 Response
805-781-4719
lzarate@co.slo.ca.us

VIDEO - Ask the Doctors:  COVID-19 Questions Answered for SLO County Agriculture - On September 23, 2020 SLO County Farm Bureau partnered with the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance and the SLO County Department of Agriculture / Weights & Measures to bring the latest medical information from local infectious disease specialist Dr. J. Trees Ritter.  To watch the 1.5 hour video webinar on Facebook, click here

California Department of Food and Agriculture - https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/coronavirus/

UCANR California Agritourism - Resources for Farm Stands and Direct Marketing Farmers - http://www.calagtour.org/Shelter-in-Place_Resources/

County of San Luis Obispo Office of Emergency Services - https://www.emergencyslo.org/en/covid19.aspx

American Farm Bureau Federation - https://www.fb.org/related/COVID-19

California Strawberry Commission - https://www.calstrawberry.com/en-us/Coronavirus

Wine Institute - https://wineinstitute.org/news-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19-update

California Cattlemen's Association - https://calcattlemen.org/category/press-releases/covid-19/

Western Growers - https://www.wga.com/sites/default/files/wg_covid19_industry_faq.pdf

Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement - https://lgma.ca.gov/

San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce - https://slochamber.org/covid-19-resources-for-businesses/

South County Chamber of Commerce - https://www.southcountychambers.com/covid-19-resources

Paso Robles Chamber of Commercehttps://www.pasostrong.org/

Templeton Chamber of Commerce https://www.templetonchamber.com/covid-19-resources/

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