California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson

This week’s Open Mic guest is Jamie Johansson, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation. Johansson is a first-generation olive and citrus grower and well versed in the environmental, regulatory and social obstacles of farming on the West Coast. With a push toward climate-smart agriculture from the state and federal government, Johansson says farmers in his state shoulder a tremendous regulatory burden in addition to one of the worst droughts the state has ever experienced. Johansson discusses the ideological disagreement with those who call for land preservation and oppose working lands. Johansson says a shortage of farmworkers is an ongoing issue for California farmers and is impacting the variety of crops grown in his state.