Ag report presented to Board of Supervisors

The gross value of the local agricultural and livestock industry reached $1.92 billion according to the 2015 Agricultural Crop and Livestock Report presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The report shows a 3.5 percent increase compared to production in 2014. Agricultural Commissioner Connie Valenzuela said the 2015 production was comparable to that of 2013.

Valenzuela said that Imperial County is eleventh statewide in gross value of agricultural production, but noted that most of the agricultural counties saw slight decreases.

Cattle remains by far the top commodity of Imperial County with a gross value of more than $444 million, which saw a sizable 28 percent increase. Valenzuela said that the market price along with the upcoming opening of the beef plant in Brawley have contributed to that spike.

“The main reason it went up is because of the opening of One World Beef. Everyone knows it’s coming and that is why feedlots are expanding,” Valenzuela said. “Having the plant open is going to support the continuing value of that industry.”

In addition to cattle the other top commodities grown in the Valley were alfalfa, onion, head lettuce, leaf lettuce, broccoli, alfalfa seed, bermuda grass hay, wheat and carrots.

The reports says the county saw a 5 percent increase in acres, Valenzuela clarified that is not due to more land being farmed but rather as a result of the double and triple cropping.

“We are not counting the physical acres but harvesting acres,” she said.

Although there was growth overall, the value of field crops dropped 20 percent compared to last year while fruit and nut crops saw a 13 percent decrease in gross value.

Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association Executive Director Kay Day Pricola said she was concerned about the new challenges local farmers will endure due to recent changes and the fact that farmers don’t set the market value for the crops. She said the farmers may be looking into reducing their number of employees, change the type of crops they grow or even cease to farm their land.

In 2016, the state approved Senate Bill 3, which will gradually raise the state’s minimum wage each year until 2022 when it reaches $15 per hour, and earlier this month approved assembly bill 1066 which will grant farmworkers overtime pay after eight-hour workdays and 40-hour workweeks. Both bills were scrutinized by the agricultural industry because of the added cost of production for the farmers.

“That will have a severe impact on our economy,” Day said. “We need to be aware to the changes that are coming in the next two to six years and the impact it could have.”

CalWorks

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to approve a contract between the Department of Social Services and the Workforce Development Office in order to provide subsidized employment services to recipients of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program.

The program is also known as CalWORKs, which provides welfare-towork vocational and direct services.

The contract between the two departments amounts to $871,000 for the 2016-2017 fiscal year and the agreement will be funded through Assembly Bill 98 funding.

ICWDO Director Miguel Figueroa said that the trend at the state and federal level there is a push to work closer with those under the TANF program.

“Our state agencies are looking at us and we need to meet that expectation to make sure we are unifying our services and be more efficient and effective when it comes to providing those opportunities for our clients,” Figueroa said.