Farm City Newsday Tuesday, 07-14-20

The AgNet News Hour featured part one of a two-part conversation with Riverside County Sheriff and California governor candidate Chad Bianco, focusing on agriculture, water, regulation, public safety, and the upcoming jungle primary. Bianco said recent governor debates failed to address one of California’s most important industries: farming and agriculture. Hosts Nick Papagni and Josh McGill also expressed frustration that candidates were asked about climate policy while agriculture, water, and food production received little attention. “Ag is one of the main drivers of the success of California,” Bianco said. “Our current policies are causing it to dwindle away.” Bianco argued that California’s challenges are not caused by farmers, ranchers, small businesses, or residents, but by state policy coming out of Sacramento. “It’s a bad Sacramento policy,” he said. “It’s bad, broken policy that’s creating an environment where it’s not sustainable.” Water was a major focus of the conversation. Bianco said California has the ability to grow and produce more, but current regulations and water policies are limiting agriculture’s potential. “We have water, it’s disappearing, causing our farming and ag community to just dwindle away,” he said. Bianco also said California should be expanding food production, not reducing it. “We have to increase it, not shrink it,” he said. “We’re supposed to be prosperous. We’re supposed to be growing.” The conversation also covered regulation, rising costs, generational farming, and the difficulty many family operations face when trying to pass farms down to the next generation. Bianco said government has made it harder for farm families to maintain ownership and continue operating. “The California dream is being able to own your own home, own your own business, own your own farm,” he said. Bianco said one of his first priorities as governor would be removing regulations that make California less competitive than other states. “We are going to sign away the regulations,” Bianco said. “Not to make us a third-world country, but to make us have an equal playing field with the rest of the country.” The interview also touched on polling, public safety, homelessness, the Palisades fires, COVID-era frustration, and growing concerns over state leadership. Bianco said many Californians—Republicans, independents, and moderate Democrats—are looking for practical solutions, not more political talking points. “Democrats are willing to cross party lines because they want to be safe,” he said. “They want their businesses back open.” As the primary approaches, Bianco encouraged voters to look past party labels and focus on who can actually fix California’s problems. Listen to the full interview below or on your favorite podcast app.