Ag-rich counties in California need to spotlight their farm workers of the year | Opinion
Frank Hernández, a 57-year-old father of five and grandfather to three, woke up the morning of April 2 ready to continue a career he began while in high school maintaining equipment, overseeing the harvest hulling crew, welding platforms for new shelling equipment and installing irrigation for new orchards at Vermeulen Almond Hulling just west of Modesto.
“He’s kind of the soul behind all of us,” said owner Paul Vermeulen.
Hernández pocketed $3,000 as the Stanislaus County Farmworker of the Year, an award started by the Modesto Rotary Club, AgSafe and the Stanislaus Farm Bureau during COVID to “thank and acknowledge farm workers in Stanislaus County who continue to show up and work every day to bring food to our tables.”
Stanislaus County isn’t alone in putting the spotlight on farm laborers. The Fresno County Farm Bureau, in partnership with the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, launched its Ag Employee of the Year award five years ago. It holds its award ceremony in late October or early November.
Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, had mulled the idea of honoring a farm worker when he noticed a press release from Stanislaus County soliciting nominations for its award.
“We can’t do what we do without farm employees,” Jacobsen said. “They allow us to bring in the harvest. (It is) appropriate to honor those who are out in the fields on a weekly basis that allows us to have this incredible agricultural backyard.”
What Stanislaus and Fresno counties have done should be duplicated in other top agricultural counties in the state. After all, state Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross — speaking at the farm worker award ceremony at Modesto’s Centre Plaza — noted that 478,000 farm workers are “an essential part” of California’s $59.4 billion agricultural industry in 2023.
Stanislaus and Fresno counties have gone beyond mere platitudes by honoring the men and women (Maribel Cortes of Wulf Farming won in 2023) who toil in the fields. These essential workers are just as worthy of awards as actors, athletes or philanthropists, especially because they brave the cold of winter to prune vines and the heat of summer to harvest the crops.
Among those honored in Modesto:
▪ Alfred Gómez, a 50-years-plus worker with Cox & Pérez Farms near Westley, who was described as “the type of employee who looks for an opportunity, not a handout.”
▪ Jorge Mercado, an equipment foreman who has worked for three generations of the Bays family farm near Westley. He has guided four children through college.
▪ Jesse Camarena, a Dave Wilson Nursery worker in Hickman for 42 years, who was described as a “tireless problem solver.”
Award program support has blossomed
In total, there were 11 farm workers who shared $9,500 in cash awards. The first three ceremonies each honored five workers.
“It was a Rotary Club idea during COVID when essential workers were being recognized, it felt like ag workers were not getting the same attention,” said Anna Genasci, executive director of the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau.
The Central Valley Opportunity Center, which provides services to farm workers, has joined in organizing the awards. This year, there were 36 sponsors.
Jacobsen is not aware of other counties with similar farm worker awards.
Hernández, who lives in Ceres, has parlayed his job into raising three daughters and two sons with his wife, Sylvia. The Modesto High graduate credits his parents, Frank Sr. and Rosie, for instilling his work ethic. His father worked in construction and “was always jumping around jobs. His mother worked in the canneries.
His first boss at Vermeulen Almond Hulling, 100-year-old Paul Dunlop, was at the awards ceremony. Hernández said he learned about the electrical and mechanical parts of the almond hulling business from Dunlop. “I picked up a lot from him. He’s an awesome guy, really respectful.”
There are many other stories like Hernández’s that need to be heard in other counties where agriculture values workers like him.
These farm workers, if they are lucky, get perhaps one day of recognition for a career of hard work. When we sit down to eat, we reap their benefits each and every day. This worthy recognition program, which deserves to be expanded throughout the Valley, only scratches the surface of the value of these workers to the region, nation and world.
This story was originally published April 6, 2025 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Ag-rich counties in California need to spotlight their farm workers of the year | Opinion."