Posted on 02/14/2003 1:49:22 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
Former state Sen. Jim Costa offered a bleak outlook Thursday for California's "farm crisis," warning "it's more than a cyclical circumstance."
Costa, addressing the Northern California Water Association's annual meeting in Yuba City, said the global market works against farmers in California and the rest of the United States.
"We are competing at world prices," he said, with foreign competitors taking advantage of technological advances produced here that were exported overseas.
"The fact is, all of those technologies are being utilized in South America and Central America and in other parts of the world where labor is far cheaper," said Costa, who served 24 years in the Legislature. He is now an almond farmer.
"You know, a person picking grapes in the Coachella Valley at $9 an hour with health benefits, the same worker in Chile, they may be getting $2 a day."
Costa, a Democrat from Fresno, observed: "You have to wonder what California agriculture is going to look like 25 or 30 years from today."
As the state adds 600,000 people per year, they'll have to find housing somewhere, and as many as 7 million are projected to wind up in the Central Valley, between Redding and Bakersfield, by 2030, Costa said.
"When you couple that with the changes in the global marketplace and offshore production, I don't think any of us with any certainty can predict what California agriculture will look like. In 20 to 25 years, it's going to be much different. I don't think we'll have 7 million to 8 million acres in production."
California agriculture is facing "difficult times," Costa said, noting wineries are going bankrupt and a major agricultural company in his area recently filed for bankruptcy.
"Times are tough," he said. "This is more than a cyclical circumstance. We've had tough times in the past. I think there's a sea of change occurring in California agriculture and probably U.S. agriculture. I hope that I really am off the mark and I'm wrong."
Costa predicted that "the next big crisis after the energy crisis and the budget crisis that no one is talking about right now is the farm crisis, the crisis of the farm economy, and there are very few people, unfortunately, in Sacramento who are talking about it. You see it in your communities; you see it in your areas."
On water issues, Costa said there may be more public-private partnerships in the state to move water to areas in need.
"We're still, no pun intended, plowing new ground," he said. "I think there's a role for the private sector to play, as wholesaler, as financier, working in public-private partnerships to facilitate common-sense transfers that make good public policy sense," he said.
Costa also mentioned the CalFed effort to address California's water needs, saying it may become more of a state effort than a joint federal-state program.
"While we got the funding ($23 million) this year for continued CalFed efforts, what is going to be the future role of federal participation in the CalFed effort," he said.
The state may have to rely on its own bond funds to pay for some CalFed work, Costa said.
"I think it really is incumbent on us who worked together in the past to move sooner rather than later to reach consensus earlier rather than later to have a unified position," he said.
CalFed remains "the best game in town," he said, challenging the "naysayers" to come up with a better alternative.
"I think CalFed is an essential leg on the stool we'll need to stand on for California's interim water needs," Costa said.
North state residents can't ignore the water demands of Southern California, he said.
"I believe we are one state. Southern California is in many ways an absolutely critical part of our state," he said. "We all know that. The fact is their water needs are as important as our water needs."
He suggested that desalination may help supplement the state's water supply, noting that 70 percent of California's population lives within 60 miles of the Pacific Ocean.
Costa voiced some concern about whether the Legislature, in an era of term limits, can address the state's pressing issues.
He warned of legislators practicing "legislation by press release" to grab headlines but not solve problems.
Great job!!! And one that can't be exported.
Huh?
"Highest and best" is no longer objectively determined. It's a market totally distorted by political forces. The public demands many goods from farmers for which they are not compensated. Under such circumstances, your comment devloves to glib posturing.
Wrong...my sister and he husband grow grapes for raisins near Fresno and imports and politicians are about to drive them out of business. Look for thousands of acres of grapes to be pulled up in the near future.
Not. But it sure can be done by an H-1B visa holder at $2 a week.
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