Future of Agriculture in California Faces Significant Challenges According to presentations at the recent ACWA conference, agriculture in the Central Valley is facing devastating pressures from regulatory climate, workforce issues, and cost of doing business. Estimates suggest 500,000 to 1 million acres of land could be fallowed in the Central Valley due to SGMA restrictions. A UC Berkeley study showed that recent overtime requirement changes (from 10 hours to 8 hours) resulted in significant reductions in both worker wages and hours worked. Western Growers' representative Dave Puglia expressed that California may no longer be capable of completing large infrastructure projects needed for agricultural water storage.
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