AG COMMISSIONER PROFILE
Meet Placer's Ag Commissioner, Josh Huntsinger By CAPCA Staff Placer County’s Agricultural Commissioner, Sealer of Weights and Measures, Josh Huntsinger, has just over twenty years of service, having served briefly in Nevada County and then in Placer County since 2000. He graduated from Sierra College in 1998, and then from Cal Poly in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fruit Science. Talking about his background in the industry, Huntsinger says: “My grandparents, aunts and uncles were farmers, so I spent quite a bit of time on farms as a kid around the state between Tulelake and Reedley.” He spent high school and college years working for various farms growing everything from Christmas trees to apples, including two years on Cal Poly’s citrus and avocado enterprise project. “The farm where I spent the most time was one of the first three CCOF certified organic peach farms in the state back in the early ‘90s. The hardest work I ever did was ‘nucing’ beehives for a large beekeeper. That work consisted of 10-12 days bent over beehives in the sun, wind, rain, and even snow on occasion!”
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CAPCA ADVISER | AUGUST 2020
In his current position, Huntsinger says the role of the Ag Commissioner/Sealer is a balancing act working for the Secretary of California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Director of the Department of Pesticide Regulation and his own County Board of Supervisors. “Beyond the standard regulatory responsibilities, my Board expects me to be THE advocate for agriculture within our county structure. I oversee the PlacerGROWN agricultural marketing program and spend a lot of time working with our land use agency on agricultural projects where I take on more of an economic development and farmer-advocate role.” On the regulatory side, Huntsinger says his goal is to “couple good communication and proactive collaboration with clear boundaries and a strong enforcement stance”. He really stresses that he would much rather discuss situations beforehand to find solutions; “Far too often, I see folks ‘winging it’ and hoping everything works out or that they do not get caught. Collaborative solution finding is much more enjoyable than enforcement for me (and the industry!)… As I tell my growers and PCAs, ‘I would much rather talk through a
