A four-pronged review of major issues—regulations, water, immigration and agricultural education—was delivered to leading farmers and ranchers by California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger.
Speaking at the opening session of the annual CFBF Leaders Conference in Sacramento last week, Wenger noted that changes are taking place in Washington, D.C., where the old status quo is no longer the dominating feature of the political climate.
"We have been promised by the new administration that they are going to do away with some regulations," he said. "We see that they are removing WOTUS (the controversial waters of the United States proposal), so we are all applauding that effort. We see that Scott Pruitt has been approved as EPA administrator, and we think Scott will be beneficial for those of us who want to use our natural resources responsibly."
The political climate in Sacramento has also changed, Wenger said, expressing concern about plans to protest all regulatory reforms that might occur at the federal level.
Wenger cited as an example Senate Bill 49 regarding the Endangered Species Act, through which California would automatically add to the state ESA any species that are removed from federal listing.
He urged farmers and ranchers to work together to make sure they can protect their interests and to assure legislation is based on sound judgment, rather than merely retaliation.
Water and its availability will always be an issue in California, he said, noting that some farmers remain uncertain about water supplies even as reservoir storage swells and the Sierra snowpack stands at record or near-record levels.
"We have a water infrastructure today that, if it was correctly utilized, we would be getting water to those folks who need it in the Central Valley," he said.
Wenger noted that California endured several years of natural drought, but his concern now is the man-made drought that continues. For example, reservoirs in the federal Central Valley Project have refilled but the system’s operator, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, declined to issue a water allocation last month for its agricultural customers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
"For the Bureau of Reclamation to come out and not give a higher number for the amount of water they can deliver to the Central Valley is abysmal. It is an absolute sham," he said.
"In 1993, after six dry years, they still delivered 65 percent of the contracted water, and here this year they can’t come out and tell folks how much water they will receive so they can make their planting decisions," he said.
On immigration policy, Wenger said that although President Trump has expressed opinions on the topic, he hopes the agricultural community can make some inroads with the administration.
"President Trump has put his marker down regarding immigration, and we are hopeful that we can find a pathway to getting some form of immigration reform," Wenger said. "I think the president understands that we need to have immigration to help us in agriculture. The real question is whether the food that we eat every day will be harvested by people working for us, or by immigrant hands in other countries. I think we would far prefer that food to be grown here, so we will continue to work with those involved in immigration reform."
Wenger concluded his presentation with an observation concerning agricultural education, which he terms as very important for all Californians.
"We need to remember the real role of ag education, which I think is all about nutrition, safe food products and healthy eating. We have to bring in those folks who are worried about food, because we can provide the answers they are seeking," he said.
(Steve Adler is associate editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at sadler@cfbf.com.)