Colorful chard transplants were on display at Greenheart Farms in Arroyo Grande this week. (Notice the root color matches the purple leaves.) Vegetable transplants (also known as plugs or starters) are San Luis Obispo County's fifth-most valuable agriculture commodity, accounting for $35.5 million in sales in 2019. Vegetable and ornamental transplants are grown on 38 acres and 1.5 million square feet of greenhouse in SLO County.

Farmers and ranchers across the county will be closely watching the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, April 6 at 1:30pm regarding the proposed Paso Basin Planting Ordinance. SLO County Farm Bureau, along with Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, the San Luis Obispo chapter and Santa Barbara chapter of the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture & Business (COLAB), and other agriculture community stakeholders, have voiced opposition to this proposed ordinance. It requires farmers to get a discretionary permit for new crop plantings that use more than 25 acre-feet per year of water and that do not include an equivalent offset of existing crops. This new permitting bureaucracy would require individual farmers to complete a costly California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review to plant crops.

To be clear, this new ordinance as presented today would only affect properties in the Paso Robles Groundwater Subbasin. We fear this regulation could spread to other parts of the county and to other routine agricultural practices, as just about everything we do in ag affects the physical environment to some degree. Environmental groups in SLO County are in support of this new ordinance because it supports their agenda to require a CEQA review for any and all agriculture activity SLO County.

Anyone who argues that this is not a terrible precedent for agriculture must be oblivious to the never-ceasing creep of regulatory overreach on California’s family farmers and ranchers. New regulations expand once they are on the books. We will not tolerate putting any sort of CEQA review requirement for agriculture in San Luis Obispo County. Is this existing Ag Offset Ordinance perfect? Certainly not. But this new ordinance is not the right solution.

The intent of this ordinance is a positive one, and one that could help some Farm Bureau members. We will continue to meet and work collaboratively with all of our Supervisors, and we support finding ways to help all of our farmers and ranchers who are not currently able to irrigate. This ordinance is not the way forward. The proper (and inevitable) regulatory vehicle for groundwater regulation is the Groundwater Sustainability Plan process, not a new county land use ordinance. The County is the lead Groundwater Sustainability Agency and has the ability to address longterm challenges with groundwater distribution through the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP). We don’t have to wait on the California Department of Water Resources to formally approve our Paso GSP (the State has until Jan. 2022 to do so) to begin implementing the basic provisions of reaching groundwater sustainability.

Please review the proposed Paso Basin Planting Ordinance and submit your comments to our County Board of Supervisors, either in writing or by phone. If you are a landowner who would benefit from this proposed change, we want to hear from you! Our job is to represent all of agriculture, regardless of size or commodity produced. 

When will local events be allowed again? 

Courtesy of South County Chamber of Commerce -Learn the latest status of local events at the upcoming Chamber webinar on April 21 from 11 am to 12 noon. Representatives for CAPE - California Association for Private Events and SLO County Event Coalition will share the most recent updates on their advocacy efforts to reopen private events on the Central Coast. To RSVP and receive the Zoom login, please click here. 

To access the full agenda documents and a recording of the meeting click here.

California Farm Bureau's Friday Review - April 2

To read the full press release click here.

To read the full newsletter click here.

Tule provides site-specific irrigation recommendations based on your production goals, so you can efficiently make more accurate irrigation decisions about when and how much to irrigate.

Growers use Tule Vision to take pictures of their vines and get the midday leaf water potential. Think of Tule Vision as a low-cost replacement to the pressure chamber. Leaf water potential readings are reported in the Tule Vision mobile application and web application.

(530) 574-0479 tuletechnologies.com

Carson Britz, Electricraft Inc.

French Camp Vineyards, Susan Branch, Rex Dahlberg, James Hartzell, Richard Hotaling, Smith Held, Longcrier & Associates CPAs LLC, Paul Ready, Thomas Stokes

Whether you are looking for an upscale hotel, an all-inclusive resort or something more cost-effective, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has the right hotel for you! As a Farm Bureau Member you will save up to 20% off the Best Available Rate* at over 9,000 participating hotels worldwide. Discover the benefits of booking your vacation with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as a Farm Bureau Member. Our vast portfolio of hotels and resorts offer a variety of accommodations to meet your travel needs. Wherever people go, Wyndham will be there to welcome there. For the booking link click here.

Listen in as Wine Enthusiast Contributing Editor Virginie Boone speaks with Amanda Wittstrom Higgins, executive VP at Ancient Peaks and founder of Dream Big Darling, whom Virginie hails as “an energetic and passionate player in California wine.” This Wine Enthusiast Podcast episode honors Women’s History Month by featuring “some of the leading ladies of the California wine scene who are driving the industry forward today.”

The season started slowly, but California strawberry production should ultimately be larger than last year’s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In a new report, USDA says California farmers planted more strawberries last fall, which should lead to a bigger harvest this season. The report says Americans’ strawberry consumption has more-than-doubled since the turn of the century, with both domestic and foreign supplies rising to meet the increased demand.

Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board will discuss Ag Order 4.0 at its meeting on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m and Thursday, April 15, 2021, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

To review the Agenda, click here.

To review the Staff Report, click here.

The agenda includes consideration of the proposed Agricultural Order 4.0 and resolution certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Ag Order 4.0. The Board must consider and certify the final EIR before it can consider adopting the Order. The Staff Report reviews Ag Order 4.0 Project Objectives:

"Ag Order 4.0 addresses not only the environmental and rural drinking water safety issues raised above and in the litigation leading to the Court of Appeals decision associated with Ag Order 2.0, but also the precedential requirements (with minor exceptions as warranted based on regional data and factors) for all agricultural orders as articulated in the State Water Board’s Order WQ-2018-0002 addressing waste discharge requirements for the Eastern San Joaquin River Watershed – an order regulating agricultural discharges in the central valley. The PAO has been developed to also comply with the Water Code and applicable state policies and water quality control plans. The requirements in the proposed ag order (PAO) were developed to protect human health, protect and restore beneficial uses, and achieve water quality objectives specified in the Central Coast Basin Plan by:

The Proposed Ag Order requirements include:

The next WRAC meeting will be at 1:30pm Wednesday, 4/7/2021 via GoToMeeting. The Agenda packet and GoToMeeting details are posted here.

The meeting next week will include a discussion about the water supply options status update shared at the 3/16 Board of Supervisors meeting. For details on that presentation, please click here.

California has ambitious climate goals and agriculture is part of the solution to reduce our carbon footprint. Farmers already contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through healthy soils programs to improve carbon sequestration and overall soil health.

Many are adapting sustainable practices in growing their crops or livestock. And as technology is advancing, agricultural machinery offers another opportunity to eliminate harmful emissions. In order to meet the state’s climate goals the California Air Resources Board (CARB) offers several incentive programs that pay for up to 80% of the cost of replacing diesel equipment with zero emission equipment.

Continue reading the article from Farm Bureau member Solectrac here.

Our weekly E-News is sent out every Friday to our membership. If you're interested in an effective, low-cost advertising campaign ($150 a month) please give us a call or send an email to SLO County Farm Bureau Executive Director Brent Burchett.

Close the Gate (For Dad) - Nancy Kraayenhof  

Join SLO County Farm Bureau now or renew your membership online. Go to slofarmbureau.org to join, or download the membership form PDF. Have your renewal notice available to speed up the process; you will need to enter your membership number, name and ZIP code. Renewal dues may be paid online or over the phone by credit card.