[MUSIC]
YENI MARTINEZ: My name is Yeni Martinez. I am a Pest Control Advisor at Betteravia Farms.
I have a certificate in pest control advising.
What I do is basically manage 1,500 acres.
So I have to monitor those fields, keep them clean from any pests, disease, fungal.
[MUSIC]
MARTINEZ: [SPEAKING MIXTECO]
MARTINEZ'S MOTHER:[SPEAKING MIXTECO]
MARTINEZ: My first language is Mixteco.
It's an Indigenous language which comes from the region of Oaxaca in Mexico.
My mom and dad primarily speak Mixteco.
We came here in 2007. My parents work in agriculture.
They work for a small farm picking berries, vegetables, and just doing other manual works.
MARTINEZ: [SPEAKING MIXTECO]
MARTINEZ'S MOTHER: [SPEAKING MIXTECO]
MARTINEZ: So she used to work picking strawberries hourly. In the summer, it gets warm. Winter, it's very cold.
She still has to go work, even if it's raining and muddy.
For them, it was just getting up really early, getting us ready, and then them coming back home really late.
From what I've heard, it was pretty hard, labor-intensive work.
ERIN KRIER: Santa Maria has historically been a rural community.
Agriculture is the biggest economic driver in this town and in this county.
We actually didn't have an official agriculture program here at the college.
KEVIN WALTHERS, Ph.D.: We have a lot of big farming operations here in Santa Maria.
So the ability to build a new ag program and to restart that
became really important for this college and for our board of trustees.
KRIER: The ATE grant was actually the impetus to create an entire agriculture program,
which now includes three different degrees and three different certificate programs.
So we start with the fundamental classes, like biology and chemistry, and also introduction to plant science.
And then also a qualified applicator class, which is a class that basically prepares students to take the exam.
MARTINEZ: So right now, I'm working towards getting my license for pest control advising from the state of California.
KRIER: Which one is the least susceptible to downy mildew?
MARTINEZ: The one that becomes brown the first because it's killing off the downy mildew before it has a chance to spread throughout the plant.
KRIER: That's exactly right.
KRIER: I have a lot of students who come from agricultural backgrounds, whose parents work in the field, or they themselves have worked as pickers.
So they have this love of agriculture, but they definitely want to do something within the industry that provides a living wage.
KRIER: So you put the lens like, pretty close to your eye, and then just pull the leaf up until it comes into focus for you.
KRIER: We have the student farm on campus, which is very handy - we call it our living laboratory -
and so that we can actually go see some of the things in real life that we're talking about in the lecture.
It's honeydew on the leaf, and then you'll have a secondary mold that'll like, just grow on it.
FERNANDO MONTEALEGRE: Hi, Erin. KRIER: Hi, Fernando!
MONTEALEGRE: How are you? KRIER: Nice to see you. Good.
KRIER:We have a lot of industry partners who offer paid internships.
MONTEALEGRE: It's really a symbiotic relationship between the company and the college to where the company can explain what the true needs are out in the field.
And therefore, the college can tailor a program that will develop those skills into the students so that they can come into the labor force right away.
MONTEALEGRE: Yeni did an internship three years ago.
Really, we couldn't wait for him to hurry up and graduate so that he could join the team.
You know, you talk about hitting ground running? That's exactly what the college prepared Yeni to do.
MARTINEZ: Hey, I had a quick question. On 908 South, do you have any plans for irrigating?
What I love about it is that I make the calls.
When I'm walking the field, I decide what to spray, what to do, and what not to do.
My parents love my job. They always ask me like, 'Hey, what are you seeing?'
It's a better paying job rather than working at minimum wage. So I guess it gives me that stability in life.
It's something I enjoy doing, so I don't wake up in the morning and be like, 'Ah, I don't want to go to work today!'
It's like, 'OK – Let's get started.'