There’s hope that ongoing farm challenges will begin to ease in the near future. Fresno County Farm Bureau CEO Ryan Jacobson said that it’s been a tough couple years for growers.
“It depends on the commodity, depends on the farmer, but there was a very significant challenging time going back in the early 1980s and I think we’re actually there right now. I would like to think that we’re coming out of it here in the San Joaquin Valley, but it’s just been a big struggle. Just the situation with the water going on with the, as I mentioned, the input costs, combined with interest rates, combined with market prices, combined with just other whole host of regulatory legislative issues that are going on have just really put a cramp on what’s going on the farm here. And so, it’s just made it, I don’t want to say that it’s a bad time, but it’s a, for many farmers, it’s a difficult time they’re trying to get through and hopefully see some better light at the end of the tunnel here over the course of the next year to 18 months.”
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West