Agricultural leaders are saying California is facing an affordability crisis based on data trends in farm consolidation and exponential increases to regulatory costs. California Farm Bureau and other trade groups called for legislative attention to the state’s sweeping agricultural issues during California Agriculture Day on Wednesday.
Hosted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the annual California Capitol showcase allows farmers to get their products in front of legislators and agency officials. 
First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom spoke about California's Farm-to-School programs during the 2025 California Ag Day. (Photo: Chloe Lovejoy)
Assemblymember Heather Hadwick, R-Alturas, took photos with attendees beside two of her family farm’s highland cows, while Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Melissa Hurtado, D-Bakersfield, and Assembly Agriculture Chair Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, spotlighted their districts’ agricultural contributions during the opening ceremony.
A few hundred feet away, CAFB President Shannon Douglass opened the trade group press conference by calling California’s gradual decrease in agricultural production a “direct consequence” of increasing land prices, water scarcity, weather whiplash and the state’s regulatory landscape.
She warned that fewer farms will force consumers to spend more on outside sources of produce and diminish California’s buy-local culture.
“The loss of these farms is not just a statistic, it's a reflection of the struggles of the men and women who work the land, farmers who've been operating for generations and now face a future of uncertainty,” said Douglass.
Shannon Douglass, CAFB President
With California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo President Jeffrey Armstrong watching on the Capitol green, Douglass pointed to the recent university study showing a drastic 1,400% increase in regulatory costs since 2006. She argued the paper affirms that labor laws, water use restrictions and pesticide regulations are not absorbable for farmers and consumers alike.
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“We are definitely at a tipping point in California agriculture,” said Douglass.
She explained that policy is urgently needed to bolster affordable land, water and technology solutions to keep smaller operations viable, on top of a regulatory framework that supports sustainable farming without driving up costs. She added that growers can lead on water management if the state is “willing to make the necessary investments in infrastructure and research.”
Douglass passed the podium to Michael Miiller, California Association of Winegrape Growers director of government relations. He stressed that though legislators are slowly recognizing affordability in their bill writing, most bills move through without considering the cost of implementation.
He appreciated Agriculture Day as an opportunity for lawmakers to see how the Capitol trickles down to agriculture, but noted that winegrapes in particular face an increasingly competitive global market.
He compared California’s wine industry to France’s, where government leaders have historically supported price stabilization.
“So when you look at California growers, California winers, competing with wine from a country that is subsidizing that industry, our competition and our costs are going through the roof on an annual basis,” he said.
CAWG and CAFB are co-sponsoring agricultural tax credit legislation this session to rectify a 2016 agricultural overtime bill that a University of California, Berkeley study found actually reduced take-home pay for farmworkers. Miiller promised that Senate Bill 628 would create a “no question” direct benefit to farm communities.
He said California legislators should follow in the footsteps of Oregon and New York, which passed their agriculture overtime laws with built-in tax credits and bipartisan support.
“In other states, Democrats, Republicans alike, understand that we need this, and we think it's time that, if you really care about that poverty conversation, give the ag workers their money back,” said Miiller.
The conversation was rounded out by Roger Isom, president and CEO of California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association and the Western Tree Nut Association, who pushed for maintaining agricultural access to programs under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). The California Climate and Agriculture Network similarly requested a 15% funding assurance of cap-and-trade dollars during their own capitol lobbying day last week.
Roger Isom, WTNA president and CEOHe noted that the tree nut industry relies heavily on both the Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER) and Alternatives to Agricultural Open Burning Incentive programs that are funded through the GGRF.
After statewide open agricultural burning was completely banned starting Jan.1, Isom said the San Joaquin Valley Air District has roughly $500 million in applications waiting to be funded through the open burning incentive program. But the district must wait for those reallocated dollars.
“These programs are real, they're not pie in the sky,” he said.
Responding to questions over tariffs and threats to farmworker immigration status, the farm groups showed a unified front in working with the federal administration to keep agriculture top of mind.
“It's a pretty challenging time in general for a California farmer, so we have been relaying that message to the administration,” said Douglass.
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