Brian Dahle Dec 28

Speaker1: For California AG today, I'm Mike Stephens. We have the opportunity to speak with Brian Dahle, a member of the California State Senate, representing District one. We asked him the need to connect with the public and politicians on the role of farming.

So I would say that, you know, all of us who are I'm a family farmer. My generations, my family homestead here. That's a great story right there. We're part of California. California is a great place to farm. I think we need to tell our stories. You know, it's really it's families that do it. It's corporations that do it. But in general were people that tell the land, take care of the land, and our story is a good story. Who doesn't love a farmer? Most people love farmers. They just don't know who we are, and that's what we need to share with them. I've had a hundred and twenty seven legislators to my district over the nine years I've been legislating, and so I find a great place in the district. It's beautiful Mount Shasta, Lake Tahoe and I invite them up. I pay for their way up. There they come. We educate them about, you know, forestry about which is agriculture as well. We talked to them about our farms and, you know, the challenges that we have with water labor packaging, you name it. And then when we're back in Sacramento, they put a face to it. They put they put it like a real story. They saw the the strawberry industry up in my district, you know, making the things that they have to deal with. So it makes it easier to stop bad legislation and help good legislation. I think we've been disconnected from the farm. People go to the store, think that food just comes on the shelf and they don't know where it comes from and we need to share with them where it comes from and the people that make it come. Their relationships, obviously is one of the key factors. Then obviously you get political after that.