CA politicians ignore agricultural trials, intensifying the movie business

When James Marshall discovered traces of gold in the American river in 1848, he lit the famous California gold tide, which attracted a tidal wave of immigration and led to statehood only two years later.

However, not all who made the heavy march to California in the mid -19^th He was looking for gold. Many – including those in an ill -fated party of 1846. Donner – Request of Zerel.

The completion of the transcontinental railway in 1869 made immigration to California and the country’s shipping much easier. As the golden tide quickly reduced, Agriculture has become the dominant industry of the stateGlobally with fresh fruits and vegetables.

California Tanks To capture water and channels to deliver it, was originally created to help farmers prosper. They still use a large margin, the bigger part of the system water.

While California is still # 1 in agricultural production among the United States, generating About $ 60 billion a yearOther sectors such as technology, healthcare and logistics now Play much bigger roles in the country’s economyS

This is the time of year when crops ripen and farmers expect harvests, shipments and salaries. But agricultural leaders see this year as one of the most experienced periods of the industry, obsessed with economic and political factors that could significantly reduce production.

“When we talk about the things that keep me at night, it really comes down to what our business members will keep,” said Shannon Douglas, President of the California Ferm Bureau, this month during Gathering leaders in the industryS

She quotes a Federal Census of Agriculture Which revealed that California has lost 20% of its farmers in the last decade. The industry is at a turning point, she said.

She also pointed Study of researchers from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo This detailed costs for the production of lettuce in the Salinas Valley due to government regulations. He found that the cost of regulating labor and food safety was $ 1600 per acre, which is 63.7% from 2017, while the letters of lettuce are practically stagnant.

The list of factors influencing the industry also includes increasing labor costs due to the rules of the state, new restrictions on water pumping from wells and state demands to reduce water deviations from rivers.

This year has brought two new adverse factors – President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which could generate retributed tariffs, suppressing export markets and Trump’s check for undocumented immigrants who are a major part of agricultural labor.

Alexi Rodriguez, President of Almond Alliance, told the “gathering” that China was the best almond market by 2018, when a larger circle of Trump’s tariffs reduced supplies. “After this year, China is likely to be dropped from the first 10 almond export markets as a result,” she said.

California producers also put the costs of labor of the state in disadvantage.

“We sit here in California and make our brain beating the costs that are through the roof and face my competitors on the east coast, paying from $ 8 to $ 9 per hour for work, and we are dealing with the same customers,” said Mike Wei, a pepper producer in the Coachela Valley. “What is my choice? My choice is to shrink my area and go elsewhere.”

With the reduction of the area of ​​agriculture and its economic importance and its once dominant political influence over other economic interests. Efforts of Governor Gavin Newm and Legislative Leaders Yes Double state subsidies for the film industry emphasize this decline.

Newsom, etc., say that subsidies are needed to prevent film production from further reduction. The film industry attracts its economic contribution to $ 30 billion a yearOnly half of the production of agriculture.

Implicitly politicians believe that making films is much more important than food production.