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Monterey County's $11 billion agriculture industry, online protests over a cancer-causing pesticide

KAZU | By Katie Brown
Published November 20, 2025 at 2:05 AM PST
People who live in rural areas face heightened risks from agricultural pesticide drift. This photo, taken on Sept. 11, 2022, shows a housing development adjacent to a vineyard in Watsonville, a small, Latino-majority city that has for decades sought stronger community and worker protections from pesticide exposure.
Claudia Meléndez Salinas
/
Environmental Health News / palabra.
A housing development adjacent to a vineyard in Watsonville where pesticides are sprayed.

In today's newscast, the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner’s office publishes its fourth report analyzing the region's $11 billion agriculture industry. And, California farmworker families and environmental groups are calling for stronger protections against a cancer-causing pesticide used on berry, grape and nut crops.
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KAZU News AgriculturePesticidesMonterey County Ag CommissionPublic HealthLocal NewsMonterey Bay Today
Katie Brown
Katie Brown comes to KAZU after earning spot news and investigative journalism awards for her reporting and photography in Maine. A Report for America alumna and former Metcalf Institute fellow, Katie’s reporting beats span business, environment, and public health.
See stories by Katie Brown