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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015 Crops: It’s not just agriculture that’s shifting Continued from Page 1A He admits his initial busi- QHVVSODQZDVÀDZHG “I completely misjudged how hard it would be. Cultural differences and (lack of) work ethic,” he said. “It’s hard to ¿QG SHRSOH FRPPLWWHG WR GR ing their jobs,” he said. Still, he said, it was the right decision. He has workers and he doesn’t have to worry he’ll lose them in an audit by U.S. Immigration and Cus- toms Enforcement. Production that was on his own land in El Centro, where his Swiss-immigrant grandpar- ents started farming in 1911, is now all in Mexico. U.S. food production shifting overseas Major exporters of food to the U.S. Alaska (U.S.) Canada U.S. China Hawaii (U.S.) Mexico Peru Chile South Africa New Zealand Source: Capital Press research Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group A worrisome trend Scaroni, 58, is just one ex- ample of a growing trend in the past decade — U.S. farm- ers moving or expanding oper- ations in other countries. It raises a question of food security. Could the U.S. ulti- mately become subject to for- eign control of its food supply, or portions of its food supply, as it is for foreign-produced oil? Availability and cost of la- bor, regulatory burdens and costs including the Food Safe- ty Modernization Act, lack of water and pesticide issues are all factors enticing U.S. farm- ers overseas. &DOLIRUQLD¶V 6DQ -RDTXLQ Valley, the nation’s leading ag- ricultural region, is in serious decline because of drought. Some 600,000 to 1 million acres will be fallow this year, 18,000 jobs lost and the state’s agricultural economy will take a $2.7 billion hit, say sources at the University of Califor- nia-Davis and Fresno County Farm Bureau. “Above 75 percent of your tomatoes come from Mexico now. We are outsourcing our food supply,” Scaroni said. He grows strawberries in Salinas but thinks their future is in Mexico. Should Americans fear losing too much vegetable production? “Absolutely, they better fear it. It’s happening. It’s a cold hard fact,” Scaroni said. He’s worried about supply of food being held hostage against the U.S. “It’s a con- cern I’ve voiced over and over again in my lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. I think it’s a huge concern, but it seems to fall on deaf ears,” he said. Some aren’t worried Others aren’t so concerned. Daniel Summer, director of the Agricultural Issues Center at UC Davis, said the U.S. pro- duces more than it consumes in most food commodities but depends on imports and ex- ports. “Trade is a two-way street and will continue to be. We do not feed ourselves now. The only country that tries to feed itself is North Korea. South Korea, which imports much of its food, is far more food se- cure,” he said. There is “zero” chance, he said, of the U.S. losing control of its food supply and it’s “not worth speculation.” Andy Anderson, executive Courtesy of Scaroni Family of Companies Workers chop tops and tails off Romaine lettuce for Scaroni Family of Companies. Sca- roni grows most of his lettuce in Mexico to avoid labor shortages in California. notforsale director of Western United States Agricultural Trade As- sociation in Vancouver, Wash., said the U.S. exports most of what it grows, including huge amounts of wheat and soy- beans. “We’re a long way off from becoming food insecure. To me the bigger issue is some of the reasons we see that shift taking place. We continue to increase government regula- tion and make it harder and harder for farmers to run the maze of regulation. That caus- es people to go to other coun- tries,” Anderson said. But Scaroni doesn’t think it’s unrealistic to consider the U.S. losing even grain and for- age dominance. “Brazil is big in soybeans. There’s no law that says we get to keep it all. We compete in a worldwide economy,” he said. He sees lack of labor, reg- ulatory costs and drought as major factors in an increasing shift of production to over- seas. It would be even great- er, he said, were it not that so many companies have large, ¿[HGDVVHWIDFLOLWLHVLQWKH86 It’s not just agriculture shifting, he said. “Our automotive industry down in Mexico is going cra- zy. Proctor and Gamble has a big plant less than three years old. I’m concerned, yes. If we don’t wake up, we will export our production base,” he said. Mexico is not the total an- swer, he says, because it has water problems on top of less productivity and higher equip- ment costs. Western Growers survey Western Growers, Irvine, Calif., represents fresh pro- duce farmers in California, Ar- izona and Colorado. In 2007 and again in 2011 in building a case for immigration reform, it surveyed some of its members on their movement out of the country. The organization argues immigration reform will ease chronic shortages of seasonal agricultural workers which is one of the factors driving U.S. farmers overseas. Tom Nassif, Western Growers president and CEO, helped craft an immigration bill that passed the Senate in 2013 but stalled in the House. He said immigration reform needs to happen if the U.S. wants to feed itself without being “dependent on foreign countries that may not like us and use food as a leverage point.” Nassif warned if immigra- tion reform fails, the exodus of vegetable producers from the American Southwest to Mexi- co, Latin America, the Middle East, South Africa and China will accelerate. In its survey, Western Growers found that 27 of its member companies were farm- ing almost 114,000 acres and employing more than 23,500 workers outside the U.S. They were growing 25 crops includ- ing asparagus, avocados, ber- ries, melons, lettuce, greens, peppers, beans, tomatoes and broccoli. Overall, they repre- sented a potential loss of near- ly $1 billion annually in direct economic activity for Califor- nia. Most of the exodus was to 0H[LFRFKLHÀ\WKH%DMD3HQ insula, the San Luis and Mexi- cali valleys and the Guanajua- to and Sonora areas. True numbers were great- Wal-Mart: A citizens group requests that the courts set aside and remand the Corps’ permit to Wal-Mart , according to The Dalles Chronicle. Karl Anuta, the lawyer Anuta added it is likely representing CRAW, said it that Wal-Mart will eventually is highly unlikely Wal-Mart intervene in the case between will move forward with its CRAW and the Corps to sup- Warrenton location until the port the company’s interests, lawsuit is over . Discovery in as it has in other cases. WKH VXLW ZLOO QRW EH ¿QLVKHG The citizens group seeks until late August , and the or- judicial review of the Corps’ dering of a pretrial or resolu- approval of Wal-Mart’s wet- tion hearing is not until late ODQG¿OOSHUPLWXQGHUWKHIHG September . eral Clean Water Act, along “I would be astonished if with review of the Corps’ en- there was a complete reso- vironmental impact analysis lution by that point,” Anuta DQG ¿QGLQJ RI QR VLJQL¿FDQW said, adding it can take years impact in September that un- to exhaust the appeals process derpins the approval. It re- in such cases. quests that the courts set aside Anuta represents Citizens for and remand the Corps’ permit. Responsible Development in Anuta said this case is The Dalles, a citizens’ group that particularly interesting be- ¿OHGDVHFRQGDSSHDOLQ-DQXDU\ cause Wal-Mart was behind against an Oregon Department DZHWODQG¿OOSHUPLWEXLOGRQ RI6WDWH/DQGVZHWODQG¿OODQG 17 acres of land near Marlin removal permit issued in 2013 Avenue and Highway 101 but Continued from Page 1A for whatever reason turned its focus to the North Coast Retail Center. The wetlands WKHUHZHUH¿OOHGKHVDLGDQG with limited wetlands needing protection, the Corps should have looked at the site as an alternative. Wal-Mart spokeswom- an Delia Garcia declined to comment on the litigation, but provided a statement via email: “We know that cus- tomers on the North Coast are anxious for our new store and we look forward to beginning construction as soon as we’re able to do so.” In April, Wal-Mart spokes- man Rick Thomas said the company was close to open- ing bids for contractors , with construction potentially start- ing in early summer. But Gar- cia said in an email Monday there is no contractor selected. er because the survey did not include all growers who had moved operations out of the U.S., the report said. Hank Giclas, senior vice president of science and tech- nology at Western Growers, said the survey has not been updated but that the numbers are greater now. Labor and regulatory costs UHPDLQWKHWRSUHDVRQVEXW¿OO ing production gaps, providing year-round supply, Califor- nia’s drought and the loss of ir- rigation water to federally-pro- tected Delta smelt are also contributing factors, he said. “More (food production) seems to be shifting out of Cal- ifornia than I’m comfortable with,” Giclas said. “I look at California as the epicenter for fresh fruits and vegetables in the U.S. and world. I see people closing up shop and moving to other areas. I’ve seen it through the course of my career (25 years at Western Growers). It’s dis- heartening and we have to think about potential impact on prices and availability if we are not masters of our destiny, so to speak.” Mission Produce Inc. of Oxnard, Calif., is a global grower, packer, shipper and marketer of avocados. It has ripening facilities across the U.S. and distributes in North and South America, Europe and Asia. It packs about 25 percent of California’s crop and has production partners in Mexico, Peru, Chile and New Zealand. The company is building what it believes will be the world’s largest avocado pack- ing plant in Chao, Peru. “Demand has increased markedly around the globe DQG3HUXLVDJRRG¿WIRUYDU ious markets during the May through August period,” said Robb Bertels, vice president of marketing. The company owns produc- tion, packing and distribution facilities in Peru, which “keeps us close to the product and of- IHUV HI¿FLHQFLHV WKURXJKRXW our distribution system,” Ber- tels said. “Our focus on Peru is not related to labor or costs. It is more related to securing supply for our global customer base.” Government policy Alan Schreiber, adminis- trator of the Washington As- paragus Commission, is most bothered when domestic pro- duction is lost as a result of government policy. From 1990 to 2010, an act of Congress caused the U.S. to lose two-thirds of its domestic asparagus production. The Andean Trade Prefer- ence Act directed the federal government to help establish asparagus farms in Peru in hopes of weaning growers away from producing cocoa leaves for cocaine. The effort resulted in Peruvian grow- ers producing both crops and wiped out Washington state’s 55 million-pound-a-year canned asparagus industry, Schreiber said. The fresh asparagus sector also suffered but remains, as does some pickled and frozen processing. ³,I \RX DUH QRW VHOIVXI¿ cient in food, it increases your vulnerability,” he said. “If you put a naval blockade around -DSDQLWZRXOGKDYHWRVXUUHQ der because it imports so much of its food it would starve to death. “If we lose our production it will be to lower-cost pro- ducers that don’t have strong regulatory systems, and how good will their food safety be?” Asparagus is a good exam- ple of the migration of U.S. food production offshore, what Desmond O’Rourke, a retired Washington State University agricultural economist and pri- vate consultant, calls a “creep- ing problem.” “Thirty years ago, Cali- fornia had a monopoly on ta- ble grapes. Now it shares the market with Chile and Peru is coming in,” he said. “Chile can deliver a Granny Smith apple to Philadelphia as cheap- ly as we can (in Washington) because of lower production costs.” Giclas, of Western Grow- ers, said he doesn’t think the U.S. is in danger of losing its secure food supply anytime soon, but the nation needs to recognize the importance of maintaining a strong and vi- brant agricultural industry. “We can grow the best crops in the world, but we need labor and water and the regulatory environment con- ducive to it,” he said. “As pressure is put on growers, they look elsewhere to see if there is someplace they can do it better.” Co m fo rt Zo n e. There is a tim e to step ou t of you r com fort zon e a n d a tim e to em bra ce it. D ew ils cu stom ca bin ets a re m a d e to you r specifica tion s, so you ca n crea te a spa ce tha t’s u n iq u ely you rs. 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