During the spring, hundreds of Farm Credit members and staff from California and around the country head to Washington, D.C., for the annual Farm Credit Fly-In. While at the Capitol, associates visit with their members of Congress and key federal regulators to discuss pending legislation and other important matters affecting agriculture.

Over the past seven years, former farmworker Aldo Gonzalez has expanded his farm business from five to 44 acres, helped by annual operating loans from California FarmLink, an Aptos-based nonprofit that since 2013 has also operated as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

The wine industry is a huge part of California agriculture. According to the Wine Institute, there are 5,900 wine grape growers in the Golden State, cultivating the crop on 635,000 acres. The growers harvest almost 4 million tons of grapes a year, generating over $3 billion in farmgate revenue. In total, the wine industry has an economic impact of $57 billion a year and employs 325,000 Californians.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed remarkable challenges for California’s farmers and ranchers in 2020. Abrupt shifts in demand caused by restaurant and school closures and a jump in meals prepared at home forced producers to pivot to respond to these market shifts and many farmers experienced significant losses as a result.

In an effort to provide food to California families in need, Farm Credit, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Hilmar Cheese Company, Inc., are partnering to assist the expansion of the state’s Farm to Family Program, as recognized last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The 40th EcoFarm Conference – the oldest and largest organic farming conference in the West – went off without a hitch in late January, providing some 1,600 attendees with a wide range of information about how to grow food sustainably.

Farm Credit understands the vital connection between farmers and their land, as well as the importance of preserving our natural resources. These beliefs have motivated Farm Credit to be a long-standing sponsor of the Leopold Conservation Award.

Latinos have been the largest ethnic group in California since 2014 and make up an even larger portion of the population in many of California’s farming regions. In fact, the fastest growing population of farmers throughout the state are Latinos transitioning from farmworkers to farmers.

California dairy farmers lead the nation in milk production but face a growing number of issues, including several years of low milk prices, the state’s ever-increasing emphasis on reducing greenhouse gases, trade disputes, and other environmental regulations.

Because so many farms have been in the family for several generations, many of them have a man’s name attached. But in 21st century California, women’s contributions to agriculture and their communities can’t be overstated.