Moorpark farmer Harry Muranaka was furious last month when he heard about a $2.7-million contract his chief competitor had been awarded by the state to train farm workers to pick crops.
"It's a handout. It hurts us as competitors," Muranaka said. "It makes all of us look bad . . . I can see where the average guy looks at this, and it just reinforces his thinking that farmers are crooks."
The 1989 contract awarded to Camarillo-based Boskovich Farms and a new $2-million agreement with the Ventura County Agricultural Assn. were approved by the state Employment Training Panel as a way to train farm workers to pick more than one crop so they can work for the same company year-round.
Muranaka said he already has achieved that goal without government assistance, employing his 150 workers all year and keeping them at his farm by paying good wages. His vegetable crops are varied and harvests are staggered to avoid layoffs, he said.
"Our whole program is geared to year-round operations," said Muranaka, whose family-owned company farms 450 acres in Ventura County. "It's better for our customers. It's better for our laborers."
The irony of the state contracts, Muranaka said, is that agribusiness giant Boskovich, with whom he directly competes for sales to supermarkets, had more year-round workers a few years ago but switched to seasonal labor because it is cheaper.
George Boskovich, vice president of Boskovich Farms, declined comment on Muranaka's statements except to ask if Muranaka pays health benefits to his employees. Muranaka said he does not, and Boskovich would not discuss what benefits he offers.
Muranaka's comments are part of a debate that has emerged after news reports last month about the two training contracts for farm workers. Both provide for 59 hours of field labor to learn to pick each crop.
Some farmers and farm-worker advocates have described the agreements as little more than farmer subsidies that pay the salaries of ranch supervisors, the trainers in the programs, and for the use of farm equipment during the 18-month and two-year training periods.
But representatives of the Ventura agricultural association and the Ventura County Farm Bureau have defended the contracts.
"Nobody's getting any freebies," said Robert Roy, president of the agricultural association, whose 110 members have about 10,000 employees.
