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Almond Facts
MARCH | APRIL 2015
AGRICULTURAL COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA
Agricultural
Council of California
EMILY ROONEY,
President
Working Together for Success
More than 160 agricultural business leaders met in San
Francisco in early March to discuss key issues impacting
California’s number one industry during Ag Council’s
96th Annual Meeting, which was held in conjunction with
CoBank’s Pacific West Customer conference.
This is our annual opportunity to have all of the
cooperatives and farmer-owned businesses that make
up our membership come together to recognize our
accomplishments from the past year, but also to strategize
for the coming year’s challenges.
Ag Council has enjoyed three years of consecutive
membership growth, which has allowed for an increase
in our staff. Strength truly does come in numbers when it
comes to politics, and that is part of agriculture’s challenge.
As an industry, we are grossly outnumbered in the voting
populace; thus Ag Council has focused on a strategy of
creating relationships with moderate lawmakers, no matter
which side of the aisle they sit on, in order to make sure our
message is heard.
During my annual address, I offered attendees a summary
of California’s current voter registration makeup. The
Democratic Party has continued to remain steady at
approximately 43 percent of voter registrations. The
Republican Party has continued to decline in registrations
from 35 percent to 28 percent in the last 15 years. The
“Decline to State” category has essentially replaced that
number and has risen to approximately 23 percent of voter
registrations in 2014.
These demographics are what Ag Council is basing its
strategy on—the days are gone whereby we could rely on
the historical relationships with conservative lawmakers
that carried us in the past. We have to be innovative and
begin to reach out to legislators who at least understand the
importance of agriculture to job growth, food security and
prosperity for all of the state’s inhabitants.
Assembly Republican Leader Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto)
spoke to Ag Council members during our Annual Dinner,
and expressed similar sentiments. She is part of a newly
formed Central Valley Caucus representing bipartisan
interests from districts encompassing the area between Lodi
and Bakersfield. It will be these sorts of alliances where
lawmakers come to consensus on the issues they can agree
on — in this instance long-term water solutions — that will
allow us to make progress.
Our success at Ag Council is sometimes difficult to measure
as our metrics revolve around our ability to educate
legislators and regulators. Oftentimes a win is simply
avoiding an adverse outcome.
In 2014, we had some wins, including the passage of
Proposition 1 and 2 — the water bond and rainy day fund
measures. But, we also face some challenges, most notably
the precedent-setting groundwater legislation that was
signed by Governor Brown during the last session.
As I told attendees at our Annual Meeting, we know we
need to protect this precious resource that our entire
industry relies on, but the manner in which this legislation
passed was just unacceptable. The experience highlights just
how small agriculture’s voice is in the Capitol, and how we
have to be creative in engaging with policy makers, so we
continue to be heard.
Other challenges for 2015 include the fee structure of the
State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB); however, a
new stakeholder process is being implemented to hopefully
provide some relief.
Proposition 65 and increased liability issues for labor
contracting will be ongoing issues for Ag Council’s
members. In addition, the state budget and climate change
will continue to be on Governor Brown’s watch list as he
concludes his term.
More information about Ag Council’s advocacy efforts can
be found on our web site (
), including a
more detailed summary of the Annual Meeting, as well as a
copy of our 2014 Impact Report.
