Monterey County Ag Commission talks AI role in Crop and Lifestock annual report

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The Monterey County Agriculture Commissioner announced historic product values for strawberries in the 2024 Ag report. Looking into the role of artificial intelligence, the report also looks at other uncertainties in the industry. 

After a rainy 2023 season, the Monterey County Agriculture Commissioner, Juan Hidalgo, mentions that last year saw historic numbers for strawberry gross product value.  

The value this year (2024) of almost $5 billion is a 14.7 percent increase compared to last year's crop report. The number one commodity in Monterey County in 2024 was strawberries, topping the $1 billion gross production value,” said Hidalgo.

He adds strawberries lead lettuce, broccoli, and celery production with a 15 percent increase in comparison to last year. Strawberries account for more than 11 thousand acres in the county. 

“Labor remains a very costly part of the input of production of our crops, and immigration enforcement is presenting new challenges for our growers as we move forward.” Norm Groot, director of the county's farm bureau, says they have been looking at artificial intelligence as a potential solution, yet makes it clear these incorporations will only look to assist workers. 

“We're not eliminating jobs,” he adds. “We're continuing to integrate them into this new technology that we have, and this again highlights that CALOsha needs to change the regulations so that we can use autonomous equipment in the fields and retrain those workers into new jobs.”

Groot adds that technology is being implemented on weeding tractors and other tasks, looking to help their overall efficiency.

On top of elevated production costs in the region, the Ag commissioner also spoke about the anxiety immigration issues have provoked among an already small workforce. 

Christopher Valadez, president of the Grower-Shipper Association, said questions remain about the protections for the ag industry spoken about by President Trump.

“The President has commented, we want to see, we want some stability. We want to be mindful and helpful to the employer.” He anticipates that further pressure for the use of H-2A visas will be seen, prompting other questions about housing and job security for the current labor force. 

The Agriculture Commissioner says throughout this year, they will continue to study the potential effects tariffs had on the agriculture industry.