Pajaro Valley farmers must adapt to shortages of water, land, labor and energy, ag leader says

http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_9731516

Donna Jones - Sentinel staff writer
Article Launched: 06/28/2008 07:17:02 PM PDT

PESCADERO - Escalating fuel costs will force Pajaro Valley farmers to switch from a global to a regional marketing strategy during the next 25 years. Farmers also will pay more for water, and cheap labor from across the border is likely to be harder to come by due to Mexico's dropping birth rate and improving economy.

Miles Reiter, chairman and chief executive officer of Driscoll's, offered those predictions for the world the next generation of farmers will face Thursday in a speech at the annual Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau dinner, held this year just north of the county line at Reiter's Año Nuevo Ranch.

Though he believes there are challenges ahead, Reiter is optimistic about the future of Pajaro Valley farming.

"(The next generation) will be dealing with issues we as a society, we in Santa Cruz County, have avoided," Reiter said. Power, water, land and labor, all "will be more scarce, more precious to us."

But people will always need to eat, and the Pajaro Valley doesn't grow crops for fuel or clothing or animal feed, he said. The Pajaro Valley grows food for people, can produce a diversity of crops and will be able to access major population centers nearby instead of paying to truck produce across the country.

"I don't think there's any question, the agriculture in Pajaro Valley will be valued," he said. "We have some of the best farmland in California."

Reiter is most concerned about water. It's an issue "that could devastate us," he said. Even as groundwater supplies diminish, the wells keep pumping, he said. Growers have made strides in water conservation, but it isn't enough. In the future, he said, there will be less water.

FULL story at link.