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US (CA): Central Valley aims to train farmworkers in technology replacing fieldwork

Angel Cortez was ready for a change.

Cortez, 43, is a Mexican immigrant who has worked in agriculture, landscaping, and restaurants since he arrived in California more than 25 years ago. But he said a workplace injury nearly a decade ago has made physical labor — jobs requiring him to stand or walk for long periods — exceedingly painful.

He has been looking to transition into jobs he could do primarily while seated. But his options felt limited: He has a high school education in Mexico but doesn't speak English fluently and wasn't comfortable using a computer. So when he heard about a program at Merced College that would help him develop new skills for agriculture, he took a leap.

Cortez, a father of four, is part of the first cohort in a new certificate program launched last month at seven Central Valley community colleges that aims to ensure farmworkers don't get displaced as the state's powerhouse agricultural industry transitions to a more mechanized future.

Read more at Yahoo.

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