from the Director's Desk

Breanne Vandenberg

When your Farm News hits your mailbox, MCFB will have completed three of our four scheduled Coffee Talks. These events have allowed our members the opportunity to hear from the Merced County District Attorney and Sheriff’s Departments. We have been fortunate to have Sheriff Vern Warnke, District Attorney Nicole Silveira, Ag Crimes Investigator Jay Struble and Ag Crimes Detective Thomas Griffin in attendance to field questions and inform attendees of how landowners can better protect their properties.

We have covered several topics including Owner Applied Numbers (OAN), SmartWater, trespassing, drones and how to best protect properties. Each of these topics is beneficial for property owners to understand; however, the biggest take away is realizing how closely these two offices are now working in conjunction with one another. A much smoother transition of information is being shared between the two. If you call one ag detective and they cannot make it out, your chances of the other one responding are very high.

We have also increased our distribution of information to aid these departments. We have been fortunate that they have taken part in our Farm News, but they also send us details for our weekly e-newsletter. The weekly, electronic edition has allowed for quick dissemination of information regarding stolen equipment. Please update your email on file if you are not receiving our weekly e-newsletter.

We plan to schedule more for later in the year, but for now our last Coffee

Talk is scheduled for Thursday, March 30 at Joe Scoto’s Crocker Ranch. If you have the time, I strongly encourage you to attend. Event begins at 8am with coffee and donuts provided. Please call our office to RSVP or for the event address.

I write this as we continue to brace our county for another round of storms that, unfortunately, are projected to create additional flooding. This has proven the need to maintain an even balance between clean creeks and habitat. We can no longer allow for unnecessary growth which only creates additional trouble in times of crisis. My sincerest hope is that everything our communities have experienced is not forgotten. We know many tend to overlook these necessary actions when multi-year droughts occur, however that is the best time to execute. We are in continuous conversations on the matter and will work to ensure your troubles are not put to the side.

I hope to see many of you at our upcoming Annual Meeting on Friday, March 24. Please purchase your tickets through our Farm Bureau Store or by calling our office.