California farmers and ranchers face serious problems as a result of low commodity prices and sharply rising production costs. San Benito County Farm Bureau President Anthony Botelho, an apple and pear farmer who has been in the business for 15 years, said many of the state s commodities have received the same farmgate price for the last 15 years. In my business we ve cut everything we can possibly cut. We re doing a lot more work and not being rewarded. Our margins are shrinking as expenses keep going up.
Water is more expensive.
Power is more expensive. Labor is getting tight and the quality of labor is not what it was in the past. We can t compete with cheap foreign imports. We are working on very slim margins if there is a margin at all. He added, consolidation of retail chains is shrinking the domestic market.