International trade important to California agricuture

An "emerging middle class" overseas will provide a critical market for California agricultural products, reported Rosalie Murphy in The Desert Sun. Murphy covered the Exporting Agriculture International Trade Summit in Riverside County on Nov. 4.

The vice president of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, Glenda Humiston, was a speaker at the summit. She said UC has calculated that 1.2 million California jobs are tied to the state's natural resources - including agriculture, fishing, mining, recreation and renewable energy. Humiston predicted there will be 300,000 more jobs in this sector over the next five years.

However, the pool of workers for the jobs is diminishing because young people in Mexico and Central America, who often fill these positions, are increasingly able to find better paying, less taxing jobs elsewhere.

"There's going to be massive upheavals in the system," Humiston said.

The article noted that nearly every industry leader at the summit stressed the importance to California agriculture of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal involving the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim nations. 

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