November 17, 2017
CapitalPress.com
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11
California
Ross: Ag should focus on workforce
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
ORLAND, Calif. — As
farm labor shortages persist,
California’s top agriculture
official says policymak-
ers and California growers
should take more steps to
shore up the agricultural
workforce.
While noting that many
public and private invest-
ments have been made in
technology, state Food and
Agriculture Secretary Kar-
en Ross believes spending
should be increased for re-
cruiting and training new
workers, she told a confer-
ence on Nov. 8.
For instance, the commu-
nity college system could
be useful in “training up the
existing workforce” in new
skills, Ross said during the
second annual North State
Innovations in Agriculture
conference at the Glenn
County Fairgrounds.
But while labor, regula-
tions and other issues present
a challenge for California ag-
riculture, Ross said she still
believes the industry can re-
main successful.
“I am very optimistic
about the future of Califor-
nia agriculture,” she said.
“What we grow is in demand.
There’s no doubt we have a
lot of work to do to convince
young people about all the
career opportunities in ag-
riculture. We have to make
agriculture cool.”
Ross
addressed
the
state’s labor challenges
amid a wide-ranging ques-
tion-and-answer session with
roughly 75 attendees of the
conference, which was start-
ed last year to educate North-
ern California growers about
technological advancements
in the industry.
The secretary took several
questions related to labor as a
California Farm Bureau Fed-
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
California Secretary of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross, left,
talks with Ryann Newman, manager of the Glenn County
Fairgrounds, before speaking at the second annual North State
Innovations in Agriculture conference Nov. 8 in Orland, Calif.
eration survey this summer
found that 55 percent of the
762 respondents had employ-
ee shortages and 69 percent
of farmers who hired season-
al workers faced shortages.
Problems are more acute
among farmers whose crops
require the most intensive
hand labor such as tree fruit
and grapes, the survey found.
The findings were consistent
with those of a similar survey
conducted by the Farm Bu-
reau in 2012.
“I’m not really optimis-
tic” about the foreign labor
picture improving, Ross told
her audience. She said the
industry will need to get cre-
ative to bring new people in,
such as employers offering
more internships and appren-
ticeships to train younger
workers.
She noted the rising pop-
ularity of university agricul-
ture programs such as the one
at California State Universi-
ty-Chico, whose enrollment
has more than doubled in
the last decade. Chico State
offers four undergraduate de-
grees and an online master’s
degree and includes the 800-
acre university farm, which
employs a manager and 15
full-time employees and has
up to 40 student workers.
“It’s bursting at the
seams,” Ross said.
On other issues:
• Asked what the CDFA
could do to ease the regula-
tory burden on farmers, Ross
said she works with agen-
cies such as the State Water
Resources Control Board
and Department of Fish and
Wildlife to bring an agricul-
tural perspective early in the
process as the agencies draft
new rules.
“One of the things we’ve
done is create a position to
interact with other agencies”
as a liaison, she said.
However, “I will tell
you that the continued push
on water quality is not go-
ing to ease,” she said. The
state water board has placed
more scrutiny on nitrates in
groundwater in recent years
as a University of Califor-
nia-Davis study in 2012
found that nitrate contamina-
tion in drinking water was a
pervasive problem.
Ross said the scrutiny will
persist as long as the state
must keep trucking in fresh
water to some rural commu-
nities whose groundwater is
too contaminated to drink.
• Ross said the legaliza-
tion of non-medical uses of
cannabis beginning Jan. 1
likely won’t eliminate the
illicit pot market. She said
there is “very big money” be-
ing invested in sophisticated
indoor growing operations in
urban areas, but the permits
and requirements to sell pot
legally may be cost-prohibi-
tive to small growers.
“It’s going to be diffi-
cult for that third-generation
grower on the north coast
who wants to come out from
the shadows,” Ross said.
The CDFA and four other
agencies are tasked with li-
censing and regulating mari-
juana, with the group’s $57.2
million budget funded by
cultivation taxes and license
fees. The CDFA’s role will
include issuing the licenses
and developing a program to
track the movement of med-
ical marijuana through the
distribution chain.
• Ross told the Capital
Press she hasn’t heard com-
plaints from growers over
the state gasoline and diesel
tax increases that took effect
Nov. 1, although farm groups
opposed the increases.
Lawmakers last spring
approved a $5 billion-a-year
plan to fund major road re-
pairs, which will increase ve-
hicle registration fees while
raising gas taxes by 12 cents
a gallon and increasing diesel
sales taxes from 16 cents to
36 cents per gallon.
Western Growers presi-
dent and chief executive of-
ficer Tom Nassif argued in
April the tax increases will
add to the “staggering regula-
tory burdens and costs placed
on California farmers” that
“have already placed our in-
dustry at a competitive dis-
advantage relative to other
states” and countries.
Tim Hearden/Capital Press
From left, Ignio Cafiero of Bear Flag Robotics, Eyal Amit of FieldIn
Technologies, Jason Schwenkler of California State University-Chi-
co, Bill Moffitt of Ayrstone Productivity and Dennis Donohue of
Western Growers take part in a panel discussion on agriculture-re-
lated start-up businesses Nov. 7 at the Glenn County Fairgrounds
in Orland, Calif.
Finding, filling needs
vital for ag start-ups
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
ORLAND, Calif. — None
of them grew up on a farm,
but five entrepreneurs are
providing crucial services to
growers across the country.
One has found a way to
provide wireless connectivity
to rural farms. Another is de-
veloping self-driving retrofit
kits for tractors. Others help
farms manage data and con-
trol pests.
Their advice to would-be
start-ups: Find a need that
isn’t being met and meet it.
“I think the farm of the fu-
ture is clearly going to have
more information derived
from data to help make deci-
sions,” said Brandt Bereton
of the Salinas, Calif.-based
Tailwater Systems, which de-
veloped a compact system to
take nitrogen out of water.
Tailwater is one of the start-
ups that received help from
the Western Growers Center
for Innovation and Technol-
ogy, which opened in Salinas
two years ago to provide work
space and other resources
for entrepreneurs in agricul-
ture-related fields.
Western Growers, which
assists and advocates for
produce growers in Califor-
nia and Arizona, received a
$30,000 grant from the Wells
Fargo Foundation in 2016 to
operate the center. Its ameni-
ties have helped entrepreneurs
develop products and services
that help growers save water
or labor, compile and use crop
data and meet other needs.
The center offers basic of-
fice amenities such as a desk,
phone and internet access
as well as the ability to net-
work with other companies
and collaborate on projects.
When choosing start-ups for
the center, Western Growers
looks for companies develop-
ing solutions related to food
safety, automation and water
management,.
The center’s work comes
as the University of Califor-
nia’s Division of Agriculture
and Natural Resources and
a nonprofit organization re-
cently won a $500,000 grant
to develop a separate network
for agricultural entrepreneurs.
The money will go toward
cultivating the Verde Innova-
tion Network for Entrepre-
neurs, which will link busi-
nesses with mentors, advisers,
collaborators, events, compe-
titions and other services.
Greenhand Conferences Introduce
Students To FFA Experience
School is back in session, and students are once again
roaming the halls of their hometown schools.
For those who are in FFA, this means that it is time once
again for the Oregon FFA Greenhand Conferences to get
underway. Each year, the Oregon FFA Association
facilitates 4-6 Greenhand Conferences held throughout
the state.
These conferences give first year FFA students the
opportunity to dive deeper into the organization and
discover all that it has to offer. It often becomes a
student’s introduction to their potential in FFA and
agriculture education.
The sole purpose of the Greenhand Conferences is to
welcome new students and present the core
fundamentals of the organization.
There are three major components that make up the
foundation of the program. In what is called the three
circle model, Supervised Agricultural Experiences, the
Classroom, and FFA all play equal parts in the continual
operation of this student-led organization. Without each
one, the FFA would not be what it is today.
At the conferences, facilitators work to create an
atmosphere of excitement, community and learning as
the students navigate their way through the three circle
model and begin to grasp the depth of agriculture
education. They are able to ask questions, be curious,
and continually broaden their knowledge of their place
in this nationwide program.
Facilitator Sarah Rutledge shared that her favorite part
of the Greenhand Conferences is “watching the students
start the conference timid and shy, then get excited and
overjoyed about getting involved in FFA by the end.”
Having been introduced only a few short years ago, the
Greenhand Conferences continue to grow, both in
participation and curriculum. Past State President Shea
Booster shared that “An effective conference sets the
hook for members. They are then reeled in over the next
four years through other conferences, events and
experiences in the agriculture industry.”
The organization makes it a priority that these students
are able to pour their passion into their FFA experience.
Each person has their own FFA story that is shaped and
molded by the events they participate in. Greenhand
conferences are only the beginning of a life-changing
experience for students who choose to travel the
agriculture education path.
Students take part in a Greenhand Conference, where they learn about all that FFA has to offer them.
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