Thursday, April 22, 2010

CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE 'DRIVES HOME' ITS MESSAGE

California has unveiled an agricultural “specialty license plate” that will do more than raise money for education. It will raise public awareness and some hope support for one of the state’s major economic engines.


In the state’s Central Valley, which is plagued by record unemployment rates, the agriculture engine is being threatened by water shortages and the erosion of farmland protection programs. Public understanding and support for the industry is critical, farmers contend.

“California Agriculture” license plates were introduced this week during the annual meeting of the Future Farmers of America in Fresno by A.G. Kawamura, director of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

“What better way to show support for agriculture? Our young people benefit from an investment in their future, and that helps all of us as we strive for continued food security in the decades ahead,” Kawamura said.

The “California Agriculture” program needs 7,500 paid pledges by spring 2011 before license plates can be issued. People interested in obtaining the specialty license plates can go online to place paid orders. If sufficient pledges are not received by the deadline, participants can ask for a refund, or give state officials an additional year to collect pledges.

The cost of these specialty plates is added to annual vehicle license fees. An initial fee of $50 ($40 per year to renew) will be charged for a “California Agriculture” license plate with a random set of numbers; personalized license plates will cost $98 initially ($78 to renew). Money raised by the sales will fund agriculture-related education programs.

A recent analysis by The Modesto Bee revealed agriculture, particularly in the fertile Central Valley, has remained strong despite the state’s and region’s economic troubles. The University of Pacific’s Business Forecasting Center released a bleak economic outlook for the valley this week. Researchers concluded that California’s two-year recession appears to have ended last fall; however, the valley has only now just bottomed out. It likely will take four to five years to return to normal, pre-recession conditions.

Often at odds with California agriculture interests, even the National Resources Defense Council has acknowledge the critical role agriculture will play in the state’s economic recovery and environmental well-being.

Writing on his blog this week, Barry Nelson, an NRCD senior policy analyst, noted: “It’s important to acknowledge that keeping land in agricultural production helps reduce sprawl and greenhouse gas emissions from our cities. … Frankly, environmentalists don’t express their support for a strong, sustainable agricultural economy often enough.”

About the author: Dianne Hardisty of Bakersfield is a former business and editorial page editor. Her work also appears in The Bakersfield Californian and online.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

BOOMERS HOPE LATINOS WILL BUY THEIR HOMES

Who will buy your home?

Dowell Myers , a demographer at the University of Southern California, posed this question to urban planners during the annual American Planning Association conference in New Orleans.

Struggling with neighborhoods filled with foreclosed and abandoned homes – the fallout of the nation’s subprime lending fiasco and resulting economic crisis -- planners were warned that more trouble looms ahead.

As baby boomers retire and want to downsize – move out of their homes into townhouses, “adult” communities, or assisted living – they will find few buyers. And the buyers they do find likely will come from a growing immigrant community.

The future financial well-being of the baby boomer generation – in terms of home sales, government services, medical care, etc. – is tied to the progress minority groups, particularly Hispanics in California, can make in their educations and career aspirations.

“In the 1970s, the baby boomers came of age,” Myers said, noting home prices and sizes rose as boomers moved up their career ladders. With boomers surfing through the market, it’s was no surprise that “sooner or later they would hit the beach.”

People born between 1946 and 1964 are considered baby boomers. The generation now is about 80 million strong (and graying.)

In California, alone, there were 9.7 million baby boomers between the ages of 40 and 49 in 2005. They constituted 51 percent of the prime working-age population.

By 2020, these baby boomers will be 55 to 74 years old – retired or nearing retirement. According to Myers, the ratio of retirees to “workers” – people 25 to 64 years old – will jump 30 percent, and an additional 29 percent by 2030.

The ratio of seniors to working-age people in California is about 250 per 1,000 today. Myers predicted the ratio will balloon to 411 per 1,000 in 2030.

Myers has written about this demographic time bomb in his book “Immigrants and Boomers : Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America,” as well as in articles for the American Planning Association and other groups.

With significant population growth occurring primarily in immigrant groups, Myers told urban planners that efforts must be made to increase the educations and earning potentials in these groups.

If baby boomers want to sell off their major investments – their homes – they must “grow” a generation with the money to buy them. They must be willing to spend money to improve the schools that minority students attend and open economic opportunity doors.

“Every seller needs a good buyer,” said Myers.