Continuing my series on agriculture news and politics in California, let's review
Ag Alert for the past two weeks.
Mom's Apple Pie
How Farm Friendly is Your Legislator?
Bin Bandits
Saving Fire-scarred Lambs in Yolo County
Spinach Growers Ponder Crops for Next Year
PG & E Watershed Lands
Mom's Apple Pie
Mom's Apple Pie in Sebastopol, California, is a special little place that exemplifies the willingness of people to adapt and change to survive economically in their environment. Betty Carr, the owner, is 75 and originally from Japan. Her late husband had a farming background, and they moved together to Sonoma County to have a chicken ranch.
"In those days, Petaluma was the egg basket of the world," Carr said. "That's how I got into this farming business."
By the early 1960s, their 5-acre, 400,000-chicken ranch was already considered too small to be profitable. The price they were getting for their eggs was below their production cost, so her husband decided to cut out the middleman and retail their own eggs.
They opened the Egg Basket, the typical mom-and-pop store of the day that sold a variety of produce and, of course, their eggs. But Harry Carr's heart problems prompted the couple to sell the store in the early 1970s. Since they still had their ranch and all their chickens, the set up a roadside stand to sell their eggs while running a drive-in eatery.
"I became known as the Egg Lady," said Carr. "You wouldn't think we would make it, but we did."
In the late 1970's, when the surrounding landscape of Sonoma County became predominantly vineyards, it was clear that their chicken ranch was no longer a good fit with the wine country's posh image. They eventually sold their 5 acres to a gourmet mushroom operation and got out of the egg business altogether.
They traded in their chickens for apples in 1979 when they acquired the current property, formerly a farm equipment repair shop. At the time, it was a simple roadside fruit stand called Hilltop, which Harry Carr later expanded into a deli. The orchard was too small to be productive and compete with the bigger farms, so to add value to their agricultural commodity, they used the apples to create their own product, Carr said.
And so, Mom's Apple Pie was born. Though her husband died in 1992, Betty Carr still runs the place today. She hires help to maintain the small orchard, which provides Gravensteins for the pies while they're in season. There are few apple orchards left along the Gravenstein Highway, with so much converted into vineyards, but the vineyards bring pie-eating tourists to support the cafe. It's an amazing story of adaptability and tenacity in a decidedly unfavorable environment.
If you ever find yourself driving the Gravenstein Highway from Sebastopol to Jenner (and everyone should at least once during a lifetime), stop in for a pie. You'll be glad to support a local fixture, and besides.... mmmm, pie.
How Farm Friendly is Your Legislator?
The California Farm Bureau Federation has helpfully created a scorecard so that you can evaluate your legislator against their advocacy.
The fun thing about this scorecard is that the bill descriptions are written by the Farm Bureau, and of course the bill names aren't always all that descriptive, as all of us fans of such legislation as "Healthy Forests" are aware. For example, you probably wouldn't guess that the purpose of this incredibly dull bill:
SB 1056 (Florez, D-Shafter, Matthews, D-Tracy, Maze, R-Visalia) California Seed Law
Would have protected the availability of production practices by providing a uniformseed law that would allow the state to determine what seeds and nursery stock may be planted on California farms, ranches and agricultural operations. SB 1056 passed the Assembly on a strong bipartisan vote of 51-24.
CFBF Supported; Status: Held in Senate Rules Committee
Was in fact to override a series of grassroots initiatives at the county level to prohibit the farming of GMO crops, most typically in communities with a strong contingent of organic farmers. The "anti-family-farm" legislators who blocked it represent those communities.
It's also interesting to see that the Farm Bureau has its hands in all kinds of legislation that is not obviously about farming, just as I noted when going through their positions on propositions. It probably doesn't surprise you that they lobbied hard against increasing the minimum wage, but here are some that might surprise you:
SB 927 (Lowenthal, D-Long Beach) Ports: Regulatory Fees
Would have increased the cost of doing business by imposing a $60 fee on shipping containers that are discharged at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. This could have cost farmers and ranchers millions of dollars in excess fees while driving economic activity from California to neighboring states and countries.
CFBF Opposed; Status: Vetoed by the Governor
SB 1205 (Esuctia, D-Whittier) Air Pollution Violations
Would have undermined the importance of government accountability by increasing the civil penalties for violations of any air pollution law, regulation, emission limitation, permit condition, or filing requirements from non-vehicular sources from $1,000 to $10,000, when sufficient fines already exist.
CFBF Opposed; Status: Failed on the Assembly Floor
SB 1640 (Kuehl, D-Santa Monica) Groundwater Monitoring
Would have increased the costs of doing business by establishing a statewide requirement for local groundwater elevation monitoring. If a local entity did not perform monitoring, then the Department of Water Resources would have performed monitoring and would have established an assessment district to charge well owners within the groundwater basin.
CFBF Opposed; Status: Vetoed by the Governor
It's clear when you read through these why they are so gung-ho on reelecting Schwartzenneger - he is their last line of defense, and the Farm Bureau seems to have a fairly close relationship with him, getting his ear if not always having their way with him. He vetoed many bills CFBF opposed. A big-city Democratic governor who isn't inclined to listen to them, plus Democratic majorities in both state houses, is pretty much their worst nightmare.
In an upcoming installment, I'll have to explore exactly how we define "Family Farm."
Saving Fire-scarred Lambs in Yolo County
There was recently a huge 11,000 acre fire in Woodland, California, just northwest of Sacramento. Many animals were injured or killed. Janet Berry, a 4-H leader, is working to help her neighbors to save the remainder of their herds.
"People have no idea the devastation this is," Berry said. "I thought if a fire ever went through, what you'd have is a bunch of dead bodies. And that isn't what it is at all. You have your share of dead bodies. But it's the walking dead that are the hardest to cope with. It's watching all those animals that you can tell are not going to survive, but they're still alive."
Of the 1,450 sheep that were in the fire, only about 200 pregnant ewes survived. About 30 to 50 of them may be giving birth in the coming weeks. The rest will likely lamb through December. Because the ewes' injuries range in severity, it is unclear how many will carry their pregnancies to term, Berry said.
Spinach Growers Ponder Crops for Next Year
Obviously the spinach scare has caused a big disruption in consumer demand for fresh spinach and lettuce, and farmers are trying to figure out what they should plant next. Will consumers want greens again, or should they gamble on another crop? The considerations aren't just limited to marketability:
Steve Koike, University of California Cooperative Extension farm advisor who works extensively with lettuce and spinach growers in the Salinas Valley, said, "Spinach has become a very important crop for us. Fifteen years ago it was around, but nowhere near the importance it has today."
Part of that importance is based on the crop's fast-growing nature, he said. Under optimum condition in the middle of summer, spinach can be harvested in the Salinas Valley in as little as three to four weeks.
"We have a very dynamic and complex cropping schedule in this valley," Koike said. "We grow 25 to 30 different kinds of vegetables here. Some, like celery, are annual and can take 100 days to harvest. Lettuce is done in 55 to 65 days. Crops are going in and out all the time. Spinach fits very nicely and can be put into any vacant growing slots."
By rotating crops farmers are able to reduce disease pressure, Koike said. Spinach is a good partner because it's in a different plant group, it grows quickly and it keeps the land productive while controlling the amount of lettuce that moves to market.
PG & E Watershed Lands
Finally, a last bit of news of interest to anyone who enjoys recreating or other activities on PG&E owned land along Northern California rivers:
The Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council is hosting a series of public meetings in November and December to prepare a plan that will determine how 141,000 acres of PG&E watershed lands, in 22 counties, will be managed and utilized in the coming years.
Currently these lands are used for a variety of purposes including grazing, timber operations, recreation and power generation. You may be interested in current and proposed agricultural uses on these lands and changes to recreation that can impact neighboring properties. PG&E has owned a large portion of its lands for nearly 100 years. The challenge for the Stewardship Council and those interested in the lands now is how to assess current uses and plan for potential new uses.
The planning on PG&E's watershed lands arose as a result of PG&E's bankruptcy filing and the ultimate settlement with the California Public Utilities Commission. PG&E agreed that all the watershed lands it owns shall be made subject to permanent conservation easements restricting development of the lands to protect and preserve the beneficial public values and/or donate the land to one or more public entities or qualified non-profit conservation organizations, whose membership will ensure protection of the beneficial public values.