Maribel Nenna and Lisa Tate bring different paths into farming to the same task: giving citrus growers a voice on California’s Citrus Advisory Committee. In recent California Department of Food and Agriculture profiles, the Tulare County grower and the Ventura County committee chair describe how managing farms shapes the perspectives they bring to state-level discussions about the industry.
Their work connects practical farming experience with oversight of citrus inspection and survey programs. CDFA describes the committee as a 12-member voting body of California citrus handlers and producers that makes recommendations to the secretary on industry matters. The profiles, published October 23 for Nenna and September 25 for Tate, describe their service and personal histories, rather than announce new appointments.
Ownership adds perspective
For Nenna, owning citrus acreage was a deliberate step toward understanding the people she represented professionally. She told CDFA that working with growers convinced her that industry knowledge alone was not enough. She and her husband invested in acreage to experience the risks, expenses and challenges of producing a crop themselves.
Nenna farms navels, Cara Caras, lemons and mandarins with her husband and brother. She also works as a grower relations and field division manager based in Tulare County. Her account places her on both sides of grower representation: working with farming families through her professional responsibilities while sharing the financial and production responsibilities of growing citrus.
She identifies production costs, water management, labor, weather variability and market conditions as concerns she encounters through grower relations and field operations. In explaining her committee service, Nenna emphasizes bringing those experiences into industry discussions. Her stated aim is to help growers participate in decisions affecting the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of California citrus.
A family farming foundation
Tate’s route to advisory leadership began with a multigenerational farming background. In her CDFA profile, she says her family has farmed in Ventura County since 1876. Watching her mother and grandmother work alongside the men in the family helped form her understanding of farming as both land stewardship and a responsibility to the community.
She pursued an agricultural business degree at Cal Poly to pair that background with business skills. Today, Tate oversees farming operations and helps guide a family agricultural company’s strategic direction. Her responsibilities include daily operations, regulatory compliance, financial management, long-term planning and sustainability initiatives. The operations include lemons and Valencia oranges alongside other crops.
Tate says she joined the committee both to help growers shape their industry’s future and to learn more about statewide agricultural issues. As chair, she works with growers, industry representatives and CDFA staff to provide input on citrus programs and concerns. She describes practical industry experience as an essential contribution to those discussions.
Where grower input meets program oversight
The committee’s responsibilities give those grower perspectives a specific place in state agricultural administration. According to CDFA, it oversees implementation of the citrus inspection program and crop and acreage survey work performed through the National Agricultural Statistics Service. It also makes recommendations to the secretary on citrus industry matters.
Nenna describes her own duties as reviewing inspection-program implementation and evaluating the survey activities. She also reviews industry issues and develops recommendations with fellow members. Those are oversight and advisory responsibilities, not a claim that individual members independently set state policy. Tate’s description similarly emphasizes collaboration and input rather than unilateral decision-making.
Making room for women’s leadership
The two women also describe different experiences of establishing themselves in agriculture. Nenna told CDFA she sometimes had to work harder to earn credibility in field roles. She says those experiences strengthened her emphasis on knowledge, integrity and commitment, and on helping other women see a place for themselves in farming and industry leadership.
Tate points to the example of women in her own family and to relationships with other women farmers. She describes those relationships as a source of shared ideas, problem-solving and support. Yet she also recalls being the only woman in the room early in her career and learning that her perspective had value.
Their advice to younger women pairs confidence with continued learning. Nenna encourages women to pursue agricultural careers without accepting limits imposed by others, while recognizing that the work requires resilience and adaptability. Tate urges them to ask questions, find mentors and participate rather than wait for an invitation: “Don’t be afraid to take a seat at the table.”
For Nenna, that means helping create opportunities for the women who follow her while continuing to represent farming families. Tate describes mentoring future agricultural leaders as part of her service. Both place that work alongside, rather than apart from, their responsibilities on the farm and on the citrus committee.
