SACRAMENTO, CA - Change is enacted by factors both within and outside our control. But the most beneficial—such as relief packages and other policies—can only be successful when everyone impacted has a seat at the table.
We often see state and federal-level policies passed that are directly tied to our industry—labor, water, import/export issues, just to name a few. This legislation occurs with little input or contingency planning from those in the agricultural industry, who are essential to providing something as necessary as fresh food. And the results are increasingly severe.
“Our industry needs a seat at the table to be able to engage with our elected officials in Sacramento, California, and they need to decide if food production in California is something they value,” Ian LeMay, President of the California Fresh Fruit Association, said of the Golden State specifically. “If it is, we are asking for an acknowledgment by our elected officials of what it takes to grow and produce food.”
The latest circumstance challenging the California ag industry is the additional hike to minimum wage on top of the planned $15 an hour voted on in 2016. Already in place for companies of 26 employees or more, small businesses of 25 employees or less were making changes in their operations to prepare for the increase from $14 per hour to $15 for January 2023 when Governor Newsom announced his $18.1 billion Inflation Relief Package on May 12, 2022.
This move, as CFFA notified its members late last week, enacted an escalator tied to inflation, which adds another 50 cents per hour—meaning that everyone must meet a $15.50 per hour minimum wage come January, regardless of company size.
“I think we can assume that by January 2023 we will be at $15.50 minimum wage state-wide, which is a very unfortunate $1.50 jump per hour for small businesses that have been sitting at $14. They are facing a significant hike next year that will hurt their operations, and it is continual,” Ian says, pointing out that there is a current ballot initiative that is proposing to raise minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026. “There is no way to plan or predict if that will happen as it has not been voted on, but it is something that must be considered. It’s potentially one more increase our growers are going to see, on top of the rising costs we are all seeing.”
And, Ian reminds me, as California producers, the continued hike on minimum wage puts those CFFA serves and anyone else growing in the Golden State at a national disadvantage.
“While some states are still paying the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, we are all charging the same price across the board for our products. The fact is, for California growers overall, whether it’s minimum wage or any associated cost with growing, the clamps are tightening quickly,” he says.
The solution? For those outside the industry to understand the true price of continuing to add costs and cut benefits to growers is to effectively do away with—or at least make extremely expensive—our access to fresh produce.
“I think there is a happy medium, but until those making decisions for the state and beyond are willing to meet us halfway, this is going to drive more and more present and future generations of growers out of the business,” Ian warns. “Our nation has forgotten how lucky we are to have this safe and reliable food system.”
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