In June, the Center sent a questionnaire about winegrape contracting practices to all 12,000 growers and wineries in California. Preliminary findings from this survey were reported by Dale Heien, Rachael Goodhue, and Hyunok Lee of the UC Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. A detailed report will be published by the Center later this summer. The average California grape grower has been in business 19 years, and with the same winery for nine years. The figures were generally similar in all regions.
Contracts are one form of risk management.
Participation is higher in the Central Valley than in coastal regions. The AIC Quarterly is published four times a year by the University of California Agricultural Issues Center, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. Farm Labor Monthly farm employment in California ranges from 200,000 in February to 600,000 in September. Nine out of ten workers are immigrants, and four or more of the ten are probably unauthorized. That's the sketch of California farm labor provided to the Winegrape Outlook Workshop by Philip Martin, UC Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.