Agriculture summit tackles pressing farm, food issues

By Christine Souza

As California farmers grow food for people in the U.S. and around the world, they must navigate myriad labor, water, environmental and regulatory challenges that drive up costs and make it tougher to succeed.

But some point out that those who work in the California agriculture sector, valued at more than $50 billion, have what it takes to remain profitable.

“California farmers and ranchers who contribute to our farm economy—whether they farmed for generations or are first-time farmers—are resilient, resourceful and innovative,” said Shannon Douglass, president of the California Farm Bureau, who attended last week’s Food & Ag Issues Summit West, of which the California Farm Bureau was among the sponsors. “To overcome today’s challenges, it is important to engage with government leaders and others at events like this to identify solutions that work to support agriculture.”

Last week’s summit, presented by Agri-Pulse, brought together farmers, agricultural leaders, environmentalists, researchers and state officials to discuss topics including labor, water and policy.

In discussing the future of the state’s farm labor supply, Roland Fumasi, head of RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness for Rabobank, offered insights related to changing demographics in countries that supply employees to California.

As global demand for food is expected to rise in the future, Fumasi said, this also increases demand for high-value crops grown in California.

“There’s a flip side to that coin,” he said. “As countries get more economically developed, their birth rates decline.”

“In previous decades, we added a lot of young people under age 20 to 49, and that trend has significantly slowed,” Fumasi added. “We could argue that probably the most important group to us is probably the 20 to 49 age group, or the prime agriculture farm labor age.”

Few U.S. workers are interested in agriculture or processing jobs, and in Mexico—California’s largest source of agricultural labor—there are employment opportunities outside of agriculture, he said.

“Mexican birth rates have significantly come down over the last 40 to 50 years,” Fumasi said. “They’re almost the same as ours, so that’s a challenge from a labor pool perspective. There are continuing greater economic opportunities for a lot of these folks back in their home countries. That doesn’t mean folks don’t want to come to the U.S. if there’s some kind of a path to be able to stay here long term.”

Fellow panelist Alexandra Hill, assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said one of the most striking demographic shifts is 20 years ago, about 50% of the farm workforce followed the crop migration. Today, she said, that figure is less than 20%.

“It’s not just that the labor pool is shrinking. It’s that we have a change in how workers are willing to travel for work,” Hill said, adding that farm employees cost more to employ. “Payroll costs have increased more in California than any other state in the U.S.”

Technology could be a solution, she suggested, referring to farmers adopting more mechanization. In addition, she said she expects more reliance on the H-2A visa program. A key take-away, Hill said, is people working in agriculture enjoy the work.

“When you ask workers how long they want to work in agriculture, the vast majority reported wanting to stay in ag as long as possible,” Hill said. “They like working outdoors. They like working with their friends. They like the job.”

Fresno County farmer Stuart Woolf, president and CEO of Woolf Farming, joined a panel on rethinking the definition of agriculture, which addressed farmland expected to be fallowed due to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, or SGMA.

“There’s going to be some areas that are going to be hit harder with SGMA and the regulation of groundwater than other areas,” Woolf said. “You’re going to see a reduction in permanent crops like we’ve never seen before and a lot more fallowed acreage.”

Woolf suggested the state develop a plan related to capturing more water during wet years for groundwater recharge. “During any time of the year, we should know if almonds or pistachios could take water during dormancy or what lands are best suited,” he said.

Panelists representing environmental groups discussed how they might work with farmers to find common ground.

“We’ve developed a groundwater accounting platform, which is basically a checking account so that you can see the credits and debits in close to real time,” said Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California director of the Environmental Defense Fund, adding that EDF worked with many partners, including the California Farm Bureau, to create the online platform.

EDF also developed OpenET, an online platform that uses satellites or remote sensing to estimate on-farm water use and worked with stakeholders on the state’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program, which funds projects for land repurposing to reduce groundwater use and restore wildlife habitat.

“If (land repurposing) is not done in a strategic way and in partnership with all the stakeholders, we could wind up with a dusty patchwork that is going to make air quality issues worse and flood issues worse,” Roedner Sutter said.

Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, talked about the high costs facing farmers. She said, “This is a turning point, but I also feel what has made California agriculture great and well-known for innovation, quality and sustainability is the innovative spirit of the people on farms and ranches, and at public universities.

“We’re in a time where innovation and technology are going to keep going faster and faster,” she added.

To help farmers streamline government regulations, Ross said CDFA and other state agencies are evaluating how to streamline agriculture food safety and water quality reporting requirements.

To learn more or participate in public workshops planned this month, go to www.cdfa.ca.gov/RegulatoryAlignment/.

As part of the summit, California Assembly Member Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, was named the winner of the Agri-Pulse tomato growing challenge, which began on Earth Day in April.

Plants courtesy of Bayer Vegetables were distributed to legislative offices, and participants strived to grow the best-looking tomato plant.

With his winning plant named “Stanley,” Jones-Sawyer, a member of the Assembly agriculture committee, won $1,000 that will be donated to a food bank in his district.

(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)