Resilient Farms, Healthy Communities, and Lower Costs

September 2026

Farmers and farmworkers are the backbone of California’s rural communities, its $60 billion agricultural economy, and the nation’s supply of healthy food. Despite their essential role, they face unprecedented challenges, including record-high input costs, worsening climate change impacts, and increasing regulations. As a result, California is losing an average of 1,500 family farms and 40,000 acres of farmland per year.

At the same time, California’s farmers, farmworkers, and rural communities continue to suffer from cancer, asthma, and other chronic health issues at disproportionate levels due to their unfulfilled right to clean air and water. The costs of these challenges will continue to spiral until we address their root causes.

The next California Governor and his administration has the opportunity to support farmers and farmworkers in transitioning to more resilient and regenerative agricultural systems that reduce air and water pollution, support the state’s climate goals, and reduce our reliance on imported and costly inputs. This preventive approach will be more cost-effective than treating the symptoms of increasing climate disasters, healthcare costs, and food insecurity.

CalCAN’s recommended actions are achievable in the first two years of the new administration by building on and improving existing policies, regulations, and programs. They are organized into these categories:

1. Strengthen Farm Resilience While Improving Air and Water Quality
2. Support Dairies to Improve Water Quality and Produce Compost
3. Protect California’s Farmland and the Nation’s Healthy Food Supply
4. Provide Stable, Diversified Funding to Support the Transition to More Resilient and Regenerative Agricultural Systems

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