A new podcast from the California Farm Bureau gives the state’s farmers and ranchers a voice.
“Voice of California Agriculture,” hosted by longtime Farm Bureau field representative Gary Sack, launched in March to keep listeners up to date with the latest news in the Golden State’s agriculture industry. The weekly podcast is based on Ag Alert® reporting and coverage and is aimed at farmers and ranchers who may not have time to engage with a print newspaper.
“Farming takes up so much time,” Sack said of the inspiration for the podcast. “You’re either in the pickup truck or on the tractor.”
With Sack as host, the program is in knowledgeable and experienced hands. In his primary role at the Farm Bureau, Sack works daily with farmers and ranchers in 15 counties and is up to date on the issues they face on the ground.
In addition, he brings more than a decade of radio experience to the newscast, assuming a role he began 45 years ago when he joined the Farm Bureau.
In the 1960s, the California Farm Bureau began producing a radio program called “Voice of Agriculture.”
“It was a 15-minute daily radio show on agriculture that we produced locally and then sent to radio stations around the state,” said Sack, who produced and hosted the show from 1979 to 1990.
Key issues at the time included the impact of exchange rates on agricultural exports and the political wrangling over California’s response to invasive pests.
Sack recalled being a lead reporter covering a conflict between former California Governor Jerry Brown and former President Ronald Reagan over whether to use aerial spraying to neutralize an invasion of Mediterranean fruit flies that was threatening a variety of crops in the state.
“We got calls from all over the world,” Sack said.
Topics covered so far on the Voice of California Agriculture podcast include water conservation on the Colorado River, farmers’ union laws, the apricot harvest, mental health on farms, zero-emission trucking regulations, and the impact of bird flu on farms.
Sack usually devotes the beginning of the podcast to a summary of current political developments at the state and federal level. The show, which lasts about 25 minutes, usually includes an interview with a public figure or expert on a particular topic.
“Then I try to wrap it up with something that’s more food-focused or consumer-focused,” Sack said, adding that the program is “still evolving.”
Guests on the podcast included Shannon Douglass, president of the California Farm Bureau, Bryan Little, chief operating officer of the Farm Employers Labor Service, and Democrat Marie Alvarado-Gil, a state senator from Jackson.
“I’m very inspired by what we do at the California Farm Bureau for the podcast,” Sack said. “So they get to see what the Farm Bureaus do – what we’re involved in and how we help farmers and ranchers in their day-to-day lives.”
One way the Farm Bureau’s work makes the news is when its government affairs division helps shape policy in Sacramento.
“We’re there in the Capitol, and maybe a bad bill will still pass and become law, but it’s less bad because we have some changes in it, or maybe we’re able to stop bills altogether,” Sack said.
Trevor Airola, who runs a cattle and calf feedlot in Calaveras County, said he hears the “voice of California agriculture” while on the ranch or commuting to his off-farm job as an arborist for a power company.
“I can listen to the podcast and get an in-depth analysis of the important issues,” said Airola, who serves on the California Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers State Committee. “It’s my weekly check-in to find out what’s going on.”
Like many farmers and ranchers, Airola is on the road most of the time, which can make it difficult for him to keep up with the latest developments he needs to know about as a member of the YF&R state committee.
“I work really long days, like we all do in agriculture, so I don’t always have time to sit down and read every email I get or read everything in Ag Alert,” he said. “The podcast is really great because I can catch up on everything on my commute or when I’m working on the ranch.”
He said he was particularly interested in Sacks’ interview with Alvarado-Gil, who represents Airola’s home district in the state Senate.
In the interview, which aired on the June 13 episode, Alvarado-Gil talked about legislation she authored this year to support farmers and rural communities.
Senate Bill 945, supported by the Farm Bureau and passed in the state Senate, would require state agencies to maintain a data platform that tracks the public health impacts of wildfire smoke.
“We’re very excited to be able to take on some of the ideas that your members across the state have identified as urgently needed, and this was at the top of the list,” Alvarado-Gil said on the podcast.
The proposed law would establish a process for collecting health data “so we can use that data to inform everything from resources to rural communities to balancing the insurance market,” Alvarado-Gil said. “This will help protect the lives of families on our farms and in our farming community.”
“We need to explore every avenue available to us to spread the word about the good things we’re doing,” Sack said, noting that the podcast has already been listened to nearly 2,500 times, according to analytics he’s seen.
Airola said he appreciates Sacks’ “no frills” approach. “It’s succinct, informative and substantial,” he said. Plus, “Gary has the perfect voice for radio. The podcast is not only interesting, but also enjoyable to listen to.”
Future episodes may also include reports on the Kings County Farm Bureau’s fight against government interference in groundwater extraction and against locust damage to crops, Sack said.
You can find the podcast by searching for “Voice of California Agriculture” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms, or by visiting www.cfbf.com/podcast. New episodes are released on Thursdays.
(Caleb Hampton is deputy editor of Ag Alert. He can be contacted at [email protected].)
Approval granted by California Farm Bureau
