Update: Stanislaus supervisors confront lack of applicants to farmworker panel
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Stanislaus supervisors maintain 10 worker seats despite no applications so far.
- Recruitment likely hindered by deportation fears among undocumented workers.
- Board filled roles for grower, labor contractor, and two farmworker nonprofits.
Stanislaus County will keep recruiting for its new Farm Worker Advisory Committee, despite zero applications so far from the laborers.
The Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Tuesday, July 22, to keep the number of worker seats at 10. Agricultural Commissioner Linda Pinfold had suggested trimming it to five to get the panel going sooner.
The board also began filling some of the other seats, including a farm owner, a labor contractor and two nonprofits that advocate for workers.
Supervisors created the committee last November, after complaints that the workers deserve more recognition and assistance.
Advocates told The Modesto Bee last week that the recruitment has been stymied by President Donald Trump’s call for mass deportations. They say most of the workers are undocumented but are crucial to the massive food and beverage industries in Stanislaus.
The committee is to be a one-year pilot program, with up to six meetings to discuss pay, housing, health care and other needs. Members would meet in public, with translation between English and Spanish, and receive $100 stipends per session.
The committee will have two workers from each of the five supervisor districts. The initial proposal in November was one per district.
Supervisor Channce Condit said Tuesday that having 10 rather than five would best serve the workers.
“We have to have their voice and their input and their insight, and that at the root of it all is the core purpose of this committee,” he said.
Interested people can apply on the ag commissioner’s website. The deadline had been extended a few times, most recently to July 15. The new deadline was not announced.
Who has been appointed to committee so far?
Supervisors took these other actions on the committee:
- Filled the farm owner seat with Anthony Ratto, operations manager for Ratto Bros., a longtime grower and processor of fresh vegetables west of Modesto.
- Appointed Benjamin Lopez of Salida to the labor contractor seat. Many farmers use these parties to hire crews. The contractors are licensed by the state and must follow rules on pay, safety and other concerns.
- Named two people from nonprofit groups that advocate for farmworkers, up from one under the initial plan at Supervisor Mani Grewal’s urging. One appointee is Noé Páramo, director of the sustainable rural communities project at California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. The other is Jose Moreno, vice president for operations at El Concilio California.
Postponed filling the seat for a member of the Stanislaus County Agricultural Advisory Board, which is made up of farmers and leaders with local, state and federal agencies involved in various aspects of food production. The group has not yet decided on its nominee to the farmworker committee.
All of Tuesday’s appointments were unanimous except for the two nonprofits serving farmworkers. Supervisor Buck Condit said he preferred to have just one.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM.
