California Farm Bureau underscores need for stable agricultural workforce

In response to recent immigration enforcement activity, the California Farm Bureau reaffirms its support for the employees who are essential to the success and sustainability of farming and ranching in California.

“California agriculture depends on and values its workforce. Farm employees are not just workers—they are partners in this industry,” said Bryan Little, senior director of policy advocacy at the California Farm Bureau. “The current approach to federal immigration enforcement is having a disruptive effect on California’s rural communities and the farmers, ranchers, workers and families who live and work there.”

Without these employees, he said, crops would go unharvested, rural businesses would suffer and food prices could rise for families across the country.

“If federal immigration enforcement activities continue in this direction, it will become increasingly difficult to produce food, process it and get it onto grocery store shelves,” Little said. “A stable and reliable workforce is crucial to maintaining the nation’s food security.”

He added that California Farm Bureau is encouraged that the president has signaled the need for more discrete and circumspect action to reduce disruption of farming operations.

With one-third of the nation’s agricultural workforce located in California, farm employees play an indispensable role in food production. These skilled workers plant, cultivate, harvest and process the crops that make California the leading producer of fruits, vegetables and nuts in the United States. California’s agricultural operations are not only critical to the state’s economy, they are essential to feeding the nation.