San Diego County Farm Bureau News
November 2009: Vol. 22. No. 11

President's Message -

Go to the CFBF Annual Meeting in December!Top of Page

by Michael A. Mellano

December 6-9, we Farm Bureau members in Southern California have an opportunity that we should all take advantage of: Attend the CFBF Annual Meeting. Every year, the meeting location rotates, and this year it is in our backyard at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim—only a few hours’ drive. Being close makes it relatively easy and inexpensive to attend. Early-bird registration prior to Nov. 2 is only $25 and, contrary to what some might think, it is open to all Farm Bureau members. I consider this a must do, at some point, for all Farm Bureau members.

For those who have never attended the Annual Meeting, this is where it all happens. It is the culmination of a process that forms the basis and direction of our organization, the place where Farm Bureau policy is laid out, massaged, debated and agreed upon. It is the place where you can witness and experience firsthand the effectiveness of our grass roots organization.

The first time I went was six years ago. I have to admit that I didn’t really want to go out of town the first week of December, but once I got there and became part of the process, I was hooked and have looked forward to each meeting ever since. I was truly impressed and hit by the importance of what we were doing as delegates of San Diego County Farm Bureau representing agriculture in our region. I was inspired by the passion and commitment of the delegates from the other counties and the magnitude of the diversity of the products and individuals that represent California agriculture. It made me proud to be part of something bigger than my own operation and able to help formulate a direction for future generations of farmers. Oh—and it was fun!

If you can make it up to the meeting, the day to go is Tuesday, the day of the delegate business session. That is when the process plays out and all the decisions are made! It can make for a very long and exciting day, but in the end it is well worth the effort. I have watched this process repeat itself now for six years and I am a true believer. It works!

Take the time this year. Come up and spend the day with us in Anaheim in December. Gain a greater understanding of your organization. Become a believer too!

From the Executive Director

How to craft a compelling message to enroll the rest of the region’s growers?

by Eric Larson

There was quite frenzy late last year through June of this year as growers enrolled their production acreage in the San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group (Group) to take advantage of entry fee discounts that were offered to those who signed up early. By our estimation, about two-thirds of the acreage in the county that must meet the runoff monitoring, testing, and reporting mandate set down in the Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Waiver No. 4 has been enrolled. While that seems like pretty good progress, we still face a big challenge. It has become obvious we need to craft a better message to convince the region’s very large number of small growers to take the necessary steps to be in compliance.

There are nearly 1,200 enrolled farms that account for the good progress on acreage that is in the Group. However, estimates are that there are about 5,000 commercial producers who meet the standard to either enroll in a group or take individual action to comply with Waiver No. 4. So, there appears to be 3,800 growers who, on average, are less than five acres in size and have not yet been compelled to enroll in the Group. Hopefully, they are not all planning on individual compliance, because that has been shown to be a very expensive proposition, with the Regional Water Quality Control Board estimating a cost as high as $15,000 just to set up an individual monitoring plan. When done together, that cost is shared.

Devising a compelling message to the smaller growers is more than a challenge—it is a concern. Combined, those growers are a significant portion of the county’s farming community, and we want to do what we can to minimize their risks. In fact, San Diego County has more small farmers than any other county in the nation. Those thousands of small farms must be protected by every means available. The risk for failure to comply with Waiver No. 4 is real. Anyone not meeting next year’s deadline to either enroll in a group or take individual action will be exposed to the possibility of severe fines. Our goal is zero fines, so our search continues for the perfect message.

From the Ag Commissioner

Bob Atkins, Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures

County Vet to refocus efforts on vector-borne diseases

The County of San Diego Veterinarian program is under the Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures. The County Vet is committed to protecting its citizens and residents, both human and animal. Factors such as global warming, increased international travel, and worldwide commerce have increased the risk of new and emerging vector borne diseases affecting public health in San Diego. In order to remain ahead of these threats to public health, the Office of the County Veterinarian is reallocating resources and refocusing our efforts on the study and prevention of vector-borne diseases.

The County Veterinarian protects and maintains animal and public health by testing select animals and vectors for vector-borne pathogens and diseases such as West Nile virus, plague, tularemia, Lyme, and hantaviruses. New tests are being developed for other vector-borne diseases such as Western Equine Encephalitis, Saint Louis Encephalitis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. We will continue to provide updates and work with you to protect you and your animals from vector-borne diseases. For the time being, we will also continue to consult and facilitate animal submissions for rabies testing, in conjunction with the County Public Health Laboratory and the local animal control agencies.

Traditional services that have been performed by the County Veterinarian, such as necropsy, bacteriology, virology, and serology diagnostic services that are available from other local veterinarian sources are no longer being provided after Oct 9, 2009. Tests for brucellosis, equine infectious anemia, exotic Newcastle disease and avian influenza have also been discontinued. The California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) Laboratory System in San Bernardino is an alternate laboratory for these services (909) 383-4287. Your veterinarian can help to coordinate testing at the CAHFS laboratory or to contact the regional California Department of Food and Agriculture Office in Ontario at (909) 947-4462.

San Diego: (858) 694-8988
North County: (760) 752-4700
E-mail: sdcawm@sdcounty.ca.gov
Web: www.sdcawm.org

FFA Ag-tivities: Escondido FFA

The Escondido FFA held an Agriculture Introduction Night, which will become an annual event held early in each school year. The purpose of this evening was to inform members and parents of the benefits of agriculture education and the National FFA Organization. We had over 25 informational booths that range from SAE (Supervised Agriculture Experience) project ideas, Judging Teams Offered, Leadership Teams, and the many committees the new students can be involved in. The night was a huge success and many new parents were surprised to find out what an agriculture program is all about.
We also held our second annual Pumpkin Festival. The community event drew over 4,000 people last year, and this year we expanded our pumpkin patch and petting zoo. We also held our 43rd annual Steak Fry dinner, our main fundraiser event of the year. Chapter members host the community event and participate in our silent auction, cow patty Bingo, and a live dessert auction.

Our chapter was very successful over the summer at the San Diego County Fair. Our members raised 24 pigs, 18 lambs, three goats, five steers, and 10 turkeys. All our animals received blue ribbons and went through auction. We also had three champions: Tanner Stephan won Reserve Grand Hampshire swine, Hailee Schuster placed first in Master Showmanship, and Rhett Fanter won Reserve Grand Champion FFA goat.

Escondido FFA is also upholding its strong tradition of successful judging teams. This year will we have Horticulture, Floriculture, Horse Judging, Livestock Judging, Farm Power, and Best Informed Greenhand. Leadership teams include: Opening and Closing, Parliamentary Procedure, Job Interview, Extemporaneous and Prepared Public Speaking. Last year we were very successful with three individuals/teams competing at the state level.

Thanks to Prop T’s passage, our ag department will be completely remodeled and our school farm partly remodeled. The new ag department will have two new agriculture science classrooms and an expanded, state-of-the-art mechanics shop. At the farm, we will be building a new swine barn and a new lamb barn for our students’ SAE Projects.

Escondido FFA Wish List

• Nursery & Garden: Soil mixer/cement mixer; shovels, wheelbarrows, hoses, rakes, hoes; greenhouse display benches; topiary-farm theme; strawberry, boysenberry, raspberry, blackberry starts; vegetable seeds
• Floriculture: Vases, ribbon
• Science Equipment: Centrifuge, autoclave
• Livestock Equipment: Portable livestock scale; sponsors for student livestock projects; cattle hoof trimming chute
• Mechanic’s Shop: Dunk tank for welding; flatbed trailer
• Leadership: Sponsors for students attending FFA leadership conferences
• Miscellaneous: SUV to haul students to contests and pull livestock trailer

If you can help the Escondido FFA by providing any of these items, please contact the Farm Bureau at (760) 745-3023 or High School FFA instructor Marc Reyburn at (760) 291-4069.

Business Supporting Member Focus:LO Lynch Quality Wells & Pumps

by Nancy Walery
The economic recession has been a hardship for many, but business has been booming the last few years for LO Lynch Quality Wells & Pumps, a 65-year-old company that has been drilling and servicing wells in counties across Southern California. Where 75 percent of the company’s business once came from installing wells for homes and businesses and 25 percent to agriculture, now the reverse is true. The decline in home construction, combined with Metropolitan Water District’s 30 percent mandatory water cutbacks to ag customers and its phaseout of the discounted water program, has put LO Lynch in a prime position to focus on helping local growers who are searching for additional water resources that will allow them to continue farming.
The owners of the company of 25 employees are Emil Worm and Kenneth Swarthout, both longtime employees of the original LO Lynch owners, who partnered and bought the company in 1994. Worm and Swarthout have continued to maintain the company’s high standards and technical expertise to ensure that their reputation in the industry remains synonymous with quality and efficiency.

“We earned our reputation from doing our job well,” said Worm, whose well-drilling experience began at age 15 working for his father’s business in South Dakota. “Every job is different, which dictates how it has to be done, and our experience gives us the knowledge to know what steps are necessary for a successful project. Having this expertise to make the right decisions saves customers money and prevents unexpected surprises.”

When you hire LO Lynch to install a well, you are getting a complete package of services that includes the expertise to properly site the well to maximize your chance of finding a long-term, reliable water flow; well construction design; obtaining the required county permitting; site preparation; an experienced work crew trained to operate the company’s state-of-the-art drilling equipment; and selection of the proper pump specifically adjusted to the proper water pressure for your well size and water level. And it won’t take long. Start to finish, your project could be completed in about 30 days—sometimes even less. While only a crystal ball can tell you if you’ve picked the right spot, with LO Lynch on the job, you have the next best thing with their years of experience installing thousands of wells for domestic and commercial uses, which include water companies, city and county operations, farms and ranches.

LO Lynch’s repair side of the business offers a robust service operation that considers each call a high priority so that any water interruption suffered by the customer is brief. The repair operation includes six pump rigs and two larger trucks stocked with the parts to repair most pumps on the first visit. And even if they don’t have the needed part for your particular pump, LO Lynch knows where they are in stock locally so downtime is minimal.
“Pump repairs are a priority, and our goal is that growers don’t miss any watering cycles waiting for a fix,” Worm said. “Even if we have to order a part, we can usually get them up and running again in two to three days.”
Other services LO Lynch provides include well rehabilitation to reactivate old or capped-off wells; and well abandonment, a procedure to close off access to an unused well as dictated by each county’s Department of Environmental Health. Well abandonment is important, not only for human and animal safety, but also to prevent the ground water from becoming contaminated by surface water runoff or leachate from a nearby septic system.

LO Lynch is also expanding into new service areas. The company was recently certified to drill and install geothermal loop systems (ground source heat pumps) for residential and commercial structures. The geothermal movement is gaining in popularity as energy rates rise, rebates are promoted, and the public embraces green technologies. The company has also ventured into the design and construction of tailwater recovery systems for nursery operations, which will allow nurseries to capture, filter and re-use irrigation water.

LO Lynch is licensed by the Contractor’s State License Board (CSLB), bonded, and fully insured with liability and workers’ compensation coverage. The company is also an active member in the California Groundwater Association (CGA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the protection of groundwater. Worm, an officer of his local CGA branch, periodically conducts training programs on pumping systems for CGA’s continuing education series, sits on its Scholarship, Education and Standards committees, and has co-authored several of CGA’s standards documents. CGA’s standards clearly define prudent and standard operating procedures as practiced in the general groundwater industry and are recommended by the Contractor’s State License Board as a study guide. The standards are also sometimes adopted by state and environmental programs as well as used to educate state lawmakers and juries on groundwater issues.

For more information about LO Lynch Quality Wells & Pumps, visit www.lynchwells.com or call them at (951) or (888) 654-7724.

News from the San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group

Management Agreement. The official agreement between the San Diego County Farm Bureau and the San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group Educational Corporation was recently drawn up and approved by the SDCFB Executive Committee and forwarded to the SDCFB board of directors for approval at the Oct. 1 board meeting. Board approval was received, and the agreement has been forwarded to the SDRILG board for acceptance. The agreement details the services that Farm Bureau will provide to manage the SDRILG. The agreement includes a monthly management fee, actual labor costs, reimbursement of direct costs, proportional office rent, and future communications upgrades if necessary. The agreement was necessitated by the fact that the SDRILG will not have employees or office space, but will rely on Farm Bureau to carry out its functions in accordance with the agreement.

Group funds transfer. The SDRILG now has a seated board of directors and is fully incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. With corporate structure now in place, the enrollment fees collected by Farm Bureau for the water quality monitoring effort have been transferred to the San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group. The funds transfer, complete with a full accounting of those funds, was completed on Oct. 31 so that Farm Bureau could close out its SDRILG activities by the end of its 2008-09 fiscal year.

The San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group Educational Corporation (“Group”) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Periodic updates of activities going on in the Group will be published in this newsletter. For more information about the Group, visit www.sdfarmbureau.org and click on the “Irrigated Lands Group” link.

Farm Bureau has been working for you.

• Top of PageSubmitted comments on proposed rule on importing plants for planting
• Appeared on Voice of Oceanside TV program
• Made presentation at California Nursery Conference on runoff compliance
• Ag Resource Fair for teachers put on by San Diego Ag in the Classroom
• Conducted class for growers considering selling at farmers' markets
• Spoke at International Plant Propagators Society convention

Pest Watch

Asian citrus psyllid

The Los Angeles County quarantine is rapidly expanding and taxing CDFA staff, with nearly 298 positive find sites as of newsletter publication. While the find sites are not near citrus production areas, the sheer number of sites located near Interstate 5 has raised concerns that the Interstate could be the transportation corridor that moves the pest north toward the San Joaquin Valley and south into the uninfested portion of San Diego County. CDFA’s Web site provides a map showing the latest find sites on both sides of the border and the quarantine areas.

Escondido Med fly

A quarantine has been officially declared and a large map delineating the exact quarantine zone is on display at the Farm Bureau office; the map is also posted on the California Department of Food & Agriculture Web site at www.cdfa.ca.gov. CDFA officials in the Medfly Project Office located in San Marcos have developed a treatment schedule based on harvest dates to determine when treatments must begin so that they are completed before the harvest date. The schedule, which will be provided to growers once they have signed their compliance agreement with CDFA, can change based on current local weather conditions because colder weather and precipitation lengthen the treatment schedule. Permission via the CDFA compliance agreement is mandatory before treatments can begin, and a CDFA representative will bring the documentation and treatment schedule to you at your farm. The Medfly Project Office is located at 1520 Linda Vista Drive, San Marcos and is staffed daily from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The project is not subject to the state’s current furlough program, and you can even call the office on Saturdays. The project office phone is (760) 510-4703, and fax (760) 510-4704.

Employer-Employee: Farm employment issues

Get a State Fund quote annually and compare your workers’ comp rates

Even if you are content with your current workers’ compensation carrier’s services and premiums, State Compensation Insurance Fund is encouraging growers to check with them annually to see if switching to the Farm Bureau group at State Fund can offer members a better rate.

Plenty of healthy competition has returned to the California workers’ comp insurance market in recent years, which has helped bring premiums down for many employers. While premiums may rise and fall with various companies each year, you can count on State Fund, which now serves 25 percent of the market, to offer the best in overall rates over the long haul.

Being a member of the Farm Bureau Group Program offers ag employers more than other carriers have to offer. In addition to a 6 percent discount, group members get a variety of industry-focused safety services that may include the interpretation of regulations, emergency-care planning, safety seminars, and a review of workplace accidents, costs and trends. You don’t have to have a large farming or ranching operation to benefit, either. Small employers with low payroll save by paying a reduced group minimum premium.

And don’t forget that, with coverage through State Fund, you are helping support your local Farm Bureau through the annual royalties that State Fund pays Farm Bureau.

For more information about State Fund insurance, you can contact State Fund at (800) 773-7667, the San Diego Regional State Fund office at (858) 552-7000, or your own insurance broker who serves your other insurance needs.

Featured Articles Top of Page

13 local wineries win awards in Temecula Valley’s wine competition

by Nancy Walery

Congratulations are in order for 13 San Diego County wineries listed below that earned 27 awards at this year’s Southern California Wine Country Wine Competition, with a number of them taking home multiple awards.

The competition, sponsored by the Temecula Valley Wine Society in cooperation with The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association and the Temecula Convention and Visitors Bureau, held its 5th annual event July 27 and 28 at Maurice Carrie Winery in Temecula. The competition was open to wineries from Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, which comprise the South Coast Appellation, the American Viticulture Area (AVA) designation for Southern California south of Santa Barbara, according to the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association. More than 200 entries were submitted to the competition.

What’s distinctive about the 2009 event is that this is the first year that the competition was open to all wineries in the South Coast Appellation. In the past, the event had only recognized those wineries in the Temecula Valley because of how the event was originally created and marketed, according to Jay Coyne, President of the Temecula Valley Wine Society.

“Just like Orange and San Diego counties had their own regional winery recognitions, Temecula Valley had theirs,” Coyne said. “But when the Temecula Convention and Visitor’s Bureau changed their marketing materials to refer to the “South Coast Wine Country” in their advertising, we were able to convince the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association that the event should be opened up to all in the South Coast Appellation.”

According to www.winepros.org, California has 103 AVA regions, and California accounts for more than 90 percent of all wine produced in the U.S. and the majority of winegrowing appellations. San Diego County is home to two regions with the official American Viticultural Area designation: San Pasqual Valley, designated in 1981, and Ramona Valley, designated in 2006.

San Diego County winery winners in the 2009 Southern California Wine Country Wine Competition

An interview with Janet Taylor

Janet Taylor is an Associate Agricultural Biologist with the Pest Exclusion Branch of the California Department of Food and Agriculture based in the Lemon Grove office. Since 2001, she has been involved in a number of quarantines throughout California, including the Mexican fruit fly in Valley Center in 2003 and Escondido in 2007, the Diaprepes root weevil since 2006, and she is now the lead for the Asian citrus psyllid quarantine project since it was discovered in San Diego County in 2008. She has a Bachelor’s degree in biology with an emphasis in entomology from San Jose State University. Janet has also worked at the San Diego Zoo where she became a Senior Keeper in the bird department. She has been active in her community and earned a seat on her local Community Planning Group as their environmental specialist. She is also the co-author of three garden-themed books with local television and environmental reporter, Loren Nancarrow. Taylor and Nancarrow also partnered on a public television pledge break special and several half-hour gardening shows called “Garden Rx” for American Public Television. Janet was a feature garden writer for San Diego Family Magazine for seven years and has published numerous other magazine articles about gardening, animals and the environment.

FB: What area of the state do you cover from your office in Lemon Grove?
Taylor: I work for the Interior Pest Exclusion Program and I usually cover San Diego, Imperial, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties.

FB: How are the responsibilities separated between local, state and federal agencies when it comes to exclusion, trapping and eradication?
Taylor: This is a difficult question since this gets into contracts for trapping responsibilities that are managed by Sacramento with each county. In some counties the State is responsible—for, say fruit fly trapping, and in others the County does the trapping under CDFA contract or it is a combination of both agencies covering one county like here in San Diego. Pest Exclusion is the responsibility of all agencies.

FB: Likewise, when a quarantine is declared, how are the responsibilities distributed?
Taylor: Quarantines are considered emergencies and are dealt with cooperatively by local, state and federal agricultural agencies. We all work together with the goal of containing the pest so it can be eradicated.

FB: How are you able to adjust staffing and resources when you are hit with quarantine or eradication projects?
Taylor: CDFA works with USDA and counties when a quarantine is triggered. We work as emergency response teams and coordinate efforts. Allocation of staff and other resources for emergency situations is done under the direction of our supervisors in Sacramento.

FB: Is it preset as to when you will declare a quarantine on a certain pest?
Taylor: There are several pests like the Mediterranean fruit fly that have set quarantine action plans and quarantine triggers. The action plans and quarantine triggers vary depending on the pest.

FB: How are the boundaries then set for a quarantine?
Taylor: These are scientifically determined in the action plan for the pest. Once the quarantine trigger is reached, a proposed boundary is written following major roadways, natural boundaries, etc. This boundary is driven for accuracy and approved by the County the quarantine falls into. A written description of the boundary is submitted as part of the official declaration of the emergency quarantine to the Office of Administrative Law.

FB: Who sets the protocols that have to be enforced in a quarantine?
Taylor: Protocols are developed cooperatively by scientists and regulators associated with CDFA, USDA, and the County Agricultural Commissioners.

FB: Your office and the work you do get visible with big events like the Asian citrus psyllid infestation, but what is your core work besides eradication projects and quarantines?
Taylor: Our job at Pest Exclusion is to try and keep pests out of California or contain pests in quarantines so they can be eradicated.  That job may take many forms. For instance, we may work with county staff when they intercept pests in plant shipments from other states, or we may work with the shipping industry to verify that shipments of nursery stock from other states meet California’s plant quarantine entry requirements.

FB: Is it your sense that pest introductions are coming more often than in the past?
Taylor: I don’t think so, but we have had several quarantines in the last few years, like several Mediterranean fruit fly quarantined areas and Asian citrus pysllid, that certainly make it seem so.

FB: Is there one particular pest that keeps you up at night?
Taylor: I worry about the Asian citrus pysllid and the Redbay ambrosia beetle but, in reality they all do.  I especially worry about the impact to the growers and nurseries that these pests cause.

Local delegation selected to attend 2009 CFBF Annual Meeting

The San Diego County Farm Bureau delegation has been selected to attend the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting which will be held this year in Anaheim December 6-9. SDCFB President Michael A. Mellano will lead this year’s delegation and has selected to join him 1st Vice President Noel Stehly, 2nd Vice President Julie Walker, and Secretary Ken Altman, in addition to board members David Van Ommering, Chris Ambuul, Eric Anderson and Burnet Wohlford as alternates. Because of its growing membership roster, SDCFB qualified for an additional delegate this year, which provides the opportunity for increased visibility and recognition at the state level. The delegation, most of whom are experienced in the convention process and procedure, includes growers from the avocado, citrus, and dairy industries to seasonal blooming plants, cut flowers and potted plants.

The format of CFBF’s annual meeting follows a “bottom-up” approach, where representatives from local Farm Bureaus throughout the state dictate the important issues to CFBF, and those issues then set CFBF’s policies and agenda for the upcoming year when they address those issues to the state legislature and Congress. This bottom-up approach guarantees that Farm Bureau remains a grass-roots organization, with the power firmly in the hands of the counties. The SDCFB delegation will ensure that the small farms prevalent in San Diego County are represented fairly as CFBF establishes its 2008 statewide agriculture policies.

Daily weather forecast service returns November 1

Popular SDCFB member benefit runs through April 2010

by Nancy Walery

One of the many benefits of your Farm Bureau membership is your seasonal access to a weather forecasting service. Back by popular demand and running from Nov. 1 through April 30, 2010 is the daily weather forecast reporting service that helps farmers stay in the know on rainfall and potential freezes.

Provided by Fox Weather and sponsored by Corona-College Heights Orange & Lemon Association, this exclusive reporting service is available at no charge to Farm Bureau members and includes:

• Unlimited access during the six-month service period
• Satellite Rain Analysis (SRA)
• Local area forecasts for North San Diego County
• Fruit frost extended forecast updates

Reports are updated and recorded twice daily and are available by calling a special weather information line established exclusively for Farm Bureau members.

To take advantage of this service, simply contact the San Diego County Farm Bureau office at (760) 745-3023. After a staff member has verified your current voting member status, you will be given a phone number that provides the daily weather forecast.