California’s New Farm Labor Laws and Northern Lights Play Havoc on Farms

**California’s new farm labor organizing law has delivered wins for the union but also a string of allegations from employers, farmworkers and labor organizers.

In March, Wonderful Nurseries, the nation’s largest grapevine nursery, claimed United Farm Workers organizers tricked more than a hundred of its workers into unwittingly signing union authorization cards, which UFW denies.

At issue is a new organizing system, called “card check” that allows collection of signed cards instead if secret-ballot elections.

**While a solar storm brought the Northern Lights to a large part of the U.S., it also played havoc with farmers during spring planting.

404 Media says the storm hindered critical GPS and precision farming abilities in tractors and ag equipment.

One chain of John Deere dealers told farmers some of the systems in their tractors were “extremely compromised” and those planting crops may face problems at harvest.

**Heavy flooding in southern Brazil has hit food storage facilities and hampered producers’ ability to get grain shipped to ports.

Port News says that’s jeopardizing the nation’s exports and causing significant trouble for the economy in Rio Grande do Sul, where a lot of soy, rice, wheat, and meat is produced.

A global grain export association says access to the Port has been disrupted because a local rail line stopped operating.