VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Hundreds of farmworkers could lose their jobs as six strawberry farms in Ventura County prepare to shut down in January, highlighting the growing financial pressures facing the region's agricultural industry.
According to SoCal Berry Growers, the planned closures could affect approximately 572 farmworker jobs.
For local growers, rising production costs, labor challenges and crop diseases are making it increasingly difficult to keep farms operating.
Uriel Hernandez, a strawberry farmer who has been in the business for more than 20 years, says he's already had to make significant changes to keep his operation going.
Hernandez says he downsized his business by approximately 30% to 40% and converted one of his farms from strawberries to vegetables.
"We're not only facing economic pressures from rising inputs, but we're facing other issues from diseases and pressure for the strawberries," Hernandez said. "So we're finding alternative ways to rotate our crops to make sure that our crop doesn't die."
Hernandez says expenses for fertilizer, diesel, gas and labor have continued to increase. He also pointed to labor shortages in previous years amid immigration-related concerns.
He says he lost approximately $350,000 in revenue last year alone.
The financial challenges are also prompting Hernandez to reconsider his future in agriculture.
After more than two decades in the business, he says he's questioning whether farming is still the right career path.
"I got my degree in economics, and I'm not sure that this is, you know, I've been doing it for 20 years. And after 20-plus years, I don't know if this is the field I want to stay in," Hernandez said.
Hernandez says the planned closure of six strawberry farms underscores the difficult decisions growers are facing.
He worries the impact will extend beyond farm owners to the workers and families who depend on agricultural jobs.
"It's a trigger effect, right? I mean, now a lot of people are not going to have their jobs," Hernandez said.
The Farm Bureau of Ventura County's Economics of the Acre campaign also highlights the financial pressures facing local agriculture, pointing to rising water, labor and production costs.
With six farms expected to close in January, the changes could have consequences throughout Ventura County's agricultural community and local economy.
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