Agave Growers Planting Roots Around Santa Barbara With Spirited Hopes Ahead

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - With a stronghold on Mexico and the Southwest, U.S. agave growers are coming to the Santa Barbara County coast.

At an annual symposium they talked about increasing farm lands that could result in thousands of new plants.

The California Agave Council President Stuart Woolfe said at the all day event, "we have a little bit of everything. We're trying to create a tent that we can all, operate  under." The symposium was at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.

Many vendors were on site too.

Already, there's agricultural land changes taking place on properties in Santa Barbara and Montecito.

At one ranch above San Roque, one farmer Mark Hannah said, "we planted a thousand there. They've been doing well. They're loving the climate."

Carpinteria is expected to be part of this trend too as it looks at alternatives from the traditional crops there including avocados or the most recent phase with cannabis..

All day seminars will include information about the plants growth in popularity, distilling, marketing and land uses.

"This is a crop that represents something new and different. And it it's a climate resilient crop in California ," said Woolfe.

Andrew Caspary is the owner of Ventura Spirits. He said, "quality is going to be very important.

And this isn't just about pumping out a commodity. Be protective over the reputation of this industry and these products as we grow them. " He also believes the demand in the U.S is strong and growing. "It's going to be a dance where we figure out, which products, at which price points and you know, which brands represent. I think the growers and everybody participating is trying to convey that."

Some of the growers toured local properties Sunday prior to the sessions and enjoyed tequila tastings.

(More details, video and photos will be added here later today.)