April 18, 2014: Labor, Water and California Agriculture in 2014

Friday, April 18, 2014
Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom, UC Davis School of Law

Over half of the workers employed on US crop farms have been unauthorized since the mid-1990s. Congress is considering two approaches to legalize the hired farm work force, legalization of unauthorized farm workers to be immigrants and new guest worker programs (Senate), and legalization to guest worker and new guest worker programs (House).

California is in its third consecutive year of drought, and both federal and state water projects announced zero allocations for water buyers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta. What is the impact of reduced water supplies on farmers, farm workers and communities, and what are the longer term implications of the water status quo?

We are grateful to the Colcom and Giannini Foundations and the Liquid Sugars Endowment for their support of this conference. The Temporary Migration Cluster, the UC Agricultural Issues Center, the Immigration Law Association, and the California Environmental Law & Policy Center provided additional support.

Agenda

8:15 AM: Registration and continental breakfast

8:45 AM: Welcome

Kevin Johnson, Law
Mary Delaney, CAES
Colin Carter, Giannini

9:00 AM: Migration Patterns, Farm Employment Trends and Farm Worker Changes

Chair, Colin Carter, UC Davis
Philip Martin
Ed Taylor, UC Davis
Bert Mason, CSU Fresno
Roberta Cook, UC Davis

10:30 AM: Break

[Labor, Water and California Agriculture in 2014 - 3 - Small]

10:45 AM: Reports from the Field

Chair, Philip Martin
Bryan Little, CFBF
Pete Maturino, UFCW
Bill Gould, ALRB
Richard Longo, DOL WHD

12:00 PM: Lunch

1:00 PM: Water and Agriculture in 2014

Chair, Rachael Goodhue
Richard Howitt, UC Davis
David Sunding, UC Berkeley
Dan Sumner, UC Davis

2:30 PM: Break

2:45 PM: Reports from the Field

Chair, Dan Sumner
Vernon Crowder, Rabobank
Nicole Montna Van Vleck, Montna Farms
Bill Phillimore, Paramount Farming