The following is an interview with CalCAN farmer advisor Marisa Alcorta, Director of the California Farm Academy Apprenticeship Program at the Center for Land-Based Learning. The Inaugural AgHiRE cohort of 2024-2025 included 21 participants from 12 companies in and around Yolo County. The participating companies range in size from 160 – 19,000 acres and collectively produce 27 different crops. Participants averaged over 10 years at their current employer and eighty-five percent hold supervisorial positions. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. 

CC: What is AgHire and what inspired the creation of the program?

MA: AgHiRE is a professional development program for Spanish-speaking farm supervisors. The goal is to fill the skill gaps that incumbent workers need to move up into positions that will give them more pay and responsibility. The program was inspired by employers familiar with our apprenticeship program. We would ask employers, “Do you have anyone you want to train up into a farm manager position?” And they would say, “We’ve got this amazing person, but they don’t speak English. Do you have any programs in Spanish?” We realized there needed to be a Spanish-language track.

The Inaugural AgHiRE cohort of 2024-2025 included 21 participants from 12 companies in and around Yolo County. The participating companies range in size from 160 – 19,000 acres and collectively produce 27 different crops. Participants averaged over 10 years at their current employer and eighty-five percent hold supervisorial positions.

CC: What gaps is AgHire addressing in professional development for agricultural workers?

MA: We designed the curriculum with a group of 10 employers who advised us on industry gaps and needs. In designing the program, we also interviewed “high performing” employees and asked them, “What skills do you feel like have made you really valuable to the operation?” Many employees have years of experience. They’re often running the operation at this point, but they have gaps where they can’t move up because they don’t have English, or they don’t know how to use a computer. The program focuses on leadership and communication skills, digital literacy, English, and regulatory awareness. We focus on management because it’s so important to growers, especially if employees are going to be supervisors. At first, employers didn’t list English skills as a high priority because most operations are run in Spanish. But now they’re totally on board, because they’ve seen how English skills increase employee confidence and expose employees to parts of a job that they couldn’t do before.

CC: How do skills that employees gain in AgHire benefit their professional

trajectories and the overall operation?

MA: Employees need certain skills in order to move up, but there’s no existing pathway. We are creating a professional development pathway for farm workers to gain skills and move into higher-level positions and operations. As [agricultural] labor [supply] is shrinking and costs for labor go up, employers need employees to be really valuable to the operation.

CC: Farmers are constantly adapting to climate change, regulatory shifts, and market fluctuations. How does skilled labor affect the agility with which an operation can adapt?

MA: Farmers are trying to do a lot more with less these days, with so many pressures coming from all sides. Having employees who are leaders in the organization takes a huge burden off their shoulders. The program teaches regulatory awareness, which is really important for employers. There’s a ton of workshops out there on regulatory compliance, but ours is different. It’s more based in practical application, and employees actually act out real-life scenarios. We make sure they understand what the consequences can be for the operation. We’ve had employers telling us, “I have a really hard time getting my staff to take a lunch break, they just want to work through their lunch. But I sent my guy to this program, and he came back and he was like, ‘We’re breaking the law! From now on, lunch break at 11:30 no matter what.’ It was amazing.”

CC: Many farmers and farm workers have been honing their farm-specific practices for decades, iterating and experimenting with practices like cover cropping, compost application, and crop rotation to see what works best. How does the investment in long-time employees benefit a farm?

MA: It is a well-known fact that when you invest in your employees, retention rates skyrocket. They feel like you care about them and you want them to stay and grow in the job. That builds institutional knowledge not just about sustainable production practices, but also about regulations, employees and their histories, etc. These things impact a farm’s bottom line in a positive way.

CC: Many farm owners in California and across the country are on the brink of retirement. How is AgHire addressing generational renewal in agriculture?

MA: Both our apprenticeship program and AgHiRE were designed with succession in mind. It’s not just about when farm owners decide to retire. It’s also about foremen retiring, and crew supervisors. It’s a talent pipeline, which is something that I don’t think agriculture has been great at providing. Every farm is so unique, and the industry hasn’t been able to create a straightforward career pathway for anyone. This program gives them that chance. They don’t have to design it; they just have to pick the person. That helps them start to think, “Now this person has all these other skills, what role can they fill, and who’s going to come behind them?”

CC: Going into the second round, are there any changes being made to the program?

MA: Yes. Folks came in with really different levels of English and digital literacy, and it was challenging to have everyone in one class. For this next round, we are splitting the classes into beginner and advanced levels for both digital literacy and English, so it’s more tailored to participants’ needs. We’re also going to have an advanced version of leadership and coaching for folks who are coming back for their second year. We want to keep it relevant. When the ICE raids started this year, we brought someone in to do a Know Your Rights training. Next round, we’re hoping to take things outside of the classroom after participants expressed interest in equipment safety. We’re also considering a session on soil health practices, because employers agreed it would be helpful for their field leaders to understand why we’re doing some of these practices.

CC: How has the state of California supported AgHire, if at all? What more could the state do to support programs like this?

MA: The California Workforce Development Board actually funded our pilot launch through a High Road Training Partnership Grant. We just finished applying for our second round, but there’s less funding available this round. We’d love to see more of this kind of workforce-focused funding from the state to help support programs that are uplifting underserved communities and trying to develop skills that are going to serve them in the long run. We’d also love to see more funding to support the Adult Schools, which are really a wonderful partner to serve limited English and populations with less formal education, but who are critical to our economy. And while I’m asking, funding for capacity building for projects like ours would be incredibly helpful so we can expand our impact.

CC: What advice do you have for other areas of the state that might want to start a similar training?

MA: Get in touch! We are really interested in expanding this to different parts of the state and looking for partners to do that with.

____________________________________________________________________________

Learn more about AgHire here. Applications for the 2025-2026 program are currently open. The next AgHire class will begin in December 2025.