PHOTOS: Sen. Schiff Heralds Resilience of California Agriculture in EcoFarm Conference Address, Highlights Record of Fighting for Golden State’s Producers

Schiff: "The agriculture you all cultivate is foundational to California - economically, culturally and environmentally - but too often, California's farmers don't see themselves reflected in the policies coming out of Washington. I knew that our farmers are leaders and that they need a voice in the Senate."

Pacific Grove, CA- Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, delivered the plenary address at the 46^th Annual EcoFarm Conference. Schiff emphasized the significance of California's agriculture industry to the state - economically, culturally and environmentally - and his ongoing fight in the Senate to support California's farmers.

In his remarks, Schiff highlighted the work he's done to combat the administration's cuts to essential programs including SNAP and funding for farmers, as well as fighting back against the administration's cruel immigration enforcement tactics that have instilled fear across farmworker families and the California farming community.

"The Golden State is home to small- and mid-sized farms that are the bedrock to the prosperity of our state's rural communities and economies. And the diversity of California farmers allows us to grow - and eat - amazing and delicious local products. This is why we need to ensure that farms of all sizes - the small, medium, and underserved farmers - all have equitable access to resources from the federal government, whether that is access to capital, technical assistance, support, or markets," Senator Schiff said during his address.

The Senator highlighted his priorities as the first California Senator on the Senate Agriculture Committee in 30 years, including legislation to increase market opportunities for farmers, expand agricultural research, advocate for better coordination on organics research, and to improve farmers' access to tools that allow them to increase profits. Schiff also emphasized the need to look for bipartisan opportunities to pass a Farm Bill that protects and strengthens the work of farmers across California.

Read the transcript of his remarks as delivered below:

Good morning. How are you? Let me begin by introducing my wife. Eve is here. And yes, we are Adam and Eve. It is such a treat to be with you, and I'm sorry, but I'm a little bit awestruck by this incredible place. I haven't been here before. How magnificent is this? And I understand you've been meeting here for 40 years now. 46 years. That is incredible.

Thank you, Leonard, for that warm and very kind introduction. Thank you for inviting me. Thank you for feeding me and my family. And thank you for not making me wear a suit today. I appreciate the important work you do, Leonard, and whole Board of Directors of EcoFarm, and your powerful advocacy on behalf of California's farming community - of its current generation, and its next generation. Thank you to all the EcoFarm organizers for putting this conference together and for serving as champions for California's food and farm systems.

I also want to give a big congratulations to those being recognized as a "Successful Farmer" this year. Congratulations to Veronica and Brisa Ranch who have been fostering a vibrant agricultural community in Pescadero. Their willingness to experiment has resulted in a thriving food hub that supports regional farmers, ecological stewardship, and collaboration between producers. Byron Albano for his decades-long commitment to organic principles, including his work tirelessly on water access for farmers and supplying healthy produce to institutions across the state of California. Effie Rawlings for her deep community engagement and demonstrated commitment to urban farming in the East Bay. And Javier Zamora, for his complex understanding of running a diversified organic farm and creating partnerships to support beginning farmers. Congratulations again to each of you.

It is a particular delight for me to be alongside so many food and farm leaders who are doing some of the most critical, and often, hardest work in our state. Not only do you keep our families fed, but you provide a model for how we can feed communities while prioritizing sustainability, nutrition, and success of the farmer.

You ensure that California's children and families have food on their tables, as well as the country and the world. You contribute to our incredible economy in the state of California. The work you do builds our local economies. It creates jobs. And you showcase planetary and human health and agricultural innovation in your work. So, a profound thank you.

I've been a Senator for a little over one year now. And I don't care what they tell you, but the first time you step onto the Senate floor and take that oath of office, it takes your breath away. It doesn't matter what you were doing before - there is a jolt that goes through you with the realization of the responsibility you now hold to represent millions of people. Thousands upon thousands of companies, a multitude of industries. And the sheer history of those who went before.

I have to tell you the exact moment when I really understood that I was a Senator. It wasn't when I was swore in. It wasn't when I introduced my first bill. It was during one of those around the clock sessions where you have to hold the Senate floor. And as the new guy on the job, I was given the graveyard shift. So, I was told I needed to speak for an hour between like 1:00 or 2:00 or 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. And I thought, "What on earth do I have to say for a whole hour?" I've never given an hour-long speech on the House floor. There are hour-long special order hours, but it's always the people you don't want to hear from that use them. And so I went there in the middle of the night with my one-hour speech and by the time I got through the hour, I was only halfway through the speech. I thought, "Son of a b****, I really am a Senator."

But you look around that chamber, and you think about the giants who once served in that place, the Barbara Boxer's, the Dianne Feinstein's, John McCain's, and John F. Kennedy's. It takes a while to sink in. As the wealthy magnate, John D. Rockefeller, said to my friend Jon Tester, a Montana farmer, when Jon was elected to the Senate and joined Rockefeller in that chamber - he said: "We both came from very different places, but we both ended up here."

There is beauty in that, that such a thing is possible in the United States of America, just as it is possible right here on the Central Coast and in all of the beautiful parts of the Golden State. As I navigated my first year in the Senate, one of my top priorities was to visit each part of the state and get to know Californians throughout this incredible place.

From the Imperial Valley's Mid-Winter Fair to new housing units in Oakland, from visiting college students in Chico to citrus farmers in Bakersfield to technology hubs of the Bay Area. From touring the Del Mar Bluffs in San Diego to the state's capital, to Tahoe and Shasta and everywhere in between.

Upon accepting this invitation, a member of the conference team said, "We've never had a U.S. Senator at the conference before!" And that's my goal - to be places where I'm not expected. To talk to everyone about what Washington should be doing for them, instead of to them. Lucky for me, as part of that journey, I've gotten a chance to taste some of the best of what California has to offer. Almonds, cilantro, celery, blueberries, strawberries, you name it.

And everywhere I have been, I've asked Californians the same question: how can I help? As my term continues, I'm going to keep going back to different parts of the state, and I'm going to be intently focused on representing the needs of all communities.

That's why I sought out a seat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. Because I want to be a Senator for all Californians. In the red areas and the blue, and everywhere else in between.

I currently have the honor of serving as the first California Senator on that Committee in over three decades. When I came into the Senate, I thought it was striking that even though California's agricultural sector is huge and so different than the rest of the country's, we have not had representation on that Committee for such a long time.

The agriculture you all cultivate is foundational to California - economically, culturally and environmentally - but too often, California's farmers don't see themselves reflected in the policies coming out of Washington. I knew that our farmers are leaders and that they need a voice in the Senate. And since becoming a member, I've been focused on learning about this wonderful space, strengthening my relationships with stakeholders, and getting to know farmers and agricultural leaders.

One of my favorite experiences was being in the north state. Eve and I were visiting the Farm Bureau, I think, in Butte County. And let's just say that a lot of the folks in the room only knew me from Fox News, which is not a particularly flattering portrait. I explained to folks in the room that my old LA urban suburban district, the only agriculture we had was of the illegal variety, and I thought I will have a lot to learn about this industry. But I wanted to represent them, and I wanted to represent them well, and I was here to talk with them about trade and about tariffs and about immigration and water. And I would say, after about a half an hour, they warmed up a bit. And by the end of the meeting, I knew I made progress when one of farmers turned to me and said, "I don't know why the President calls you watermelon head. You have a perfectly normal sized head." And I took a whole lot of stock in that, given that he knew a thing or two about melons.

But what has been striking to me, as I've met with many of you and your colleagues around the state, is just how incredibly special California agriculture is. The leading role that you play in specialty crops that deliver the fruits and vegetables and nuts that are essential to the health of our communities. Health fads may come and go, but the real thing that makes America healthy is what is growing right here in California. Yet, too often, our federal programs do not adequately serve our producers. As you know, as I have seen up close, the needs of specialty crops are very different than the big commodity crops of the Midwest and the South. Ensuring that federal policy reflects the unique challenges and opportunities of these crops has been one of my top priorities this past year. And it is my commitment to stay at it.

California's farmers are also very diverse. In what they grow, how they grow, where they grow, and who is doing the growing. The Golden State is home to small- and mid-sized farms that are the bedrock to the prosperity of our state's rural communities and economies.

And the diversity of California farmers allows us to grow - and eat - amazing and delicious local products. This is why we need to ensure that farms of all sizes - the small, medium, and underserved farmers - all have equitable access to resources from the federal government, whether that is access to capital, technical assistance, support, or markets.

I'm just reminded, for no reason in particular, for meeting of the Agriculture Committee Democrats, in which my Michigan colleague Elissa Slotkin and I were talking about specialty crops. And yes, she's wonderful. And she said, "You know, in Michigan, we have a healthy competition with California over specialty crops." To which I responded by saying, "I think it's adorable you think there's any competition."

And as California leads in organic production, I stand ready to support the state's organic and diversified farms that are proving every day how productivity, stewardship, and economic viability can go hand in hand.

On the Agriculture Committee, I've been outspoken about the ongoing challenges farmers like you are facing. I've heard from many in this industry who are being hurt by the reckless chaos and tariffs of this administration - people who yearn for some stability. And maybe just a little certainty in their work.

Farmers across the country, no matter how red or blue the region is, rely on critical USDA agencies from the Farm Service Agency, to Rural Development, to the Forest Service. But despite this, I know many have been severely impacted by the widespread federal staffing cuts.

And the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda - the indiscriminate raids and the fear it instills in our communities - are also hurting this industry and putting a heavy burden on countless farmers. Taking kids from parents, spouses from their partners, and neighbors from their loved ones.

One of the first places I went as Senator was to Bakersfield. There, I met with farmworkers that had been targeted by a recent immigration raid. I talked to children who had their fathers taken away from them and spouses who had their spouses taken away from them. I talked to one woman who showed me a videotape of her husband being dragged out of their car in front of their teenage son through a broken window. Families who toil daily to ensure we can put food on our table to serve much better than this. I knew then what I know now that California would carry a share of the emotional damage and human toll of this administration's immigration policies. And I intend to continue to push back in every way I possibly can.

There are many other policies of the administration I know and have made your jobs even more difficult. As one example, after I learned that USDA and DOGE were planning to close 9 Californian USDA offices last spring, including offices in Bakersfield, Madera, Oxnard, and Salinas, I quickly expressed how these closures would hurt our farming communities. I had heard from farming communities, including from blueberry farmers in Fresno that I met with along with Jim Costa, about the ways losing these offices would make it harder to operate. They explained how the FSA office was a critical lifeline for their operations. Going to work with others, I urged USDA Secretary Rollins directly to reverse course. And after a combined effort, we were able to prevent the closure of eight of these offices.

Last year, as you know, the President's Big Ugly Bill made devastating cuts to SNAP and Cal Fresh. Taking food benefits away from hungry families to pay for tax cuts for wealthy families and big corporations. When I visited food banks in California, I heard directly how those resources for our families have been cut, how they've been hurt, and how our farmers have suffered as well. At a time when food insecurity is already high and chronic disease is prevalent, providing affordable fresh food to food banks and families and schools, while supporting American farmers is absolutely critical. For this reason, I've been leading an effort with my colleagues to push back and try to reverse the cancellation of billions of dollars in local food purchases intended for schools, food banks, and child-care centers.

For these challenges facing this incredibly important part of our economy, I want to make sure also that we focus Congress on the things it can do to actually support growth and prosperity in the industry. For this reason, I'm championing legislation that would require USDA to increase market opportunities for more farmers, to expand agricultural research and require better coordination on organics research and USDA's federal agencies, and to improve farmers access to tools that allow them to increase profits while reducing climate emissions. As we look forward to 2026, I'm excited to continue to build on this work.

I will be looking for opportunities in a bipartisan manner to pass a Farm Bill that protects and strengthens the work of farmers across California, including that of farmers like you. That restores some of the devastating funds that have been cut from SNAP and other programs. It's been too long since we've had a Farm Bill, and I know real policy changes are needed to address your needs. I'll be seeking to strengthen nutrition programs and protect farmers against the administration's devastating staff and program cuts. I'll be looking for opportunities to empower specialty crop, small-scale, diversified, and new and beginning farmers. And to improve programs so they serve not just some, but all farmers.

I'll be working to support agricultural conservation and research investments. To strengthen organic agriculture. To increase local and regional farmers' access to markets and role in public procurement. To provide opportunities for rural Californians and ensure everyone's access to basic services. We need to return to humane immigration policies and enact much-needed reform for our farmworkers and other visa programs.

To lower costs across the board for all families. These will be my priorities. I look forward to your input on how to make them happen. The doors of my office in Washington and across the state are always open to you. I'm so grateful for the work you do. Thank you for feeding our families. Thank you for all the incredible path breaking work you're doing in regenerative farming. I'm here to advocate for you every step of the way and thank you for the opportunity again to speak this morning.

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