Local ag initiative seeking feedback from farmers

The Fresno Merced Future of Food wants local farmers to identify their greatest needs for their workforce.

A Central Valley agricultural initiative is looking for input from local farmers for its applied training programs. 

The request comes ahead of the AgTEC Summit scheduled for later this month. 

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The big picture: The Fresno Merced Future of Food (F3), a collaboration led by the Central Valley Community Foundation, is asking local farmers for their feedback to validate and further inform the development of training programs offered through the initiative. 

  • The survey can be found here and asks farmers to identify their highest labor shortages as well as their needs for additional employee training. 

The backstory:  AgTEC started last year with a $15 million investment from the state to use community colleges to further the careers of those in the agriculture industry. 

  • The program expects to train over 8,000 people within four years and bring a 60 percent growth in wages. 
  • The F3 Initiative received $65 million through the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge last year. 

What we’re watching: The Fresno Merced Future of Food is hosting the first report out of the F3 AgTEC Initiative on April 20 at the Saroyan Theater in downtown Fresno. 

  • The three-hour summit will have academics, farmworkers and other representatives from the agriculture industry present. 
  • Stewart, Knox, the California Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, and Christine Birdsong, the Undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, will be at the summit. 
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