By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist
Texas Farm Bureau’s (TFB) AgLead XVI class traveled to California in August to learn more about agriculture on the West Coast.
The group of Texas farmers, ranchers and agricultural professionals toured a winery, tomato farm and almond farm, among others. They also visited with California Farm Bureau and governmental agencies.
“I fully enjoyed seeing the amount of agriculture that is in California. I did not understand the volume that they can produce,” Emilee Haubner, Lampasas County Farm Bureau member, said. “When we were driving down the road in a one-mile stretch, you had three to five different crops planted in sections next to each other. It was neat to see the diversity and the type of soil that can handle these different types of crops here.”
Farmers and ranchers in California face heavy regulations.
“Another takeaway was of how many regulations that California ranchers and farmers must deal with that are put onto them by the state government,” Haubner said. “And seeing the struggles that they go through and the price points that they’re at versus what we are in Texas is really an eyeopener.”
High labor costs combined with the state and federal regulations have California farmers evaluating what crops they grow.
“There’s a lot of regulations on water usage, as well as labor ,” Kirby Nixon, Floyd County Farm Bureau member, said. “Finding enough workers and dealing with the ever-increasing regulations are some of the biggest hurdles they face every year.”
The group learned more about harvesting specialty crops.
“We visited a tomato farm and saw tomato harvest happening,” Nixon said. “We rode on a tomato harvester and watched how they loaded them on these trailers and then took them into the cannery. We watched how they were unloaded and how USDA inspected them. They went through the process from harvest to in a can within five hours.”
AgLead provides participants the opportunity to gain a broader perspective on agriculture—whether in another region of Texas or a different state, like California.
The group will travel to Southeast Texas in February 2025.
About AgLead
AgLead is a two-year leadership development program that takes participants across Texas, the country and the world to discover agriculture and leadership from a new perspective.
For more information about TFB’s AgLead program, visit texasfarmbureau.org/aglead.
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