Adam Schiff, one of California’s two United States senators, was at a farm in Ventura County on May 7, picking strawberries and picking apart the farm bill passed a week earlier by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Schiff toured Carranza Family Farm, which is a strawberry, flower and vegetable farm on land leased from McGrath Family Farms just outside of Camarillo. He met the farmers as well as representatives of Ventura County’s biggest food bank and organizations that provide food from local farms to food banks and schools.
Federal funding for those food programs has been cut in recent years by Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration, and Schiff said restoring it is one of his top priorities for the new farm bill. The funding helps feed people in need, and Schiff said it also provides valuable, consistent business for smaller local farms.
“I’m trying to use my position to advocate for California agriculture, and I know how important these programs are, particularly for small and mid-sized farmers,” said Schiff, a Democrat from Burbank and a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.
Brian Fisher, the chief operations officer at Food Share of Ventura County, said federal assistance to buy from local farms is “one of the legs of the stool that really helps fight hunger in Ventura County.”
Schiff’s wish list for new farm bill
Before he arrived at the Carranza and McGrath farm, Schiff released a statement outlining his priorities for the 2026 farm bill, which would be the first full farm bill passed by Congress since 2018.
The House passed its version on April 30, and the Senate will now take up the matter. If both houses can agree on a bill, it will be sent to Trump for a signature.
Schiff said one of his issues with the House bill is that, though it re-establishes the federal programs that help schools and food banks buy from local farms, it does not guarantee funding for those programs. Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut more than $1 billion in funding for those programs.
“It’s going to be equally important that we make sure there’s real money to support these farmers and families,” Schiff said.
He said he would also like the Senate farm bill to reverse funding cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the largest federal food assistance program.
“I think there’s bipartisan support for the food nutrition assistance program but whether my Republican colleagues will be willing to contradict the administration and restore some of that funding is the big unanswered question,” Schiff said.
He said he would like to see “equity in support for farmers,” so that California fruit and vegetable growers have just as much access to federal assistance as farms in the Midwest that grow corn, wheat and soy.
Schiff added that he wants the Senate to reject a provision in the House that would nullify California’s Proposition 12, a 2018 law that sets animal welfare standards for eggs and meat sold in the state.
“I’m doing everything I can to get that pulled out of the farm bill,” he said.
‘I can’t imagine a more difficult time to be a farmer’
During his visit, Schiff talked with members of the McGrath and Carranza farming families. They told him about their efforts to grow while treading lightly upon the land, including the use of cover crops to protect the soil between berry seasons and methods to plant crops without plowing or tilling the soil.
‘I’ve so enjoyed meeting these multigenerational farm families,” Schiff said. “I can’t imagine a more difficult time to be a farmer than right now when you consider the increased cost of inputs and the tariffs and the boycotts and the problems with getting fertilizer through the Persian Gulf and the immigration raids. My hat is off to the survivors in agriculture. It shouldn’t be this hard.”
It was Schiff’s second visit to Ventura County in a little over a year; in April 2025, he toured the Port of Hueneme and blasted the tariffs Trump had just announced. Before that, visits to Ventura County had been rare for U.S. senators.
“I am really intent on representing every part of California, and I want to give particular attention to areas that have not gotten attention,” Schiff said, mentioning recent visits to Barstow, Catalina Island and Riverside. “I love coming to Ventura, and you’re going to see a lot more of me here.”
Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Fund to Support Local Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Schiff talks farm policy during Camarillo visit, urges SNAP cut reversal
Reporting by Tony Biasotti, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
