As CDFA carries forward with its essential work to promote and protect agriculture and natural resources, I’d like to express my appreciation for the partnerships that help make it possible. It all starts with our farmers and ranchers, and the remarkable bounty they produce for the world. They are resilient and innovative, and they have established California as a world leader in food production. We benefit greatly by having their voices on CDFA’s many advisory boards and commissions, including new start-ups like cannabis and hemp.

Much of Ag’s innovation comes from research provided by our partners in the California university systems. Scientists and specialists at both the UC and CSU have dedicated their lives to advancing the possibilities of agriculture, and we’re all the better for it. 

We couldn’t do any of this without our partners at the USDA. They are by our side in a multitude of ways, from invasive species programs that help protect California and the nation to funding to benefit the amazing variety of specialty crops grown in our Mediterranean-style climate. 

We also have crucial partnerships with county agricultural commissioners. They carry out our invasive species, measurement standards and other programs locally. The reach of our agency is multiplied exponentially by commissioners and their hard-working staffs. 

Last but certainly not least, I’d like to express my gratitude for our partner state agencies serving in the administration of Governor Gavin Newsom. We all work together to do what is best for the state of California, including our food supply, and I have enormous appreciation and respect for that.   

Yesterday we learned the sad news of the passing of Yolo County farmer and agricultural leader Richard Rominger.  Rich was a passionate advocate for California agriculture, farmland conservation, and environmental stewardship. He served on countless boards in leadership positions throughout his long and distinguished farming and public service career.  Governor Jerry Brown appointed Rich to lead the California Department of Food and Agriculture in 1977, a position he held until 1982. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as the Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, serving until 2001.

I met Rich and his beautiful and spunky wife of 69 years, Evelyne, shortly after moving to California and joining the Agricultural Council of California in 1989. He quickly became a friend and a mentor. He was one of the most honest, trustworthy, kindest people I know. His counsel was invaluable, and his commitment to public service inspiring.  He made California agriculture better by the countless lives he touched.    

He was a role model of grace and humility and effectiveness. How grateful I am to have known and worked with Rich. He has been a gentle giant in my life – not for his physical stature but for his legacy of service with integrity, his passion for agriculture, and most of all his love for Evelyne and pride in his family.  My deepest sympathy to Evelyne and the Rominger family. We have lost a dear friend. May God bless Rich Rominger.

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CDFA profiled Rominger and his family farming operation in this video from its Growing California series.

Ok, I’m grateful for more than just the traps, but they represent an essential first step in our efforts to exclude invasive species from California, and then respond as effectively as possible if we find them. 

Yellow sticky traps are used to detect pests such as Asian Citrus Psyllids and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooters, which are major threats to crops like citrus and grapes. The two insects spread fatal plant diseases–huanglongbing and Pierce’s disease, respectively–and while scientists search for potential cures, CDFA plant health specialists work closely with county agriculture commissioners and the USDA to manage pest populations to reduce the risk to citrus and grapes.

Those are just two examples of work that goes on in many arenas to carry out CDFA’s core function of protecting agriculture and natural resources from crop and vegetation destruction. 

CDFA prioritizes Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in this work. IPM is a process for excluding or rapidly responding to invasive species while minimizing risks to people and the environment. We have been engaged in this for decades and have developed cutting-edge scientific approaches. Examples are the use of sterile insect technology and biocontrol to avoid the use of pesticides.

I am grateful for our Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services Division and the talented, our dedicated staff at our border stations and laboratories, and our staff members doing the detection and pest management work in the fields and urban neighborhoods throughout the state.

As we move deeper into the 21^st century, I believe we can look forward to IPM advances that will make us even better at detecting and eradicating these dangerous pests. But a simple yellow sticky trap helps us get the job done now, and I appreciate that very much.    

I am grateful for the important work of state government to ensure our programs and services can benefit every community of concern.  COVID-19 has starkly demonstrated disproportionate impacts to vulnerable populations, which makes Governor Newsom’s commitment to diversity and racial equity in his California For All initiative even more important.

At CDFA we understand that we must bring an equity lens to all aspects of our work for the benefit of our employees and our agency, as well as the people and communities we serve. We can be most successful when we all work together and ensure that all voices and perspectives are included – it makes us better.

Our commitment to diversity includes working to provide all California farmers with access to the agency’s many programs. CDFA has hired a Farm Equity Adviser to make sure that historically underserved farmers and ranchers are reached.    

The agency is working to further change by prioritizing recommendations contained within the Farmer Equity Report, and by recognizing and acknowledging the historic contributions of people of color to agriculture and food systems.  

We are prioritizing recommendations to increase the voices of farmers of color in decision-making processes, programs, boards and commissions; creating a task force of CDFA employees who will work with the CCORE (Capitol Cohort on Racial Equity) group to create a racial equity action plan; and providing educational and training opportunities for all staff:  CDFA will offer implicit bias training for all CDFA staff and research other potential training opportunities that could be offered to all staff. 

CDFA has signed a memorandum of understanding with the organization MANRRS—Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences—as a pilot program with the NASDA Foundation (National Association of State Departments of Agriculture). MANRRS is a national organization of young people from communities of color who are interested in food, agriculture, and resource-based careers. Our work with them will enhance the diversity, equity and inclusiveness of our recruitment programs as we seek to strengthen the resiliency of our state’s agriculture industry and move us closer to a California for All.

I’d also like to point out that The California State Board of Food and Agriculture recently led a discussion with academic leaders, non-profits, and education programs focused on strategies to bolster agricultural education program outreach, and engagement and communication with socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

This is among the most important work our agency is undertaking.  I am grateful to be a part of it and honored to be doing this work with such diverse and dedicated CDFA employees.   

As the COVID-19 outbreak spread earlier this year and Californians were facing challenges brought-on by quarantine directives, certified farmers’ markets emerged as even greater essential hubs of local food availability. While initial disruptions in national and regional supply chains created empty packaged goods and toilet paper shelves in the center of supermarkets, our farmers kept on producing fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables for the produce section, and farmers’ markets were places to reliably find them – and meet the farmers who grew them!   

I am grateful for the market managers and farmers who have fully embraced their role in this crisis by adhering to rules and guidelines set forth by the Department of Public Health on social distancing, masks, hand-washing and sanitation. It was clear that farmers’ markets needed to be places where people felt safe in acquiring food necessary for their physical and mental health. I am thankful for CDFA staff who supported the local markets with timely information and support to implement the changes so people can continue to access the nutritious California-grown fresh produce and other ag products available at certified farmers markets.   

We have more than 670 certified farmers’ markets in California, and all of them are continuing to serve their intended purpose of supporting local farmers and providing healthy food to communities.

I appreciate the innovation of farmers work hard to grow, harvest and travel to farmers’ markets.  Those markets became even more important for them this year with the loss of sales to restaurants.  True to the innovation of California growers, many responded by creating new online platforms to connect with consumers near and far and expanding community supported agriculture farm boxes directly to consumers through innovative delivery and pick-up options.  

2020 – the year of telework, virtual learning, conferences and meetings – brought a whole new meaning to “what’s for dinner!”  How blessed we are by the bounty and diversity of what is grown in California and its direct impact on healthy lifestyles.  For that I am truly grateful.     

As a 4-H kid who loved the annual county fair growing up, I have a special appreciation for our state’s fairgrounds and the people who operate them.  I am especially grateful for the evolution of these properties into a critically important part of our infrastructure to support local communities in emergency situations.   

In 2020, the impact of COVID-19 negatively affected the ability of fairgrounds to generate revenue.  Revenue comes from holding mass gatherings for social, commercial, and community events, including an annual fair.  The annual fair event is the primary revenue generator for a fairground to cover the expenses for the event, and it funds the costs of daily operations and payroll for the year.  At the same time, fairgrounds continued as a part of our emergency network, serving as base camps and shelter during fires, COVID-19 testing sites, and food bank distribution sites.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted fairgrounds but also has created an opportunity to explore new models to respond to diverse community needs while continuing to serve as critical emergency response infrastructure. 

I am very grateful for these state assets that mean so much to their local communities and for the incredible dedication of the managers, directors and staff who help so many under a variety of emergency situations.  

I appreciate Deputy Secretary Arturo Barajas and the great Fairs & Expositions team led by John Quiroz for finding creative ways to support local fair boards to safely proceed with virtual livestock exhibitions and auctions in support of youth projects.

Although we can’t know when, we do know fair season will return.  In the meantime I salute the Network of Fairs as we work together to stabilize funding and look for more efficient and effective ways for the operation of these important facilities.

Through the many challenges of 2020, I am exceptionally thankful for the leadership of California farmers and ranchers who are implementing climate-smart agriculture practices and embracing innovation for climate and water resiliency.  These adaptations are essential if California is to remain a world leader in food production throughout the 21^st century and beyond.   

At CDFA, our Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI) partners with hundreds of farming and ranching families with incentive programs and technical assistance to support land stewardship, mitigate climate-warming greenhouse gases (GHGs), advance on-farm renewable energy production, enhance water use efficiency, and promote sustainability and resiliency. 

These projects are funded through the California Climate Investments program. In the last two years we have awarded more than $155 million in grants for manure management, healthy soils, and water and energy efficiency; and we have achieved annual GHG reductions that are the equivalent of removing 713,000  vehicles from roadways!  

We augment this grant funding with a technical assistance program that can be key to the success of small or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers who may not have the resources or technical expertise to complete the application process and implement improved on-farm practices. In this year alone we have assisted more than one-thousand farmers and ranchers in this way, in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hmong and Portuguese.

Another focus of OEFI is a commitment to biodiversity in support of California’s farmers and ranchers as foremost stewards of our working lands through a number of important practices, such as planting pollinator species, growing cover crops for soil health, avoiding practices that disrupt nesting of bird species, providing winter habitat on rice fields, helping endangered species thrive, and  participating in large-scale habitat corridors.

I am grateful to the OEFI staff and the members of the Environmental Farming Act science panel that advises CDFA on these programs, as well as Resource Conservation Districts,  UC Cooperative Extension, and USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service for their work as important technical assistance providers. And, I salute our farmers and ranchers who are leading us into a more sustainable, climate smart future. 

Governor Gavin Newsom today issued an executive order addressing a variety of issues in response to the pandemic, including extending the availability of housing for migrant agricultural workers, providing a 90-day extension on tax returns and tax payments for small businesses and updating Cal/OSHA requirements related to quarantine guidelines. 

The order allows migrant farm labor centers managed by the Department of Housing and Community Development to continue housing agricultural workers and their families beyond the statutory occupancy period, which for several would be this month. It also suspends the requirement that these workers reside outside of a 50-mile radius from the migrant farm labor center for three months of the preceding six months.  

The order allows the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to offer a 90-day extension for tax returns and tax payments for all businesses filing a return for less than $1 million in taxes. Small businesses will have until the end of July to file their first-quarter returns.  

In addition, the order updates the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) emergency temporary standard in keeping with new guidance from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) related to quarantine guidelines. 

The text of the Governor’s executive order can be found here and a copy can be found here. 

The California Farmworker Foundation has joined a pilot project with the state of California to administer COVID-19 tests in the field for farmworkers.

On October 30^th, Governor Newsom announced the opening of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Valencia Branch Laboratory, designed to add additional testing capacity will allow California to better serve schools, health care providers and hard-to-reach communities like essential workers, those in congregate settings and communities of color, who are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19. 

CDFA is part of the state team, partnering with companies and organizations like the California Farmworker Foundation to increase testing availability in agricultural communities. The pilot project, which began last month and is available to employers and employees upon request, utilizes a mobile unit to visit sites in Kern County and is being praised for the ease and efficiency of the testing process from swab to results.

The Foundation is collecting between 200-250 samples per day and is uniquely positioned to achieve this through established relations with both Ag employers and farmworkers, and an ability to reach remote working communities that may not otherwise have access to fixed COVID-19 testing sites.

Many of the individuals tested are Spanish-speaking only and may not have access to a cell phone, email/internet, or a personal vehicle, and they may be hesitant to interact with the state directly. The foundation’s pre-established relationship is essential to providing education and outreach on COVID-19 to this vulnerable population and will also help build bridges for future collaboration with the state, such as for vaccinations.  

CDFA will continue to build out testing partnerships with the state lab and the food and ag community. For more information about the lab, the testing process and how to partner, please visit the Valencia Branch Laboratory website.

Some of the good news to emerge from 2020 included the eradication of Virulent Newcastle Disease (VND), a deadly bird illness that poses a threat to avian populations across the country.

The outbreak began in Southern California in 2018 and was eliminated after two years of hard work and cooperation between CDFA, the USDA, the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, the poultry industry, and backyard bird owners. But it came at a significant cost – more than one-million birds were euthanized and the eradication effort cost state and federal governments $70 million, with significant economic impacts on poultry farms and suppliers.

I watched our division of Animal Health and Food Safety Services with nothing less than awe as veterinarians and other outbreak specialists devoted an enormous number of hours to the incident, and staff members left their homes and families for weeks at a time to fill key roles at command centers in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.      

And they succeeded. We succeeded. We are now enjoying a return to poultry health, and I am very grateful for that.