California Labor and Democrats Driving Wildfire Reducing Goat Herders Out of Business

After many failed attempts to unionize more agricultural workers in California, Gov. Jerry Brown instead signed into law Assembly Bill 1066 in 2016 by then-Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), and sponsored by the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union, to require overtime pay of time-and-a-half for farm and agriculture employees working more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, and double pay for those working more than 12 hours a day.

Gonzalez left the California Legislature in July 2023 to become the Chief Officer of the California Labor Federation, but not before gifting labor unions more members.

Assembly Bill 1066 included a gradual rollout—starting earlier for larger employers with more than 25 employees, and fully applying to smaller ones by 2025.

AB 1066 “Defines a full workday as 8 hours, and 40 hours as a workweek,” the bill arrogantly claims.

Not all “workdays” are 8 hours.

“Agriculture does not follow a fixed schedule. Crops don’t wait for an eight-hour workday. Harvests occur when they are ready, driven by weather, timing, and risk. When a crop is ready, every hour counts. When it isn’t, there might be no work at all,” Hector Barajas wrote for the Globe. “For generations, California understood that reality. Farmworkers can work longer hours during peak seasons, not as a loophole, but as a lifeline. Those weeks of intense work made it possible to earn enough to support their families through the rest of the year.”

Now, the remaining tentacles of that business-killing labor bill are coming for goat herders.

“Green Goat Landscapers in Gilroy, which uses about 1,000 goats to clear vegetation that can fuel wildfires, said the law could threaten the future of grazing operations that play a role in wildfire prevention across the state,” ABC7 reported this past weekend.

The California company said its herders come from around the world and are compensated through a combination of salary, housing and other benefits. They live in trailers on-site with their herds while they are working.

However, effective July 1, 2026, the final change to California labor rules for goat herders is causing major issues for goat grazing businesses, which are widely used for wildfire prevention and vegetation management. A new state law requires goat herders to be paid on a 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week hourly basis rather than through the current monthly salary system. Sheep herders are exempt from the requirement.

Goat herders were previously covered by a temporary exemption under Senate Bill 143, in the 2023 budget bill, allowing them the same alternative minimum monthly wage as sheep herders, roughly $64,000 per year with benefits.

That exemption expired on July 1, 2026. Goat herders now fall under standard agricultural worker rules: hourly minimum wage of $16.90 for farmworkers plus overtime for hours over 8 hours a day or 40 per week.

Because herders live on-site and are on-call 24/7 monitoring for predators, animal health, etc., this effectively means paying for all hours, increasing annual costs per herder to at least $240,000 – up from $64,000 annually.

They are facing potential layoffs of herders, selling herds amounting to hundreds to thousands of goats for slaughter, business closures or bankruptcy, and in California with its extended “wildfire season,” reduced wildfire prevention grazing across the state – goats clear brush in areas inaccessible to machinery.

This affects targeted grazing operations that manage 20% of the state’s goats for fire risk reduction.

A 2023–2026 temporary fix via SB 143 included a required study on herder wages, which was released in 2026. Recommendations included aligning sheep and goat rules permanently, as the work is similar. But that did not happen.

What Happened?

AB 1099 by Assemblywoman Megan Dahle (R-Bieber) attempted to create permanent exemptions for goat herders, or even special wage rules for them, but it failed, largely due to opposition from labor groups. Her bill died in committee without a hearing or vote.

SB 801 by Senator Hurtado attempted to narrow agricultural overtime definitions or exempt sheep and goat range herders from AB 1066 requirements. It did not receive a vote and failed to advance.

Labor groups opposed permanent exemptions, arguing for consistent overtime and minimum wage “protections” across agricultural workers rather than industry-specific carve-outs.

Supporters of the bills including ranchers, grazing companies for wildfire prevention and landscaping highlighted the unique 24/7 remote nature of the work, H-2A visa reliance, high costs (labor often 30–50% of expenses), and the overall serious risk to these herding businesses, which could lead to business closures, goat culls, or reduced vegetation management that helps mitigate wildfires, the Sacbee.com reported.

The California Legislature can still act as the legislative session goes through August 2026. But what a mess, with labor groups wagging the dog as California is right in the middle of wildfire season, with several active fires. And what about costs to agriculture?

Goats are natural browsers, as they prefer eating shrubs, vines, weeds, and woody plants over grass, making them highly effective where machinery struggles or chemicals are undesirable. They can access steep slopes, rocky areas, and dense brush without causing soil compaction or erosion like heavy equipment does. And goats will consume 60 percent or more of their diet on browse as compared to cattle’s 10 to 15 percent.

Opponents of the legislation that created this disaster said it would end up hitting many agricultural workers in their wallet as agriculture employers would be forced to pay higher overtime costs during peak season.

Notably, this is the list of big labor cohorts who supported Lorena Gonzalez’s AB 1066:

United Farm Workers (Sponsor)

Alameda Labor Council

Alliance San Diego

American Civil Liberties Union of California

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – California

California Catholic Conference

California Employment Lawyers Association

California Immigrant Policy Center

California Labor Federation

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation

California State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

California State Treasurer, John Chiang

Center of Policy Initiatives

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

Consumer Attorneys of California

Courage Campaign

Dolores Huerta Foundation

Don Saylor, Yolo County Supervisor

Equality California

Farmworker Justice

Food Empowerment Project

Kern, Inyo, and Mono Counties Central Labor Council

La Cooperativa Campesina de California

Latino Coalition for a Healthy California

League of United Latin American Citizens – California Chapter

Mayor Eric Garcetti, City of Los Angeles

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund

National Association of Social Workers – California Chapter

Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Sacramento Central Labor Council

Service Employees International Union

United Food & Commercial Workers Union – Western States Council

Western Center on Law and Poverty

Author
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Katy Grimes

Katy Grimes, the Editor in Chief of the California Globe, is a long-time Investigative Journalist covering the California State Capitol, the co-author of California's War Against Donald Trump: Who Wins? Who Loses? and a contributor to "Taxifornia 2016."
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.

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