Kathy and Joe Tresch in the ranch’s smaller house, the Cottage. [Photo by Duncan Garrett Photography]
Cassie King, spokesperson for Measure J proponents, says affected farms wouldn’t have to shut down, merely modify certain operations to improve livestock conditions.
dairy to meet its bills with fewer cows. Also, a UC Davis assistant professor of cooperative education says reducing the number of animals on a farm does not necessarily mean the animals will get better treatment. “When I did my PhD I studied respiratory disease in calves,” says Gabriele Maier of UC Davis, a veterinarian with a PhD in epidemiology, a branch of medicine dealing with the distribution and determinants of disease. “We went to 100 different dairies across California and distilled it down to the factors that are most important. We found that if the milk the calves receive is pasteurized it really reduces the respiratory disease burden, that was the number one factor.” “It has nothing to do with size,” Maier says—rather, good management is key. “Both large and small farms have management challenges.” Size matters The executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau responded to King’s point about modifying confinement or manure management practices. “Sonoma County’s winter is longer than 45 days,” says Dayna Ghirardelli of the Farm Bureau. “The housing of animals in the winter months is done to provide clean, dry bedding, housing and food while protecting soil, pasture health and natural resources.” Adds Ghirardelli: “To promote the elimination of this practice is counterproductive, not to mention contradictory to [the Coalition’s] other messaging.” Opponents of the measure have made sweeping statements as to the measure’s effect on Sonoma County
farming and the number of farms that would be shut down. The No on J website predicts dire consequences. According to the FAQs on the Farm Bureau’s website, if enacted, the legislation would “force the shutdown of family farming operations that are designated as CAFOs (including nearly all the egg, poultry and dairy industry in Sonoma County) within three years of the measure’s passage.” In sharp contrast, according to King, the initiative applies to only 21 Sonoma County farms: 10 egg farms, four chicken- for-meat farms, six dairies and one duck farm. Maier says it’s less about the number of farms and more about their size. “The largest producers will be affected, and even though the number of farms may not be that big, it is going to affect the Sonoma County farm industry as a whole because it will affect a very large number of animals,” says Meier. A recurring criticism of the measure is that its proponents are almost all from out of the county. Asked why this was material, Ghirardelli says, “This is material because absent having lived or worked in an agricultural region and respecting how multi-generational families have worked their entire lives in the business, it is impossible to understand why this measure is so objectionable.” In Ghirardelli’s view, the proponents are attempting to pass an ordinance that burdens the county directly—a county in which they do not live and which they do not appreciate, she says. The Agricultural Commissioner’s Office has said Measure J would necessitate ongoing expenses of $1.6 million or more for inspections and reporting if enacted, and the Sonoma County Human Services Department cites costs of almost $1.5 milliotn
July 2024
NorthBaybiz 25
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