Lawmakers, agencies warn California agriculture faces growing costs and funding shortfalls

Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Caballero, opened a joint informational hearing in Sacramento saying the state left agriculture out of recent greenhouse‑gas reduction funding and calling that omission "greatly concerning." She and Assemblymember Soria framed the session as an opportunity to identify practical solutions to sustain farms and rural communities.

Under Secretary Christine Birdsong of the California Department of Food and Agriculture presented an industry overview, calling California "a $61,200,000,000 industry" and listing pressures that include water uncertainty, labor scarcity, rising input costs and regulatory compliance. "It will cost $18,500,000 every year for detection, monitoring, eradication," Birdsong said when discussing a proposed enhanced program to address the glassy winged sharpshooter. Committee members and panelists repeatedly urged renewed and steady funding for existing programs the agencies described as effective, including the Farmer program, SWEEP and the Food Production Investment Program.

Speakers from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and industry groups recommended a combination of investments and policy changes — including strategic groundwater recharge, forecast‑informed reservoir operations, better data governance across agencies, and targeted incentives for crop and farm transitions. Several witnesses and public commenters asked the legislature to prioritize readiness for El Niño and to move available Prop 4 and GGRF funds quickly to projects that can capture and store wet‑year flows.