Hispanic presence in tree fruit industry reflected at annual meeting

KENNEWICK — As the presence of Hispanic workers, managers and growers has increased in Washington’s tree fruit industry, so have efforts to provide training and support. The Spanish-language sessions at the Washington Horticultural Association annual meeting earlier this week reflect that. 

Jacqui Gordon-Nuñez, director of training, education and member services for the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, said the Spanish-language sessions have grown a lot since the first class in 2011. 

“They began with a tiny room of 50 people with a couple of talks, and now it’s the biggest session in the hort convention,” Gordon-Nuñez said. “It’s evidence of how much the Hispanic community wants to get educated, and wants to get the trending information of the industry.”

For 2023, the classes included new pesticide application technologies and the latest pesticide safety rules and techniques. Classes also covered regulations covering worker exposure to heat and wildfire smoke, the current apple industry workforce, and diagnosing and treating less common orchard maladies. 

“We provide research information. We also provide some educational content that will give them pesticide recertification credits,” Gordon-Nuñez said. “They need to get continuing education in order to keep their pesticide applicator license. And to do that they need to get this updated content.”

Hispanic workers have been a major presence in the tree fruit industry for decades, she said, and have been moving into supervisory roles and orchard ownership.

“We have a big variety of people here in our audience,” she said. “Many of them are our workforce. Many, many are supervisors. They supervise hundreds of people, they are in charge of harvest. So they want to get educated so they can educate their workforce.”

The WSTFA, Washington State University and the Washington State Department of Agriculture are working on a new program to provide leadership training for orchard managers and supervisors, since that’s sometimes a different set of skills, she said.

Frequently supervisors are promoted from the workforce.

“That’s very much how the industry works here. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, because they need to learn how to manage people, communicate with people,” she said. 

Ofelio Borges of the WSDA, who’s working with Gordon-Nuñez to develop the program, said the goal is to help people learn what they need to know to succeed in a new position.

As a former migrant worker and orchard owner himself, he knows the challenges, he said.

“In most cases we get placed in supervisory positions with absolutely no training. So we use whatever means we can to get things rolling. This agricultural leadership program intends to give the supervisors and managers the skills they need to do a better job as supervisors and managers,” Borges said.

“We’re hoping that having great leaders in the agriculture sector will take the industry to the next level,” Borges said. 

The first job will be to train instructors, he said, and that’s being done in conjunction with Gonzaga University. The first class for students is scheduled for November 2024. 

“We have great managers in our industry, but we want them to develop leadership skills, like having a vision, knowing how to delegate, knowing how to communicate effectively with their workers, knowing how to make change happen,” Gordon-Nuñez said. 

“When you have people that have great communication skills, that have emotional control, that have great skills to delegate, that develop a good working environment, people will be happier. People will perform better,” Borges said. “We’re envisioning this program bringing all these benefits to the ag industry.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Jacqui Gordon-Nuñez, left, talks with a Washington Department of Agriculture attendee at the horticultural association meeting.
 Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald   

    Ofelio Borges, left, of the Washington Department of Agriculture, and Jacqui Gordon-Nuñez, right, of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association, are working on leadership training for supervisory personnel in the tree fruit industry.
 Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald   

    Ofelio Borges, center, gives a presentation during the Spanish-language sessions at the Washington Horticultural Association meeting Tuesday.
 Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald   

    Attendees talk with a vendor at the 2023 Hort Expo.
 Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald