Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Extension science activities in California are conducted by UC
Cooperative Extension Farm Advisors and pest-control advisors. Over
the past 20 years, UC leadership has restructured professional incentives
for Farm Advisors. Located at the base of this scientific hierarchy, pest-
control Advisors are the closest to the grower and the most economically
practical in their orientation. They operate as agricultural science techni-
cians, or subaltern scientists. Over the past few decades there has been a
strong privatization trend in agricultural knowledge services, driven by
several factors: increasing technological sophistication in agriculture,
state legislative restrictions on pesticides, and a decline in public sector
support for agricultural extension.
Agricultural Science in Action: Private Extensionists
Farm Advisors and pest-control advisors have developed a division
of knowledge-labor in extension practice that allows Farm Advisors
to retain certain privileges of scientific authority while PCAs conduct
the majority of applied research, make all but a fraction of the pest-
California's Pest-Control Advisors
In California, only a pest-control advisor is permitted to make a written
recommendation for the use of a registered pesticide material at a specific
site. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of all PCAs work for agrochemi-
cal sales companies, and receive from them base pay plus a commission on
all agrochemicals they sell. Critics refer to these as “chemical company
PCAs,” but they prefer to be known as “affiliated PCAs.” Affiliated PCAs
provide a seamless package of expert advice plus pesticide sales, delivery,
and application, depending on the needs of the grower, but the “value” of
the recommendation is folded in to the sale of agrochemicals. The balance
of PCAs are either “independents,” consultants who contract their services
for monitoring and consulting directly with the grower, or “in-house
PCAs” who hold a license but function as managers on corporate-owned
farms. Independent PCAs are paid on a per acre basis. Those who have
graduated from a University of California campus or have graduate
training tend to be independent PCAs. Many report their status as
independents having resulted in earning less money, but increased job
satisfaction. They are exposed to more legal risk because as independent
contractors they cannot afford “errors and omissions” risk insurance,
which is provided by agrochemical companies for affiliated PCAs.
