There aren’t many days when farmers and agricultural leaders in the West can introduce their region to the country’s agricultural policy leaders. Once that happens, local leaders will do their best to make it a success.

The President of the State Department of Agriculture, who sits on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Agriculture Service, visited Southwest Arizona in mid-March to discuss the challenges farmers face in irrigation, labor and other common problems. I heard it directly. For some, witnessing the harvest of winter vegetables from Thanksgiving through Easter from the regions that supply most of the country’s leafy greens was an eye-opening experience.

“It’s amazing that 90% of the vegetables that Americans eat in any given area of ​​the year come from this part of the country,” said U.S. Agriculture Service President Zippy Duvall during the tour. I was.

Duvall led a delegation of Farm Bureau leaders to Arizona as part of a traveling board of directors to various parts of the United States. About two years ago, the idea was revived in discussions at the board level, so last fall the board traveled to Pennsylvania to tour farms in the area.

The board then chose a spring meeting that Arizona Department of Agriculture President Stephanie Smallhouse began promoting to local farmers last fall.

Smallhouse grows cattle, forage crops, and saguaro cacti in a nursery with a family near Tucson. She was elected State Agriculture Director six years before her.

“It’s important for the entire U.S. Agriculture Service to get out here in Arizona, take note of what’s happening on the Colorado River, and let the rest of the country, especially the agricultural industry, know how special this area is in terms of production. said Smallhouse.

Smallhouse highlighted cottonseed production from Arizona that benefits the rest of the US cotton belt.

A two-and-a-half day tour of Southwest Arizona for Agriculture Service leaders stopped at several farms in Yuma County to watch romaine, icebergs and spinach being harvested. We also stopped by the Dole factory in Yuma to watch field-packed lettuce being cooled and passed through the processing line. The leaders also saw U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the international border while Mexican residents boarded buses across the border early in the morning and traveled to farms harvesting lettuce and other leafy crops. I heard a story from

“Few Americans realize how many men and women cross the border from Mexico to work in the United States and return to their families at night,” said Duvall, a poultry farmer in Georgia. “Maybe not many people understand that and the value these people bring to our society.”

Duvall was also impressed by the foresight of previous generations of farmers to build water infrastructure to irrigate desert crops.

“Considering that this is a desert, it’s also pretty amazing that if there is water and they can use it, it will grow,” he said.

Duvall continues: Without farmers, our country is not safe if we have to rely on someone else to grow our food. ”

local point of view

John Boelts grows lettuce, broccoli and other vegetables in the Yuma area every winter. He also serves as First Vice President of the Arizona Department of Agriculture Board of Directors. Along with Smallhouse, they serve as delegates to the Federation of American Farmers.

Boelts hosted part of the tour at one of his farms near Welton, Arizona. During the stop, the Farm Bureau leader witnessed his packing of iceberg lettuce fields and heard about the various labor and general agricultural challenges faced by leafy greens growers. and labor.

The tour also included a visit to the University of Arizona’s Research and Extension Farm in Yuma, which helped paint a picture for National Agriculture Service leaders about the thriving organization that is American agriculture. .

“They needed to see and hear how we were using water and how important federal water projects were,” says Boelts.

Farm leaders across the country also learned that Arizona, California, and Mexico have a symbiotic relationship in this part of North America. Agricultural production depends on sustainable supplies of irrigation water and public policies that allow foreign workers to work in the United States.

“They were at the border before 5 a.m. and saw farm workers coming across the border and hundreds of buses moving people to the fields in the area,” Boelts said. I got