FRESNO BEE

November 8, 2007

Agriculturalists talk immigration at Fresno forum

Two Valley businessmen win honors during conference on water shortages, air quality issues.

By Dennis Pollock / The Fresno Bee

In a message that was both political and personal, Luwanna Hallstrom talked Wednesday at a Fresno agribusiness conference about why she sees an urgent need for immigration reform.

Hallstrom described a scramble to ensure the safety of farmworkers housed near recent wildfires that raged near her family's farmland in Oceanside.

She said her thoughts during the fires also turned to "the labor supply in the shadows" -- people who could have been even more vulnerable because, as undocumented workers, they fear seeking help that might get them deported.

Immigration reform was just one of the subjects headlining the 26th annual Agribusiness Management Conference, which drew about 300 people to the Fresno Convention Center. Hundreds more attended an awards luncheon that followed. Other topics included critical water shortages and air quality issues.

Hallstrom and Monte Lake, a Valley farm lobbyist, criticized a report issued Monday that questioned whether there is a farm labor shortage.

Lake said the organization that issued the report, the Center for Immigration Studies, "has been demagoguing on immigration for 20 years."

Hallstrom called the report "rhetoric," citing losses her farming enterprise faced when it could not find workers in the wake of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Lake and Hallstrom said California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has decided not to try to attach a provision to the pending Farm Bill that offers legal status and possible U.S. citizenship for 1.5 million illegal immigrant farmworkers. The provision, supported by many in the farm industry, also would have streamlined an existing guest-worker program.

Lake said backers have not found adequate support in the Senate.

The subject of water availability also struck a chord at the conference. Hallstrom opened her remarks by saying, "Well, if we don't have water, we won't have to worry about labor, and if we don't have labor, we won't have to worry about water."

Tom Birmingham, general manager for the Westlands Water District, called low allocations of federal water in the district "a crisis that could be a catalyst for change." Both he and Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Authority, said there is a growing need for more water storage and delivery systems.

Much of what was presented at the conference was bleak, starting with a talk by economist Steven Wood on the side effects of plunging home sales and housing starts.

An example: As the value of a house declines, so does equity, and that could cut consumer spending.

However, there was some positive news.

Agriculture is playing a role in helping to improve air quality by reducing its overall emissions. That news was delivered by Roger Isom with California Cotton Ginners and Growers and Seyed Sadredin, executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

But still greater challenges remain to bring the central San Joaquin Valley into compliance with federal air quality standards.

One of the more costly, Isom said, will be replacing construction machinery, tractors and trucks in coming years with vehicles that generate less emissions. The California Air Resources Board is now drafting rules for replacing equipment.

The conference was sponsored by Bank of America Corp. and presented by California State University, Fresno.

An awards luncheon honored Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce Agriculturist of the Year winners Sarkis Sarabian, president of Sarabian Farms in Sanger, and Nat DiBuduo, president of Allied Grape Growers in Fresno. The Ag Business Award was given to Borba Farms Inc.

Virginia Sarabian, wife of Sarkis Sarabian, wept at times as she read remarks written by her husband recounting how he learned as a child on a 20-acre grape farm "how to fix a broken disc, how to work hard and to help neighbors in a pinch."

DiBuduo choked back tears as he thanked his family, his grandparents and his parents "who led me down paths of involvement."