West Side Ag & Dairy Tab 2022

FARMING the Future Celebrating Our Ag & Dairy Industries

A Special Supplement to the West Side Index & Gustine Press-Standard Cover Photo by Dan Gomes

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

Proud to be a part of the West Side’s rich agricultural history!

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The Dyt family has implemented new innovations to keep their Crows Landing dairy thriving.

Celebrating hometown dairies Gustine FFA Reporter Garret Gomes talks innovations with local dairy men and women

By GARRET GOMES SPECIAL TO WESTSIDE CONNECT

For years, families all across our valley have continued to carry on traditions.

These may include events, celebrations, or holidays, but for many it means to carry on the long family tradition of operating a dairy. In California more than 1,200 dairies make up one of California’s most successful industries.

Here in Merced and Stanislaus counties more than 652 dairies makeup our communities according to US Farm Data.

In the FFA Creed, E.M. Tiffany wrote, “...achievements won from present and past generations of agriculturists,

in the promise of better days through better ways…” With new and advanced technology continuing to hit the market, we remember the advances this industry has already taken part in. These advances include robotic milkers which were created in 1992, and rumination mondering which monitors their digestive activity. These advanced technologies continue to progress and it certainly is exciting to see what the future of dairy farming will look like.

This past month I had the honor of interviewing Richard Dyt, the owner of Moonshine Dairy, in Crows Landing. Moonshine Dairy is home to nearly 2,000 active milking cows. The Moon-

shine Dairy milks cows three times each day. Richard and Jackie Dyt continued their family’s rich roots in the dairy industry, beginning in 1997 when they began operating the dairy. Dyt said both he and his wife are third generation dairy farmers and that his family started dairy farming in southern California, where his brother and sister in-law continue to farm.

Dyt has implemented some new technology for his herd at Moonshine Dairy. One of those advances includes SCR collars. These collars are like “Fit Bits, but for cows,” Dyt said. The SCR collars allow See DAIRIES | PAGE 3

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DAIRIES

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 for Dyt and his family to track the health of his herd, including heat detection, rumination, and heat stress.

Moonshine Dairy has also worked on installing integrated barn fans throughout the stalls to ensure the herd’s comfort throughout the summer. In the future, Dyt looks forward to investing in more technology like cow censoring that would allow him to better ensure the success and health of his herd. This technology would allow him to use cameras to monitor his herd through recognition sensors.

When asked what was the most difficult part of being a dairy farmer, he shared, “It seems like there’s something new everyday.”

Dyt said that the regulations and laws added to the industry have been one of the hardest parts. Dyt believes in being a progressive agriculturist but when so many reg-

ulations are implemented it’s challenging to stay informed on water, chemical, and air quality laws. He also talked about during the pandemic one of the biggest challenges he faced, and is continuing to face, is the challenge of being able to hire help and truck drivers on the dairy, and how it’s hard to find personal protection equipment like gloves, batteries, tires and miscellaneous supplies needed on the dairy.

Dyt and his family look forward to continuing the tradition of dairy farming for years to come.

Down the road, Darlene and Paul Lopes are keeping their dairy operations going with an eye towards new technology. Both are third generation dairy farmers in the Central Valley. They started operating their farm in 1995, and have been implementing advanced technology through the past years.

Darlene Lopes said their farms have introduced robotic feed pushers, which drive up and down the stalls ensuring the herd is constantly

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pushed up with feed. She also said they use a new method that consists of genomic testing. These tests allow for the Lopes family to choose quality heifers used for the reproduction of their cattle. These samples are taken from the flesh on the ear of the cattle and determine health, reproduction activity, and soundenesses. After determining their top line heifers they use the best bulls when breeding their dairy cattle.

In the future the Lopes family looks forward to working on implementing new technology with the help of their children who will become fourth generation dairy farmers.

With many advances in the dairy industry over the past few decades I am excited to continue to see this industry prosper and grow. I had the honor of speaking with dairy farmers all around our communities and look forward to learning more about their advancements and accomplishments within the dairy industry.

Feed & Seed

FARMING THE FUTURE

Dairy farms fight pollution, turn manure into cash

By LISA MCEWEN AG ALERT/CALIFORNIA FARM BUREAU FEDERATION

Managing manure is nothing new for dairy operators. After all, cows and their four-chambered stomachs are one of nature’s best examples of efficient digestion.

But these days, those bovine digestive systems are generating a new source of income for nearly 200 dairies in California.

At his River Ranch Farms in Hanford, Jack de Jong now counts on the thousands of gallons of milk his 5,600 Holstein cows produce each day and the thousands of pounds of manure they excrete. Each product is important to his bottom line.

While his milk is turned

into a variety of dairy products at the nearby Land O’ Lakes cooperative in Tulare, River Ranch Farms’ other commodity is flushed from its two milking barns. The cow droppings take a systematic journey across the 2,100-acre dairy. They go from a manure separator to a weeping wall and eventually land in a large, rubbercovered anaerobic digester.

Bacteria break down the manure solids, and emissions that would normally escape into the atmosphere are captured. The biogas byproduct, methane, is an energy-rich fuel. It is deposited in a pipeline that runs beneath the dairy to a biogas cleaning hub a few miles away.

The hub, funded in part

by a grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture Dairy Digester Research and Development Program, is owned by a partnership of dairies and Maas Energy Works, a digester developer, operating as Lakeside Pipeline LLC. It is already collecting methane from five dairies and can accommodate three more, for a total of 33,500 cows, de Jong said.

“Historically, I’ve entertained the idea of making money from manure, and initially, I was not excited,” de Jong said. “There has been hesitancy getting to this point, but as understanding of the situation increases, so does the comfort level.”

See MANURE | PAGE 4

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MANURE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 The gas leaves the digester at about 65% to 67% methane, but once it cycles through the hub, methane percentage reaches 98%, de Jong said.

The methane is purchased

by Southern California Gas Co. It enters its pipeline and is used to power a variety of renewable natural gas projects such as fueling fleets of trucks or buses. Carbon credits earned by the dairies are shared by the gas company and Maas Energy Works.

Managing manure has taken on greater urgency in the past several years with passage of Senate Bill 1383, legislation in 2016 aimed at curbing pollution from methane. As a result, the California Air Resources Board implemented strategies to reduce emissions from dairy manure by 40% by 2030.

To accomplish this, the state has incentivized the process of capturing manure’s release of methane with competitive grants through its dairy digester research effort and its Alternative Manure Management Program. These efforts recently gained traction as important steps in battling climate change and providing business opportunities for dairy operators.

“The state grant process has used the carrot versus the stick principle to encourage

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022 us to use the technology available,” de Jong said. “I praise the state for doing that. By monetizing this, dairymen can get in at a lower cost and risk in a very quick time period.”

Scott Harrison, CEO of Figure 8 Environmental of Bakersfield, hosted a seminar titled “Monetizing Manure,” at the recent World Ag Expo in Tulare. Harrison’s firm designs, builds and manages manure processing systems for dairies. He encouraged dairies to think about how managing manure can help them comply with environmental, nutrient and wastewater regulations.

“If you can imagine what’s possible and see the bigger picture, there is a lot of value in manure,” he said. “Manure is a profit powerhouse.”

There are many other uses for manure. For years dairy farmers have been collecting it, storing it and using it as a renewable fertilizer. Operators of flush dairies can address operating costs with manure by using the wastewater to irrigate silage crops or almonds. When properly treated and mixed with well water, this saves on groundwater pumping costs and can address Sustainable Groundwater Management Act regulations.

Manure can also be upcycled into clean, new bedding for animals through a composting process. Some dairy operators such as de Jong

Dairy digesters prevent greenhouse gases like methane formed in lagoons from reaching the atmosphere.

Anaerobic digesters stop gases from escaping because the lagoon’s surface is covered and the gases trapped inside.

Once trapped, they can be used for a variety of purposes including electricity and vehicle fuel.

IMAGE COURTESY OF DAIRY CARES

also sell this compost to other farmers. Savings in these areas can allow dairies to maintain their herd sizes in light of pending SGMA restrictions.

“Drying of separated manure solids used to be a burden that increased our cost of business,” he said. Now that has been helped by compost sales.

Frank Mitloehner, director of the Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Awareness Center at the University of California, Davis, says 4% to 5% of all greenhouse gases are from agriculture “and dairy is the largest contributor within agriculture.”

But now there are 185

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methane-reducing digesters listed in the state, according to the nonprofit organization Dairy Cares. There are also more than 300 operating in the nation, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“I anticipate this technology growing across the United States,” Mitloehner said. “California leads the nation, maybe the world, in this field.”

Each dairy is different and requires a tailored approach to its manure management.

To that end, Mitloehner encouraged farmers to do their homework and understand the design and operation of

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Program. Previous projects included mechanical solidsliquid separation with drying, conversion of flush systems to scrape with dry manure storage or composting, and compost pack barns.

Applications for the program are open through May, with CDFA working in partnership with UC Cooperative Extension to assist farmers needing help in the application process.

“This is not only climate smart, healthy agriculture, but it is good for the bottom line,” said UCCE dairy farm advisor Betsy Karle. “The opportunity is here.”

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their manure-management systems. He said many dairy farmers eventually hire out for this portion of their operations.

To encourage California’s smaller dairies—for which a digester may not be feasible— to reduce methane output, the state provides financial assistance for farm families as they reduce emissions through a variety of technologies and strategies.

A total of 114 projects have been awarded grants to date.

For fiscal year 2021-2022, the state will be awarding $32 million in grants, with priority given to the Alternative Manure Management

FARMING THE FUTURE 2022 | 5

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Documentary explores origins of whole orchard recycling Almond Board of California SPECIAL TO WESTSIDE CONNECT

Brent Holtz grew up on the farm his grandfather bought in the 1940s, six miles north of Modesto at the time. By the 1970s, the land was on the urban edge of the city, surrounded by houses.

Holtz’s family had to farm differently, and they could no longer burn their brush. Holtz was a UC Berkeley plant pathology graduate student in the late ‘80s. “I felt a responsibility to help my family find a solution for ag burning,” he says now.

One idea was to turn clippings, brush and even whole trees into wood chips and recycle them into the soil. Holtz and his father first tried it with garden clippings, grinding prunings into wood chips and watching the rich mulch help their trees. Holtz expanded to a small scientific trial in his own orchard, then to a full-blown commercial trial recycling almond trees into the soil just before replanting a new orchard.

“I have to admit, I was nervous,” Holtz says. He funded some of the work from his own pocket. Over 13 years, he and other researchers examined the data. “We saw increased soil organic matter, we saw increased water holding capacity, we saw less water stress, and ultimately – what growers want to know the most – we saw increased yields with Whole Orchard Recycling.”

The inspiring story of Brent Holtz’s journey to help his family, his industry and his community is the subject of a six-minute documentary produced by the Almond Board of California (ABC) called, “RESILIENCE: The Whole Orchard Recycling Origin Story.”

It’s available on YouTube and shows how the power of an idea can change and benefit an entire industry and even the planet. Whole Orchard Recycling (WOR) eliminates

burning and keeps carbon in the ground, a goal that world leaders established as part of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference agreement.

The goal of the short film is to inspire even more growers to recycle their orchards when replanting and to reassure them that there is a long, thorough history of research and scientific trials proving both the value and the benefits of WOR for them and their communities.

Holtz was the principal investigator on the first WOR project – research conducted

by UC Cooperative Extension that was initially funded and supported by ABC and later by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It identified significant advantages of WOR to the soil, crop yields and air quality.

Thanks to Holtz’s vision and dedication to research, WOR has become a widely-adopted best practice among California almond growers. San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District

data shows that since 2018, in the San Joaquin Valley alone, more than 500 growers have recycled 26,000-plus acres and diverted nearly 750,000 tons of wood from being burned.

Holtz is now the UC Cooperative Extension County Director and Farm Advisor for San Joaquin County. He says he hopes his story and his research will inspire more WOR and show growers how researchers and growers are on the same team with the same goals – to help almond growers produce more sustainable, better yields.

“My grandfather would be very proud of the solution that came from his farm and his grandson,” Holtz says in the film. “I owe the growers who believed in me and recycled their orchards a great debt and I thank you very much.”

A Whole Orchard Recycling Grower Guide, a “How To” video featuring Holtz, and much more information can be found at Almonds.com/ WOR.

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Brent Holtz’s venture into orchard recycling is the subject of a sixminute documentary produced by the Almond Board of California called, “RESILIENCE: The Whole Orchard Recycling Origin Story.”

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The film crew captures footage of Brent Holtz for the documentary “RESILIENCE: The Whole Orchard Recycling Origin Story.”

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Reducing water use Almonds require 1/3 less water to grow than in 2002; effort underway to cut water another 20% by 2025

By DENNIS WYATT WESTSIDE CONNECT

Almonds — like everything else we eat — require water to grow.

During the last drought almonds became the target of ire from those who believe agriculture wantonly wastes water with almonds being the No. 1 culprit given almond orchards account for 8 percent of California’s irrigated water.

Almonds constitute the largest acreage in the state and as such they are a highly visible target compared to a number of other crops planted in lesser numbers of acres that are ranked lower in food value per gallon of water used.

California is the leading world producer— and exporter — of almonds. Almonds ranked as the No.2 crop in dollar value behind dairy ($7.47 billion) in 2020 coming in at $5.62 billion out of a statewide farm production valued at $49.1 billion.

Grapes were third at $4.48 billion.

Almonds are the state’s

leading farm export in 2020.

The 2 billion tons of almonds exported made their way to more than 100 countries with India leading the way at 362 million pounds. India is the first country outside of the United States to consume more than 300 million pounds of almonds a year.

Almonds are highly valued in other lands — and in the United States — for being a healthy and nutrient dense food source. That includes high levels of protein and vitamins as well as antioxidants.

Two studies conducted during the last California drought that ended in 2018 tried to put water use of various crops in context.

Research by the Journal of Ecological Indicators in 2017 was the subject of a published report by the Food Revolution Network on 43 crops grown in California. Almonds came in 43rd out of the 43 crops examined in terms of consuming the most water to grow.

That use of water was offset by studies that showed the nutritional value of the

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food created — in this case almonds — was the third highest among the 43 crops.

Heavy water users that ranked near almonds such as pistachios, walnuts, and cashews were also among the crops with the highest nutrient value.

Those crops that were also high in nutrients like the almond but lower in water use were spinach, raspberries, broccoli, artichokes, and kiwi fruit.

Another study by Earth Sciences notes the water it took to grow typical crops. The list started with 13.8 gallons to grow an orange. It then dropped down to 5.9 gallons for a head of broccoli, 4.9 gallons for a walnut, 3.3 gallons for a tomato, 1.1 gallon for an almond, 0.75 gallons for a pistachio, and 0.4 gallons for a strawberry.

Research by the University of California verified water use to grow an almond is a third less today than it was in the 1990s. Water use for all irrigated crops have dropped during the time frame but

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Almonds constitute the largest acreage in the state and account for 8 percent of California’s irrigated water. none as substantial as that needed to grow nuts including almonds.

The Almond Board of California — an umbrella group for almond growers — is committed to reducing the amount of water used to grow a pound of almonds by 20 percent by the end of 2025.

So far California — one of only five places on earth with a Mediterranean climate suited to grow almonds as well as being the top producer by far — has 82 percent of its almond orchards employing efficient micro-irrigation methods. That’s the reason behind the 33 percent reduction in water use.

The Almond Board has

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funded 239 water research projects so far.

The projects focus on how much, when and where water should be used on almond trees.

New remote sensing technology can quantify how much water almond need in real time.

They function as Fitbits for trees. As such they are able to tell growers precisely when they need to irrigate to optimize tree yields, maximize tree health and minimize water use. As such it also reduces costs given water — whether it is obtained from an irrigation district or pumped form the ground using expensive PG&E electricity — has a

major negative impact on a farm’s bottom line.

On the flip side, there are now concerns that the shift from flood irrigation and even sprinkler irrigation to precise drip irrigation may have a significant impact on the ability to recharge aquifers that other farms, rural residents, and even cities depend on.

It is why there are studies being done to see whether deliberately flooding orchards with excess storm runoff during the rainy season can effectively replenish groundwater without hurting the health of trees or negatively impacting yields.

See WATER | PAGE 8

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WATER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Where the water is placed in proximity to roots is also part of the equation of reducing water use.

The drive to reduce water consumption for every almond grown is part of an overall sustainability effort that in the long haul also helps reduce grower costs.

Other efforts include orchard recycling where entire trees at the end of their productive lives are grounded up and incorporated into the soil, sugar and antioxidant extraction from almond shells for use in nutraceutical bars and dietary supplements, and shells being added to postconsumer recycled plastics for strength, heat stability and color.

Research also focuses on food values of almonds.

An eight-week study of 73 college students at the University of California at Merced demonstrates that incor-

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022 porating almond snacks into the daily diets of those that tend to skip breakfasts resulted in a smaller decline in good cholesterol levels and resulted in lower insulin resistance. The consumption of almonds was compared with eating crackers.

Of the 16 primary California counties that grow almonds San Joaquin County ranks sixth behind Fresno in the No. 1 spot followed by Kern, Stanislaus, Madera, and Merced.

Stanislaus had 217,646 acres planted in almonds in 2020 that produced a crop valued at $3.476 billion.

Merced County’s almond production had a gross value of $470,603,000 in 2020.

There are 7,600 almond farms in California with 90 percent of them family owned. Many are owned by third and fourth generation farmers.

Almost 70 percent of California’s almond farms consist of 100 acres or less.

Federal grants available to assist military veteran, underserved farmers STAFF REPORTS WESTSIDE CONNECT

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced it has approximately $35 million in available funding to community-based and nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and tribal entities that help historically underserved and veteran farmers and ranchers own and operate successful farms.

Funding is made through the USDA’s Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (also known as the 2501 Program). The 2501 Program is administered by the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement.

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for the beginning farmer, the young farmer, the specialty crop grower to access and make use of USDA programs—and even more so for farmers of color who were denied access because of historical discrimination in farm programs,” said OPPE Director Lisa Ramirez. “2501 funding helps historically underserved groups more fully access and participate in USDA programs and services.”

For more than 30 years, and in partnership with organizations nationwide, the 2501 Program has helped reach historically underserved farmers and ranchers who have experienced barriers to service due to racial or ethnic prejudice. The 2014 Farm Bill expanded the program to include assistance to veteran farmers and ranchers.

The 2018 Farm Bill increased

mandatory funding for the program through fiscal year 2023. With 2501 funding, organizations conduct education, training, farming demonstrations, and conferences on farming and agribusiness, and increase access to USDA’s programs and services.

The 2501 Program has five priority areas: • Assist socially disadvantaged or veteran farmers and ranchers in owning and operating successful farms and ranches; • Improve participation among socially disadvantaged or veteran farmers and ranchers in USDA programs; • Build relationships between current and prospective farmers and ranchers who are socially disadvantaged or veterans and USDA’s local, state, regional, and National offices; • Introduce agriculture-

related information to socially disadvantaged or veteran farmers and ranchers through innovative training and technical assistance techniques; • Introduce agricultural education targeting youth and beginning socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers and ranchers in rural and persistent poverty communities.

Since 2010, the 2501 program has awarded 563 grants totaling more than $158 million.

The 2501 Program has two upcoming webinars that will present information about applying for the grants. The webinars are scheduled for: Session 1: March 30, 2022, at 2 p.m. EDT – Register at: https://tinyurl.com/5cstcujb Session 2: May 4, 2022, at 2 p.m. EDT – Register at: https://tinyurl.com/4t9cv272

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FARMING THE FUTURE

New precision ag project would help farmers measure plant moisture

By LORENA ANDERSON UC. MERCED

The base robot for the new plant-moisture-measuring system researchers are developing will navigate rows of crops to reach individual leaves and stems.

One of the biggest challenges in managing crops, especially in large fields, is knowing how much water each section of a field needs. Determining that accurately is a cumbersome process that requires people to hand-pluck individual leaves from plants, put them in pressure chambers and apply air pressure to see when water begins to leak from the leaf stems.

That kind of testing is time consuming and means that farmers can only reach so many areas of a field each day and cannot test as frequently as they should.

Computer Science and Engineering Chair Professor Stefano Carpin, Environmental Engineering Professor Joshua Viers and professors Konstantinos Karydis and Amit K. RoyChowdhury at UC Riverside

recently received a more than $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the National Science Foundation’s National Robotics Initiative to address these challenges.

They are developing a robotic pressure chamber that can harvest its own sample leaves and test them on site, immediately, to provide the freshest data. The system will work to gather data even in large fields, and over a period of time rather than just providing a snapshot.

Having field data that’s updated frequently can help farmers plan irrigation frequency and conserve water, optimize the time and effort spent by crop specialists, and help decrease some of the costs in the food-production chain.

Current measuring techniques involve collecting leaf samples and transporting all of them to an off-site location, where testers can use very accurate, expensive pressure chambers; and sampling and analyzing leaf samples in the field using hand-held pressure chambers, Karydis explained.

In the first category, leaf samples can get mixed up, making it impossible to track them back to the specific areas of the field they came from, Karydis said.

“In addition, the properties of the leaf might vary given the time elapsed between being sampled and being analyzed, which in turn may yield misleading results,” he said.

Hand-held instruments in the field can be less accurate, but testing can be done multiple times with different leaves from the same plants, but this method is time- and labor-intensive, and must be undertaken by specially trained personnel, he said.

“If we’re going to use precision agriculture, we need the most accurate information-gathering systems we can make,” Carpin said.

He has already worked with colleagues at UCs Davis and Berkeley to create the Robot-Assisted Precision Irrigation Delivery (RAPID) system, which travels along rows of crops adjusting irrigation flows according to sensor data that tells the ro-

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bot precisely what’s needed for each plant.

They’ll use the same base robot as RAPID, but equip it with GPS and a pressure chamber being designed by the researchers at Riverside, and pair it with drones that can survey the fields and direct the robot to areas of interest.

“Using this process, farmSee PROJECT | PAGE 10

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UC Merced researchers are developing a ro-botic pressure chamber that can harvest its own sample leaves and test them on site, immediately, to provide the freshest data.

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PROJECT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 ers could survey plants all day long, even in large fields,” Carpin said.

The four-year project will support graduate students as well as summer research opportunities for undergraduates. The project has four phases: development of the chamber; developing machine-vision so the robot can “see” the water coming from the leaf stems; coordinating multiple robots — in the air and on the ground; and evaluation.

The researchers plan to have the first set of automated pressure chamber prototypes fabricated by Spring 2021, and to evaluate their performance and refine designs in controlled settings over Spring and Summer 2021. They expect to have a completed setup by Winter 2022 so they can begin controlled field testing.

“We have to be quick about it because if we miss a peak growing season, we have to wait another nine months for the next one,” Carpin said. “We’d like to be able to start testing next summer and test every summer, and we need to be able to maximize the tests.”

When all of the compo-

nents have been designed, the designs and code will be open source, and all the data collected during the project will be made available to the scientific community, the researchers wrote in their proposal.

The project came about after Carpin and Viers, director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at UC Merced, had been talking with area farmers about the challenges of growing almonds and grapes.

Professors Karydis and Amit K. Roy-Chowdhury had been hearing the same challenges from citrus and avocado growers in the Riverside area, so the four partnered up.

“This research partnership with UC Riverside will advance our capabilities in precision food systems broadly, and most importantly contribute to the presence of UC Merced and CITRIS in the emerging San Joaquin Valley ag-food-tech sector,” Viers said.

“California agriculture presents a challenge in terms of scalability,” Carpin said, “but this an exciting collaboration because we’ll get to develop a system that will work on different kinds of crops.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

FARMING THE FUTURE

Natural habitat maximizes benefits of birds for farmers, food safety and conservation

By KAT KERLIN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

A supportive environment can bring out the best in an individual — even for a bird.

After an E.coli outbreak in 2006 devastated the spinach industry, farmers were pressured to remove natural habitat to keep wildlife — and the foodborne pathogens they can sometimes carry — from visiting crops. A study published this year from the University of California, Davis, shows that farms with surrounding natural habitat experience the most benefits from birds, including less crop damage and lower foodsafety risks.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, was conducted at 21 strawberry fields along California’s Central Coast. It found that birds were more likely to carry pathogens and eat berries without surrounding natural habitat.

The authors said a better

See BIRDS | PAGE 11

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A recent study found that most bird species brought both costs and benefits to farms, de-pending on how the landscape was managed.

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FARMING THE FUTURE 2022 | 11

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

BIRDS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 understanding of the interplay of farming practices, the landscape, and the roles birds play in ecosystems can help growers make the most out of wild birds near their fields.

“Bird communities respond to changes in the landscape,” said lead author Elissa Olimpi, a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at the time of the study. “As birds shift in response to management, so do the costs and benefits they provide.”

The study looked at how different farming practices influenced the costs and benefits that wild birds provided on the strawberry farms.

The scientists combined nearly 300 bird surveys and the molecular analyses of more than 1,000 fecal samples from 55 bird species to determine which birds ate pests, beneficial insects and crops, and carried foodborne pathogens.

They also ranked birds to see which were more likely to bring benefits or costs to farmlands. Barn swallows, for instance, got a “gold star” in the study, Olimpi said. Their mud nests are commonly seen clinging to the underside of barn eaves, from which they fly out to swoop over fields, foraging on insects.

But rather than resulting in a list of “good” and “bad” birds, the study found that most bird species brought both costs and benefits to farms, depending on how the landscape was managed.

The presence of natural habitat

was the single most important driver differentiating a farm where wild birds brought more benefits than harm.

“Nature is messy, and birds are complex,” Olimpi said. “The best we can do is understand how to take advantage of the benefits while reducing the harms. Growers will tell you it’s impossible to keep birds off your farm — you can’t do that and don’t want to from a conservation perspective. So how can we take advantage of the services birds provide?”

The study is one of several publications from UC Davis Professor Daniel Karp’s lab highlighting the environmental, agricultural, and food safety impacts of conserving bird habitat around farms. A related study in 2020 found that farms with natural habitat attracted more insect-eating birds — and fewer strawberry-eating birds — so that farmers experience less berry damage on farms with more habitat nearby. Such habitats also bring greater numbers of bird species to the landscape.

“All together, these studies suggest that farming landscapes with natural habitat tend to be good for conservation, farmers, and public health,” said Karp.

Additional co-authors of this study include Karina Garcia and David Gonthier of University of Kentucky, Claire Kremen of UC Berkeley and the University of British Columbia, William E. Snyder of University of Georgia, and Erin Wilson-Rankin of UC Riverside.

The research was funded by the USDA and UC Davis Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology.

209.854.1000

FARMING THE FUTURE

Automation key to addressing agriculture demand and population growth

By PAWAN NAIDU WESTSIDE CONNECT

Agriculture has come a long way since humans first started harvesting about 12,000 years ago, but we are now at a turning point. And with a global population projection of 9.7 billion people by 2050, agricultural production will need to increase by at least 70 percent from current levels to serve nutritional trends. Now more than ever, the pressure on farmers to produce nutritious products is putting our planet’s health under even more stress.

New advancements in technologies ranging from robotics and drones to computer vision software have completely transformed modern agriculture. Farmers now have access to tools that will help them meet the demands of our world’s ever-increasing population.

A report by the California Department of Food and Agriculture found that more and more farmers are adopting automation to bridge the

See AUTOMATION | PAGE 12

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AUTOMATION

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 growing labor gap and ensuring their crops are picked in time.

“One of the main aims of the report was to take a comprehensive look at the entire harvest ecosystem and provide a quantitative look to the Western Growers membership at how much harvest innovation is impacting their operations across fresh products for specialty crops, where the most progress is occurring, and why,” says Western Growers Vice President of Innovation Walt Duflock. “Second, we wanted to provide an in-depth view of the innovators who are doing the heavy lifting by crop type, so growers would know who to contact based on the crops they grow.”

Among the findings of the report were: 65 percent of participating growers have invested in automation over the past three years The average annual spend on automation was $350,000-

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022 $400,000 per grower Spending occurred in preharvest and harvest assist activities, including wedding, thinning, harvesting platforms and autonomous ground vehicles. It is anticipated that 30-60 percent of these activities will be automated by 2025.

Harvest automation itself remains limited because of the technical difficulties in replicating the human hand to harvest delicate crops. It is anticipated that 20 percent of harvest activities will be automated by 2025.

The following are examples of technologies being used in farm automation: HARVEST AUTOMATION Harvesting fruits and vegetables have always proven to be a difficult problem to automate. Harvest robots must be gentle with the produce to avoid bruising and damage. Agrobot has successfully developed the first robot for gently harvesting strawberries, no matter where and how they are grown. From a flexible mobile platform, up to 24 robotics manipulators

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Autonomous tractors can be controlled remotely or even preprogrammed to give full autonomy to a producer. work together to pick the fruit which meets the farmer’s quality standard.

Another company, Abundant Robotics, is the world’s first commercial robotic apple harvest. Their machines handle fragile fruits by using a vacuum instead of any claw or hand-like graspers to pull apples from the branch.

AUTONOMOUS TRACTORS Autonomous tractors can be controlled remotely or even pre-programmed to give full autonomy to a producer.

Rabbit Tractor’s autonomous tractor delivers value

to row crop farmers not just through a reduction in labor costs, but through increased efficiency across operations and increased yield. Tractor automation kits are even being developed by Bear Flag Robotics that makes automation more accessible for farmers by affordably retrofitting existing tractors with cutting edge driverless technology and implementing control.

SEEDING AND WEEDING Robotics developed for seeding and weeding can target specific crop areas. In seeding, this can easily reduce

labor and mundane tasks on the farm. Weeding robotics can be incredibly accurate and reduce pesticide usage by 90 percent with computer vision. Blue River Technology employs computer vision and robotics technologies to precisely spray herbicides only where needed and with exactly what’s needed. This gives farmers a new way to control and prevent herbicide-resistant weeds. ecoRobotix is another company that produces a weeding robot. This is the first ever completely autonomous machine for a more ecological and economical weeding of row crows, meadows and intercropping cultures.

DRONES Drones can be used to monitor conditions remotely and even apply fertilizers, pesticides, and other treatments from above. They can also quickly and cost-effectively identify problem areas with imagery and infrared analysis to help farmers diagnose issues early on. American Robotics is developing a fully autonomous “Robot-as-aservice” with an autonomous

drone, base station, and analytics platform that provides insights to growers at resolutions, frequencies, and speeds never before possible.

Farm automation practices can make agriculture more profitable while also reducing the ecological footprint of farming at the same time.

Site-specific application software can reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizer used while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

We are only at the early stages of farm automation technology, but it will be able to transform agriculture. It offers a path towards sustainable and more efficient agriculture by advancements of technologies, production systems and software. Every year, automation technology becomes more sophisticated, and what was cutting-edge just a few years ago will become commonplace and costeffective soon. The human element will always be a fundamental aspect of managing a farm, but fully autonomous vehicles and farm equipment are coming.

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FARMING THE FUTURE 2022 | 13

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

STANISLAUS COUNTY TOP CROPS

Ag values decline in wake of pandemic challenges

By PAWAN NAIDU WESTSIDE CONNECT

Stanislaus County agriculture had to deal with the ramifications of the pandemic last year and it was reflected in the annual agricultural report for 2020. The county experienced a slow down in the farming economy.

The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors were presented with the Agricultural Report for 2020 in September 2021, which showed that the value of agricultural commodities produced in the county in the previous year decreased three percent from 2019 to 2020, going from $3,598,404,000 to $3,476,093,000. According to Agriculture Commission Kamaljit Bagri office, this past year brought unprecedented challenges to the agriculture industry.

“This year’s report reflects a historic pandemic year that changed markets suddenly and dramatically and created numerous challenges along the entire production chain. As lockdown orders went into effect, consumers changed eating habits as schools and restaurants closed.” Bagri said, “Locally, after emerging from a dry

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Corn (Silage) winter, the summer dragged into a historic fire season that burned significant rangeland on the Westside of the county in the 47-day SCU Lightning Complex fire. Additionally, we experienced a dry fall that saw little rain into mid-December.”

The report however, did point out some bright spots during the year.

“A few bright spots

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emerged despite these factors, such as the increase in value of livestock products including eggs and dairy, and increases in yield and value of freestone peaches, cherries and sweet potatoes.

Mirroring statewide trends were decreases in dairy cattle numbers, as well as lessened field crop, processing tomato and wine grape acreage,” the report said.

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Almonds remained the No. 1 crop in Stanislaus County in 2020 according to the report with a value of $1,123,961,000 which was a $105 million decrease from 2019. Almonds make up a smaller percentage of the county’s total commodity value than it did last year. In 2019, almonds represented 34 percent of the county’s total commodity value; in

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Turkeys 2020, almonds accounted for 32 percent.

The second-highest valued commodity in 2020 was milk and it contributed even more value than it did in 2019. It was an increase in value by $128 million compared to last year. Milk accounts for 21 percent of the county’s total commodity value, while it accounted for 17 percent last year.

Tomato Chickens came in at No. 3, as it did last year and were valued at $342,099,000 — a decrease of over $23 million.

The fourth-ranked commodity in 2020 were cattle and calves, which account for six percent of total commodity value which was the same as 2019. This commodity saw See TOP CROPS | PAGE 14

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TOP CROPS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 an increase of $3 million from last year.

Nursery, vines, and fruit and nut trees made the top 10 list at No. 5, followed by silage and walnuts at sixth and seventh. The three commodities combined account for 11 percent of the county’s total commodity value. All three experienced a loss compared to 2019 with silage being the most significant at $34 million.

Unlike almond production, No. 8 on the list almond pollination saw an increase compared to last year. Pollination was valued at $$88,800,000 in 2020, increasing by $5 million, and represented three percent of the total commodity value.

Turkeys decreased by $6 million in 2020 but still came in at No. 9 on the list, while tomatoes replaced melons at No. 10 and entered the top 10 with a total value of $37,991,000.

As a whole, the top 10 commodities in Stanislaus County represent 86 percent of the county’s total production value. When combined with the other 220 commodities

produced in Stanislaus County, the area’s agricultural production ranks higher than 20 states.

Stanislaus County also issued 4,643 export certificates to 99 countries in 2020, which are issued to certify that the commodity meets the plant cleanliness requirements of the importing country. The top 10 countries that Stanislaus County exported commodities to are: Korea (949 certificates), Japan (883), India (789), Turkey (626), Germany (598), United Arab Emirates (586), China (551), Spain (547), Vietnam (455) and the Italy (264).

Of those certificates, 60 percent were for almonds, 25 percent for walnuts, 10 percent for seed, one percent for fruit, one percent for spices and all other combined commodities accounted for the remaining three percent.

It’s all thanks to the farmers in Stanislaus County, where there were 3,621 farms in 2020. Of those, 94 percent were family farms and 64 percent were orchard farms.

They are made up of 722,546 acres with an average of 200 acres per farm. The largest farm in Stanislaus County is 850 acres, and the smallest is .02 acres. The average age of a Stanislaus County farmer is 59.6 years.

Additional funding is going to the Department of Water Resources, State Water Resources Control Board and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

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State funding for drought emergency gets boost

By SABRA STAFFORD WESTSIDE CONNECT

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced an additional $22.5 million in funds to respond to the ongoing drought emergency, as California recorded the driest January and February in more than

100 years of records in the Sierra Nevada.

The additional $22.5 million allocation includes more funding for the Department of Water Resources, State Water Resources Control Board and the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

More than a third of the money

– $8.25 million – will be used to increase outreach efforts to educate Californians on water conservation measures and practices.

“These investments continue to provide crucial drought support

See FUNDING | PAGE 16

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FARMING THE FUTURE 2022 | 15

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

MERCED COUNTY TOP CROPS

Dairy continues dominance as county’s top commodity

By ANGELINA MARTIN Merced County agriculture pulled in nearly $3.5 billion of gross production value last year according to a report released last month, up $240 million from 2019 thanks to a wide variety of successful commodities ranging from crops to livestock.

The Merced County Department of Agriculture report was released last month and reflects a gross value of $3,401,610,000 for the area’s agriculture commodities, up 7% from the previous year’s total. The report also summarizes the county’s total acreage and top-producing commodities.

Though the report does show an increase in gross value for agriculture, Merced County Agricultural Commissioner David Robinson said it’s not necessarily indicative of farmers’ profits — or losses. The report reflects an increase thanks to higher agriculture prices, he said, which farmers also experienced when paying for tools, fuel, protective equipment and more in order to produce their commodities.

“Farmers’ costs went up

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during COVID,” Robinson said. “They could have made less money this year even though the crop report shows an increase in value.”

The report is generated annually as part of state law, with legislators utilizing the document when deciding on regulations.

Realtors, bankers and prospective incoming farmers are all interested in the data,

Robinson said, but it also allows counties to see where they rank compared to their neighbors.

The top 10 commodities in Merced County in 2020 were: dairy, almonds, chickens, sweet potatoes, cattle/ calves, tomatoes, corn (silage), miscellaneous vegetables, nursery products and eggs.

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Production of the region’s milk increased by 15% in 2020, and its price increased by $2.30 since last year.

Almonds held steady as the second leading commodity with a gross production value of $470,603,000, which is a 12% increase from

Sweet Potatoes

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Nursery Products 2019. Acreage increased to 103,277, but value prices are down 26% from 2019.

Chickens rose to the number three position with a gross production value of $318,522,000 for 2020.

Number of heads increased by 10,421,512 from 2019 and increased $0.03 per value unit.

Although the value and production of milk in-

Eggs creased in 2020, cattle and calves moved down two spots to number five with a gross production value of $262,187,000 — a decrease of 13% from 2019. Herd size increased by 62,684, but CWT value decreased by 23%.

“Dairy is so variable, and See TOP CROPS | PAGE 16

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TOP CROPS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 it has a tough time with production costs. Their value can go way down and they lose a whole lot of money,” Robinson said.

“Dairy numbers were up this year, but does that mean the dairymen made good money? Not necessarily.”

The miscellaneous vegetable category moved up three spots to the eighth place. The acreage remained about the same, but the overall value increased by $34,302,000 from 2019. Sweet potatoes moved up to the number four commodity in Merced County, bringing in $269,895,000 for the value total. Production in 2020 increased by 107 cartons per acre and the industry saw prices remain consistent from 2019.

Pima cotton decreased by 6,098 acres, but remained in the thirteenth

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

spot commodity. The price rose to $616.90 per 500-pound bale, which is a 13% increase from 2019.

According to Robinson, drought has already made an impact on the most recent 2020 report and its effects will surely be visible in the next report containing data from 2021.

In 2020, the amount of field crop acreage dropped along with precipitation numbers as farmers diverted water to more valuable crops.

“That matches up with what we hear and expect; if you have a limited amount of water and you have almonds and field crops, you’re going to divert your water to the higher value crop,” Robinson said. “We are seeing field crop acreages start to fall, and it will be interesting to see in the 2021 report if that trend continues. I expect that it will.”

To view the 2020 agricultural report, visit www. mercedfarmbureau.org.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 to communities impacted around the state,” wrote Chief Deputy Finance Director Erika Li in a letter to Legislative budget and appropriations leaders.

The funds requested are part of a comprehensive effort to increase water conservation. Earlier this month, the state launched new video ads to encourage Californians to reduce outdoor watering.

On March 1, the survey of the state’s snowpack showed levels were dropping sharply after robust storms in December. Current snowpack readings are about one-third below average. The Department of Water Resources is analyzing the latest snowpack data and has indicated it may revise its current forecast for State Water Project deliveries in 2022.

The Central California irrigation district has a tier two system for allocating water to farmers. Those farmers who

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An increase in drought funding will partially focus on spreading conservation efforts among the general public. operate on tier one land will receive 2.5 acre feet/gross acre (815,000 gallons) of water at a cost of $20 per acre foot. There will be no district water available for tier two lands, however CCID will transport private well water to those who have access to wells that can be pumped into their canals. Tier two lands are allocated 0.5 acre feet/gross acre (163,000 gallons) of water at a price of $50 per acre foot These initial allocations can change as there are updates in the hydrology report.

“We are constantly review-

ing water supply conditions across the state,” said CCID general manager Jarrett Martin. “We sent out our initial allocation to our growers and will make any updates as necessary.”

Del Puerto water district’s farmers got more unfortunate news, because the district will not be able to allocate any water to them this water year.

“Unfortunately we will not be able to allocate any water to our farmers this year,” said Del Puerto general manager Anthea Hanson. “Del Puerto has some unique factors that allow us to provide less water

to farmers, and in some years like this one, provide none.”

With the infusion of additional state budget funds, the Save Our Water campaign is gearing up to reach Californians with water-saving tips via social media and other digital advertising, geotargeting counties with high water use. The campaign also is securing partnerships with retailers and other organizations to urge Californians to reduce water use in the immediate term and also make permanent changes to landscaping to build resilience in the long-term.

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FARMING THE FUTURE 2022 | 17

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

Making the Valley affordable again

By JOSH HARDER CENTRAL VALLEY CONGRESPERSON

Growing up in the Central Valley, it felt affordable to live, work, and raise a family in our community. My Dad ran a small business.

My mom volunteered and helped out in Church. Money certainly didn’t grow on trees but people made enough to get by and helped each other out when they needed it.

But right now I’m worried that the Valley economy of my childhood isn’t coming back. The cost of living in the Valley is skyrocketing. Housing, groceries, gas, you name it and prices are going up. It’s getting more and more difficult to run a business and raise a family here, especially if you’re in the agriculture or dairy industry.

Take the cost of gas - California has the highest prices in the nation. Add to that the growing cost of housing. Statewide, home prices have risen by more than two thirds in the last ten years.

Put prescription drugs on top of that. Americans now pay an average of $1,200 a year for their prescription drugs, more than anyone else in the world. And of course, add the drought and the high cost of fertilizer and feed right now , and you have the recipe for

a tough environment to live and run a businesses.

If it feels like everything is more expensive than it used to be, that’s because it actually is. Rising prices across the board put our whole community in danger. If we can’t live, work, and raise our families here in the Valley, I don’t know what we become.

So right now, I’m laser focused on getting costs down while delivering good paying jobs so we can keep our Valley - in my humble opinion - the best place in the world to live and raise a family.

To get costs back down and make sure our businesses are succeeding, I’m laser focused on three things: 1) Getting the supply chain under control so we can ship out our commodities and bring home our goods 2) Bringing the price of gas down to Earth by pushing Sacramento and Washington to lower their out of control gas taxes. 3) Building new water storage projects so everyone has the water they need each season.

FIXING OUR SUPPLY CHAIN I know the supply chain crisis is crushing our farmers and ranchers as they try to ship their commodities around the globe. At the same time, it’s making it more expensive to buy everything our families need.

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Right now, we have ships the size of football fields waiting weeks to get their goods off the boat while truckers are spending hours each day sitting idle before they can get a loading dock. And for two decades we’ve let China dominate the rules for international shipping. It’s no wonder our supply chain is messed up.

All of that means it costs more to ship products around the world, and that costs all of us more money in the checkout line. Since the Central Valley and Highway 99 is the transportation crossroads of California, we see the impacts here first.

In order to get our ports fixed, I’m leading a bipartisan bill to put the US military in charge of the situation. No one is better at getting things moving than the men and women who serve in uniform, so I teamed up with a Republican to let the Coast Guard and the Defense Department help our shippers get back on track.

BRINGING THE PRICE OF GAS DOWN TO EARTH No one should have to kill their weekly budget just by filling up their tank. It’s insane to be spending $75 for a trip to the gas station and it’s terrible for our economy,

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Congressman Josh Harder outlines his priorities for the Valley. especially in our area where so many people have long commutes.

What you should know is that 68 cents on every one of those gallons is an added gas tax thanks to both Sacramento and Washington. I’ve been a vigorous opponent of this added tax from the start and it especially makes no sense when Sacramento’s running a massive budget surplus.

They should put that money right back into our pockets and stop taxing our families when gas prices are this out of control. I’m calling on Sacramento and Washington to immediately suspend the gas tax, and do everything they

can to bring the price of gas down.

BUILDING NEW WATER STORAGE PROJECTS Water is priority one for jobs in the Valley, especially when it comes to our farmers and ranchers.

So I’m pushing to do what hasn’t been done since 1979 and build new water storage capacity here in the Central Valley. I’m proud to report I’ve secured federal funding to build the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir, expand the Los Vaqueros Reservoir, and improve the Sites Reservoir.

That’s hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of new storage

to keep our water where it should be – here in the Valley.

If we build the water storage we need, our farmers and ranchers won’t be at the whim of the state when it comes to water. That means lower prices and more predictability – two things our community desperately needs.

Everyone in our Valley deserves the economic safety and security my parents enjoyed when they decided to stay here and raise our family. I’m committed to doing everything in my power so the next generation can afford the life our parents gave us. It’s what our Valley has always been about.

18 | FARMING THE FUTURE 2022

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

FARMING THE FUTURE

Agrivoltaics shines new light on land usage

By SABRA STAFFORD WESTSIDE CONNECT

There’s a new field of funding opportunities opening up to farmers and it’s for something that area farmers have plenty of - sunshine.

Agrivoltaics is the practice of planting crops and solar panels in the same fields with the combination benefiting the crops and generating energy. Rather than being close to the ground, the solar panels are raised to a height that allows for farm equipment to pass through underneath.

The plants are protected from the the height of the midday sun and dehydration, while the microclimate created by the crops helps the solar plans operate at a higher rate of efficiency.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Futures Study predicts that as much as 40 percent of the nation’s elec-

trical supply will come from solar by the next decade. But to meet that need, it would mean wide swaths of land would need to be used. Agrivoltaics allows for the farming and solar supply to work on the same land.

The field of agrivoltaics is expanding and a new pilot project is being tested in the region. The Turlock Irrigation District will start installing solar panels over a portion of its existing canals this fall.

In collaboration with the Department of Water Resources, Solar AquaGrid and the University of California, Merced, TID will take part in Project Nexus — the firstever solar panel over canal development in the United States. The project will assess reduction of water evaporation resulting from midday shade and wind mitigation; improvements to water quality through reduced veg-

etative growth; reduction in canal maintenance through reduced vegetative growth; and generation of renewable electricity.

The inspiration for the project came from a UC Merced study published last March, which illustrated that covering all of the approximately 4,000 miles of California canals could show a savings of 63 billion gallons of water annually, comparable to the amount needed to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the residential water needs of more than 2 million people. According to the study, the 13 gigawatts of solar power the solar panels would generate each year would equal about one sixth of the state’s current installed capacity.

“The Solar AquaGrid model provides a combined, integrated response to addressing our water-energy

nexus,” UC Merced Professor Roger Bales said. “It helps address California’s underlying vulnerabilities while meeting both state and federal level commitments to produce renewable energy, preserve natural lands, lower greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.”

The $20 million project is funded by the State of California and groundbreaking will take place this fall, with the project’s completion expected in 2024 at multiple locations throughout the TID service territory. The project will utilize already-existing infrastructure, and energy storage will be installed to study how storage facilities can support the local electric grid when solar generation is suboptimal due to cloud cover.

There are a total of three project sites planned along various sections of TID’s

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TID has been selected to pilot first-in-the-nation project involving solar panels over canals, called Project Nexus. canal system, and in total, 8,500 feet of solar panels will be installed. The three sections are areas of various orientations and canal widths, ranging from 20 feet wide to 100 feet wide.

TID has retained Bay Area development firm Solar AquaGrid as project developers and program

managers for TID and Project Nexus. The two agencies have been collaborating since the project’s inception. Solar AquaGrid originated the project after commissioning the UC Merced study in 2015 and has facilitated collaboration among the various parties to bring Project Nexus to fruition.

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FARMING THE FUTURE 2022 | 19

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

Helping farmers fight unneccesary regulations, bureaucracy

By ADAM GRAY

PROUD TO SUPPORT OUR LOCAL AG AND DAIRY COMMUNITIES

CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLYPERSON

In my Assembly District, which covers the western half of Stanislaus County and all of Merced, there were roughly 545 dairy farms last year.

Now, there is at least one less.

A friend recently told me he had gotten rid of all his cows.

As I look at what’s happening across our state and in Sacramento, I wonder how many other farmers will soon make the same choice.

It’s not the pandemic, heat waves or even drought. Most farmers are more worried that the state of California will regulate them out of business, or at least regulate them into Nevada, Idaho or Mexico.

In the San Joaquin Valley, farming is not just an occupation; it’s a way of life. And a good one. So, it bothers me when I learn that farmers are leaving the fields. It bothers me more when they tell me that their frustrations have less to do with farming than they do with satisfying the ever-increasing demands of state government.

The next generation – young men and women raised on those farms – have noticed; too few want to follow their parents’ footsteps into the orchards or barns.

Over the past decade, meeting the demands of the state bureaucracy has become downright odious – and costly. They bury farmers under mountains of forms. There are pesticide rules, runoff rules, food-safety requirements, machinery emissions rules, animal emission rules, burn rules, well-monitoring rules, irrigated lands rules, groundwater rules, workers comp rules, wage-and-hour rules. I could go on.

Many of those rules make sense and are willingly followed, but proving compliance to regulators is both onerous and expensive. A study by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo showed that state mandated regulatory costs went up 795 percent in 11 years. That’s not a typo.

209-826-4807 www.youngsair.com 209-826-4807 www.youngsair.com

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Adam Gray represents Assembly District 21, which includes Merced and part of Stanislaus counties.

W H AT E V E R

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Rather than learn from the cost of seeds or seedlings.

The only higher cost farmers their mistakes, recent data shows that in February state pay is for their workers.

Perhaps farmers wouldn’t dam operators were sendmind the fees so much if they ing three times more water Young’s Air Conditioning is a HERO Regis tered Contractor. believed they were getting than normal into the Delta.

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Some scientists say we’re in Resources Control Board anHERO is a Government sponsored which enables increase two the third year of the current nounced it will program different fees it charges on drought; others say we’re 20 you to finance certain home improvements. HERO License #461520 each acre of irrigated land. years into aprovides megadrought that low fixed-interes t rates and payment terms up to Will that money be spent could last a century or longer.

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We’ve been waiting nearly sal blunders?

I’m left wondering, are peoa decade for state investments in water storage approved by ple getting tired of farming or just tired of their state governvoters in 2014.

Worse, last fall we learned ment taking their money and License #461520 that nearly 700,000 acre feet giving them nothing of value of water was wasted in the in return.

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20 | FARMING THE FUTURE 2022

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2022

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