Industry news

Congress introduces immigration reform legislation
In December, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) joined with more than 90 House Democrats to introduce the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009, H.R. 4321.
The bill contains enforcement and border security, employment verification and legalization provisions, said Craig Regelbrugge, ANLA’s vice president of government relations and research.

“From an employer perspective it is a mixed bag. On a very positive note Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, [chair of the CHC Immigration Task Force], included the ANLA-endorsed AgJOBS provisions in his bill,” Regelbrugge said. “AgJOBS would overhaul the H-2A program, and provide an earned legalization program for experienced and essential farm workers. On a more disappointing note, the bill would add more burdens to the H-2B program.”

For more: www.anla.org


House makes the 2009 estate tax level permanent
Nearly every grower and small business owner in America will be exempt from paying any estate tax under H.R. 4154, said Congressman Earl Pomeroy, who authored the bill. The Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers and Small Businesses Act of 2009 would make permanent the 2009 estate tax exemption level of $3.5 million for an individual ($7 million for a married couple) and a maximum tax rate of 45 percent.

The bill also maintains the so-called “step-up in basis” tax rules, which protect many heirs from paying additional capital gains taxes on inherited assets.

If Congress fails to act, the estate tax is scheduled to enter one year of full repeal in 2010 followed by a return of the estate tax in 2011 with much lower exemption amount ($1 million) and a much higher maximum tax rate (55 percent). 

For more: www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-4154.
 

Montana revokes reciprocity agreement
All out-of-state firms (an individual, company, partnership, association, or corporation) selling or distributing nursery stock in Montana are now required to have a nursery license. The license fee will depend on the nursery’s gross annual sales.

A new, tiered licensing structure has been established. All nurseries are required to license. The new application fee of $25 still applies. A late application fee of $25 still applies. New license fees are based on gross annual sales. The fee structure is available online.

A signed and notarized gross annual sales affidavit needs to be submitted with an application or license renewal. The affidavit is available from the Department of Revenue, One-Stop or the Department of Agriculture.

For more: http://agr.mt.gov/crops/Notice_to_Nurserymen09.pdf
 

Founder of Metrolina Greenhouses dead at 63
Tom (Teunis) van Wingerden, founder of Metrolina Greenhouses in Huntersville, N.C., was killed at the 150-acre facility on Dec. 19. WCNC-TV reported that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police were called to the greenhouses around 3:30 a.m. and that van Wingerden was involved in an accident inside the facilities involving an ATV-type vehicle.

van Wingerden was born on Feb. 12, 1946, in Ridderkerk, Netherlands. He was the second eldest son of the 16 children born to the late Aart and Cora van Wingerden. Tom immigrated to the U.S. with his wife Vickie in 1971 and started Metrolina Greenhouses a year later. The company, which operates nearly 6 million square feet of greenhouses, is now run by his children.

Metrolina supplies more than 1,000 retailers along the East Coast and does about $130 million in sales.
During the last six years, van Wingerden helped run Double Harvest, a missionary project in Haiti that assists the country’s under-privileged residents. The project was started by Tom’s father in 1981 and now consists of 200 acres, including a farm, school, medical clinic and housing project.

van Wingerden was also an avid race car driver, who participated regularly in the Legends racing car series along with other members of his family. He was a regular driver in races held at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
van Wingerden is survived by his wife, six children and 14 grandchildren. Memorials can be made to Double Harvest-Haiti, Tom van Wingerden Memorial Fund, 55 South Main St., Oberlin, OH 44074.
 

IRS decreases 2010 standard mileage rates
Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 50 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 16.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes

The new rates for business, medical and moving purposes are slightly lower than last year’s. The mileage rates for 2010 reflect generally lower transportation costs compared to a year ago. Taxpayers may calculate the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

For more: www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=216048,00.html


Baptisia is 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year
Baptisia australis is the Perennial Plant Association’s 2010 Perennial Plant of the Year. B. australis is also known by the common names blue false indigo, wild indigo and baptisia.

B. australis is an excellent plant to anchor the back of the border. It is also valuable for cottage gardens and native plant gardens, and native areas of prairies or meadows. It is best as a specimen or planted in small groups.

Plants thrive in full sun. If grown in partial shade, they may require staking. B. australis is hardy to USDA Hardiness Zones 3-9.

Nominations for plant of the year are based on the following criteria: Suitable for a wide range of climatic conditions; low maintenance; pest and disease resistant; readily available in the year of release; multiple season of interest; and easily propagated.

For more: Perennial Plant Association, www.perennialplant.org.
 

Nashville Natives receives USDA funding for solar system
Nashville Natives LLC, a nursery in Fairview, Tenn., has the first solar electric system in the state to receive partial funding from the USDA Rural Energy for America Program incentive. It covered up to 25 percent of the cost of purchasing and installing the 8.28-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system, which was designed and installed by LightWave Solar Electric in Nashville.

“As a nursery that specializes in environmental restoration and sustainable landscapes, this solar project fits right into our whole strategy for being sustainable,” said Nashville Natives owner Andy Sudbrock. “We could not have done this without the federal and state incentives.”

A handful of other REAP grants have been made in Tennessee, but the Nashville Natives project is the first to go into service in the state.

The Nashville Natives solar array of 36 SunPower panels on the roof of Sudbrock’s new equipment shed should offset the cost of the nursery’s entire energy demand in an average year. The nursery’s electrical demand primarily stems from a pot- and flat-filler machine used in the Green Roof operation, as well as fans and temperature controls for the greenhouse and the irrigation of two acres of nursery production fields.

The 25 percent USDA grant comes on top of a grant from the Tennessee Clean Energy Technology program for another 40 percent of the cost. The nursery business is also eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit.

Over the 25-year warranted life of the panels, the system will save more than 186 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and 1,718 pounds of sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants – the equivalent of planting 52 acres of trees. The array is expected to produce electricity for the next 40-50 years.

For more: Nashville Natives, www.nashvillenatives.com; LightWave Solar Electric, www.lightwavesolarelectric.com; USDA Rural Energy for America Program, www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/farmbill.