Job Announcement: Programs Coordinator

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The Butte County Farm Bureau has an immediate opening for a full-time Programs Coordinator. The ideal candidate will be a creative and personable, self-starter who has experience interacting with members of the agriculture community and maintains a high degree of rapport with key audiences.

Responsibilities:
•Oversight of communication and education outreach for grower regulatory programing.
•Responsible for the membership development and retention of the organization.
•Manage the execution of multiple BCFB events and program.
•Prepare for and attend monthly Board meetings.
•Answer telephones; greet members and the public entering the office.
•Perform general clerical duties as needed to include but not limited to: letter writing, photocopying, mailing and filing. Assist in the organization and maintenance of the office so that it operates effectively and efficiently.
•Assist in the management of BCFB’s Social Media presence including keeping the BCFB website and Facebook page current and accurate with local news, media and event information.
•Maintain constant communication with BCFB Executive Director regarding any issues or items needing timely attention.
•Attend and assist in the organization and execution of all BCFB events as needed.
•Support BCFB Executive Director in operation of the Butte County Farm Bureau.
•Support BCFB Staff in the operation and execution of BCFB programs.
•Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills:
•Passionate self-starter.
•Personable, creative and organized.
•Ability to manage their time to accomplish tasks in a routine and timely manner.
•Can work independently without supervision.
•Working knowledge of computer programs including but not limited to Word, Excel,Outlook, Publisher, QuickBooks and InDesign.
•Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
•Willingness to balance working with different responsibilities and manage multiple priorities in a professional and productive manner.
•Maintains a basic belief in the value of Farm Bureau, organization membership and the agricultural industry.
•Willingness to learn, ask for help, and offer and accept suggestions in a professional manner.
•Have an exceptional work ethic.
•Desire to work in a team environment and with volunteers.

Qualifications:
•Equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university with major course work in agriculture, communications, public relations or a related field.
•Passionate about agriculture.
•Will be supportive of other staff.
•An ability to work on own initiative; be proactive, organized and find solutions to problems and challenges.
•Current CA Driver’s License.
•Reliable transportation.

Compensation:
•Hourly, DOE.
•Medical, dental and vision benefits.
•Paid vacation and sick leave.
•Cell phone stipend.

Application:
To apply, please submit the following items to jobs@buttefarmbureau.com
•Cover letter/email
•Resume
•Three references with contact information

For questions regarding this announcement, please contact:
Colleen Cecil
Butte County Farm Bureau
Executive Director
jobs@buttefarmbureau.com

Farm Bureau News Executive Director Column

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By Colleen Cecil, Executive Director – November/December 2021

Colleen Cecil, Butte County Farm Bureau Executive Director

Without looking back, I can assume that my final 2020 column is going to start the same way as this one. I am looking forward to 2021 ending! Albeit, we did have a much better 2021 than we did 2020, but I am ready for normal, whatever that is anymore.

I can say that 2021 is ending much busier than last year. We have packed our calendar and look forward to seeing you as many times as you want to see us. By the time you read this, we will have hosted our October Tailgate Talk in Richvale. Farm City Celebration and BCFB is excited to working with our amazing ag community to celebrate year 41 of the Farm City Celebration.

The Annual Awards Reception will take place on November 3 in Chico, Kids Day on November 4 in Gridley, the Harvest Festival on November 6 in Durham and the always popular Agri-Business Bus Tour, on November 10, will take off and return to the Durham Community Park. More information about all the activities can be found in the pages of this newspaper but you can always visit www.FarmCity.com for details and tickets or call our office at 530-533-1473.

We pleased to have Nationwide back as the presenting sponsor for Grower Day on December 1 at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico. A full trade show and packed grower education program with 4 CE hours (applied) will be available to all who attend plus a complimentary lunch sponsored by Farm Credit West and Golden State Farm Credit. We look forward to seeing you.

If we have learned anything over the last few years it’s that advocacy and education to those outside of our rural community is paramount if we are going to keep farming and ranching in California. To help with this need, I have hosted a series of monthly lunches and have invited women from our local rural community for networking and conversations with local community leaders. Sorry gentlemen, this is ladies only. If you might be interested in hearing from passionate and respected local leaders about the importance of being engaged in your community, call me. I want to add you to the contact list. Our next luncheon will be on November 12 and I am excited to welcome former Butte County Supervisor Jane Dolan as our guest speaker.

We are nothing without our members. It is important that we are in a position to keep providing the services and programs that you have come to need and enjoy. To do this, the BCFB Board of Directors has voted to increase dues of our agricultural and business members by $25 annually, effective January 1, 2022.  We don’t make these decisions lightly but it is necessary to keep our operations in a positive position moving forward. Should anyone have any questions about the dues increase, I would be happy to chat with you personally. Please don’t hesitate to call me at the office or on my cell phone. You are more than welcome to even stop by if you would like.

Don’t forget! Our #StillFarming sweatshirt inventory is up to date if you are need a new hoodie. Visit www.ButteFarmBureauStore.com.

Lastly, I am excited to wish you a bountiful Thanksgiving, a blessed Christmas Season and a spectacular New Year!

Thank You

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By Colleen Cecil, Executive Director
Butte County Farm Bureau News
January/February 2021

We learned many new words and phrases in 2020. Many words and phrases that I would love to never say again, like pandemic and socially distanced. There is however one phrase of two little words that I want to bring attention to as we look forward to 2021. 

Thank you. Simple, kind and full of gratitude if you say it right. 

Thank you to the employees that keep our farms and ranches operating efficiently.

Thank you to the businesses that provide the goods and services that our ag community relies on. 

Thank you to you, the members of the Butte County Farm Bureau, with whom we would have no purpose. 

Thank you to our 1917 Club members for your support and investment in our organization. 

Thank you to our Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee for wanting to be part of something bigger and ensuring the future of agriculture will remain bright. 

Thank you to our Butte County Farm Bureau supporters. To all of the businesses, organizations, families and persons who have sponsored an event, bought a ticket, raised your hand in an auction, ordered a sweatshirt or hat, entered a raffle or placed an ad in our newspaper, thank you. 

Thank you to our committee members for your work and time to ensure the voice of our farmers and ranchers are heard. 

Thank you to our volunteer Butte County Farm Bureau Board of Directors for your time, commitment to our organization and for reading the many emails I send you. You are reading them, right?

Thank you to our Executive Committee – Lee, Walt, Blain, Shawn, Darren and Stacey – for your leadership, for answering the phone when I call and responding to text message questions and concerns. 

Thank you to our staff – Rachel and Heather – for your passion, skill and commitment to our organization and our members. 

Thank you to our families. For my husband Jake, Heather and Rachel’s husbands and the spouses of our Board members. We thank you for your support and endless understanding of the “I have a Farm Bureau thing” phone calls. 

Thank you to 103 years of Butte County Farm Bureau. 

We look forward to visiting with you in 2021, in-person and in Richvale at our temporary offices at 1148 Richvale Hwy, inside the Richvale Irrigation District office building.

Welcome 2021. We’ve been waiting for you. 

Colleen Cecil, Executive Director
Butte County Farm Bureau

Can we start 2020 over?

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By Colleen Cecil, Executive Director
May/June 2020
Butte County Farm Bureau News, Page 2

Anyone else ready for a 2020 do over? I usually don’t give much thought to what I am going to write about in my May/June column. It’s always going to be all the great reasons why you must attend the Butte County Farm Bureau Summer Barbecue. That is why I am sad to have to write this column for this issue. It is in this column that I must announce that the Butte County Farm Bureau has made the difficult decision to cancel the June 18th Summer Barbecue as a result of this pandemic and our States shelter in place order.

may june farm news

While I am hopeful that by the time you read this, the Governor has laid out a timeline for opening up our state, we know that large gatherings are going to be discouraged for a while. We are however hopeful that by the time we are wrapping up the 2020 harvest, we’ll be able to gather again and celebrate bountiful crops, good health and see all your beautiful faces. Stay tuned for that.

We are also saddened to hear that the Silver Dollar Fair was also a victim of COVID-19. But if ever there was a brilliant recovery after falling down, it’s the support of the community and Rob Ramay at BidCal who went to work to make sure that the Jr. Livestock Auction would happen. Of course, in a virtual manner. These same kids who will market their junior livestock projects online will also have the chance to participate in a virtual evaluation of their livestock through the Butte Stock Show, a virtual livestock show, that is being coordinated by Dr. Celina Phillips and Taylor Lacey.

With no Silver Dollar Fair to attend, how do I support these great kids? I am so glad you asked. If you want to support the Butte Stock Show, you can write a check to the Butte Ag Foundation, write Butte Stock Show in the memo line and mail to Butte Ag Foundation, 2580 Feather River Blvd., Oroville, CA 95965. Donations to the Butte Stock show will be used to pay the cost associated with the online show program and ensure awards are available, just like the fair.

If you wish to buy an animal, then visit www.BidCal.com. The bidding starts on May 16th and closes on May 21st. But don’t wait till then to visit BidCal.com. Visit now and make sure you have registered and created your online account. Bid early and bid often. Resale and processing options will be just like the fair normally offers.

Lastly, we encourage you visit www.CFBF.com  and look for the COVID-19 Ag Industry link on the homepage. There you will find the most current information available for use by farmers and ranchers as it related to navigating the COVID-19 crisis on your farms and ranchers. Information for Small Business Administration, Public Health, CDFA, Governor’s Office, OSHA, USDA, it’s all there and it is updated as information becomes available. It is impossible to keep up on the massive amount of information that comes out daily so we are grateful that CFBF is keeping it all in one place. Another great reason to be a member wouldn’t you agree?

Farm Bureau On Our Side

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By Walt Stile
March/April Butte County Farm News

I don’t know about you, but when I started farming, I spent most of my time in the orchard.  During my childhood, I had always spent my summer vacations working on the family farm, leading up to and through harvest, before heading back to school.  When I made my decision to farm full time, it was an easy decision. I figured I could have summer vacation all year long.

walt

As the years have gone by, I’ve found that I spend more and more time away from the place that I love. Instead I’m behind a computer screen trying, in vain, to be compliant with all the government regulations.  Heck, it’s gotten so bad that I had to get an office so that I would have a place to store the countless forms and documents I need just incase some government official should knock on my door demanding any number of documents which I am now required to have on hand.

I use to think that I could solve all the worlds problems just spending the day on a tractor. Now, if I even get to operate a piece of equipment, my mind is troubled, as I keep wondering what new law or regulation have I inadvertently violated today.  My mind is a clutter of acronyms:  SGMA, FSMA, NMP, SVWQC, DPR, CUPA, SALC, BIT and WOTUS and a whole host of others.  I dare anyone to tell me that they can traverse this current maze of regulations or the ones coming down the pipeline. No longer can we just go about our business and farm or ranch the way our forefathers did.

Thankfully, we have Farm Bureau on our side vigorously defending our right to earn a living.  Through courses Farm Bureau offers, we can be educated of filing procedures, deadlines and other onerous regulations; avoiding costly fines, or worse yet, expensive legal battles. Farm Bureau also educates lawmakers and lobbies to protect the rights we hold dearly, locally and at both the state and federal Level.

Locally, we have tailgate meetings, with among others, CHP and the county agriculture department, where you can ask questions one on one to address a specific concern.  Recently, Farm Bureau has teamed up with AgSafe, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing the agricultural community with resources to help navigate laws and regulations we now face. With a Farm Bureau membership and a dedicated phone number, I get answers to questions concerning worker safety, human resources, pesticide compliance and food safety.

But don’t think that’s all Farm Bureau does.  As a member of this community Butte County Farm Bureau, like you, gives back to the community that supports us. When the fires struck Paradise, it was Farm Bureau that rose to the challenge, suppling feed and fencing for displaced animals.  In March, we will have our annual Drive Thru Tri-Tip dinner with proceeds going for scholarships for students interested in an Ag education. In addition, we sponsor the Agribee™, a spelling bee with agricultural words and defintions for 4th and 5th graders. Butte County Farm Bureau also supports The Big Harvest, Common Threads North, Farm City Celebration, Sierra Oro Farm Trail, Butte County 4-H and FFA.

Another concern we all face is the increase in rural crime.  How often have you arrived to your property to find equipment missing?  Butte County Farm Bureau in conjunction with the Sheriff’s office and Chico Farm and Orchard have invested in SmartWaterCSI™, an invisible liquid that Farm Bureau members can apply to their property, which is only visible with a special ultra violet light.  This liquid has a uniquely coded DNA which can identify the true owner.  If you are a current ag member of the Butte County Farm Bureau and haven’t picked up your SmartWaterCSI kit yet, please do. This is a great opportunity to recover stolen property and get it returned.

If you’re already a member of Farm Bureau, we thank you! As a member, you are already familiar with all the hard work that is being done locally and at the state and federal levels to advocate and educate for a profession we hold deal to our hearts.  If you’re not a Farm Bureau member, you need to ask yourself, why not? If your answer is I’m too small and only use labor contractors, think again.  Thanks to AB 5, you may not be able to insulate yourself from employee/employer liability by using a labor contractor.  Join Farm Bureau today and get the facts!

Editorial: Tuscan Water District and Election 2020

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By Colleen Cecil
January /February Editorial
Butte County Farm Bureau News 

Tuscan Water District
Maybe you have heard about it. Maybe you haven’t. If you are a groundwater user – agricultural and/or domestic – in the Vina or Butte Sub Basins of Butte County then you should probably make yourself aware. This is a necessary and important step in ensuring groundwater reliability for future generations in Butte County to be able to live and farm.

The Tuscan Water District is being formed to create an organization that can and will represent all groundwater dependent landowners, to be able to preserve and protect agricultural and domestic water supplies in the rural areas of the Vina and Butte sub basins and meet the sustainability goals of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

Through the Butte Local Agency Formation Commission, a process to form the district will be by a landowner-voter petition. The proposed Tuscan Water District will include more than 94,000 acres. This will encompass from the Tehama County line south to the Western Canal Service area; the eastern boundary is Highway 99 and the City of Chico corporate boundary and the western boundary generally following the Sacramento River, Big Chico Creek, M and T Ranch, Llano Seco Ranch Water District and Reclamation District 2106. In total the district will be approximately 147 square miles.

If you are one of the 52,000 acres within the proposed district boundary that have already lent support to this effort, I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. Thank you to those who have already voiced and demonstrated support. If you are part of the 42,000 acres that have not given your support, I encourage you to ask the questions and learn about the Tuscan Water District formation process.

tuscan_001

The actual application for the district formation has not been filed yet. It is slated to happen in early 2020. For more than two years now, upwards of 50 landowners have been meeting quarterly to get our community to where we are today. Preparations are underway to file the necessary paperwork.

Many of you have likely had personal phone calls or in-person meetings with Rich McGowan, Ed McLaughlin, Darren Rice or Todd Turley. These gentlemen have been pounding pavement, dirt roads and orchard rows talking to and educating you and your neighbors about the importance of forming this district. If you have not heard from them yet, then call me and I will get them in touch with you. With four of them and many of you, they have not talked to everyone but they are committed to talking to anyone that will benefit. And yes, this is a beneficial project.

It’s an Election Year
The year 2020 is now here and that brings with it an election. New to California this year will be an earlier Primary Election. We will now vote on March 3. It’s also important to note that this election will be 100% mail-in ballot too. You can still drop your ballot off but there will not be any polling places in March to go and vote this year. Make sure your mailing address is correct with the Butte County Clerk Recorder.

In this issue of the Butte County Farm Bureau News you will find our March Primary Voter Guide. You will notice three names for Butte County Supervisor. It is imperative that these three candidates win their seats. And preferably in March too. It is these three seats that have agriculture’s best interest at the County Board of Supervisors. If you don’t believe me, I challenge you to attend an upcoming Board of Supervisors meeting or watch one from the past twelve months. They are all available online.

BCFB Voter Guide March 2020

December in DC
Despite the tremendous amount of televised drama taking place in Washington DC the last year, there have been some major accomplishments. The House of Representatives passage of USMCA HR 5430 and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act HR 5038 in December, and both with tremendous bi-partisan support, have us eager to see both these bills voted on by the Senate and ultimately to the Presidents desk. Both bills will benefit California agriculture. We are appreciative of Congressman LaMalfa and his leadership and support in seeing both these bills get passed in the House.

We look forward to seeing you at the BCFB Annual Dinner on January 3st at Gold Country Casino where we will thank outgoing President Darren Rice, welcome our new president elect Lee Heringer and then dance the evening away to local favorite Decades.

We are looking forward to working for you in 2020 and thank you for your membership in the Butte County Farm Bureau. Happy New Year!

BCFB Opposes Butte Regional Conservation Plan

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By Colleen Cecil
Executive Director, Butte County Farm Bureau

For more than 12 years I have served as the Butte County Farm Bureau, and subsequently the agriculture representative, for the Butte Regional Conservation Plan (BRCP) Stakeholder group.

The BRCP is a 50 year plan that is both a federal Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and a state Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP). It provides a streamlined permitting process to accomplish transportation projects, urban and residential development and other covered activities.

The plan area for the BRCP includes the western two-thirds of Butte County’s total area and encompasses all of Butte County’s Agriculture zoned land.

The BRCP has always been touted as a plan to “streamline” the environmental permitting process for developers. As a BRCP stakeholder, I often asked “what does this plan do for agriculture?” I was told that it would benefit agriculture by allowing our area irrigation districts an easier permitting process for their annual projects.

Plan area

While that is in fact a benefit, what never could be resolved were the obvious impacts to agriculture that I often questioned. If you’re at all familiar with the environmental permitting process for development and how a conservation easement works, than you know that in-perpetuity easements are placed on other non-developable ground, and in this example agriculture zoned ground, to mitigate for a threatened or endangered species that may be on a parcel destined for development.

As a result of the size and scope of the plan, the potentially negative impacts to agriculture and very few direct benefits to agriculture, the Butte County Farm Bureau has been and remains opposed to the BRCP being approved in Butte County.

The BRCP is a 1,106 page document including all appendices, maps, charts and templates with a $434 million dollar price tag. The magnitude of technical information and detail included in this large document means there is no chance of me explaining all of the BCFB’s concerns in this editorial.

I wanted you to all know the BCFB is opposed to the BRCP being approved in Butte County and will remain opposed. Additionally we have suggested that this plan fails for lack of total community support (the developers, for whom it is supposed to benefit, have said they can do without it) and for its disregard of the importance for agriculture to Butte County’s open space, environment and economy.

I would encourage you to go and take a look the BRCP under the documents tab at www.buttehcp.com.

Please don’t read this as BCFB being opposed to conservation and easements. NOTHING could be farther from the truth. Butte County’s farmers and ranchers have always been and will continue to be staunch environmental stewards of our land and its critters. Development, mitigation, new easements and environmental protection will still continue and will happen just as it has been happening in Butte County.

If you own agriculture zoned ground in the plan area, you should understand this plan. If you farm and own rice ground, you should be concerned about this plan. If you own land ideal for grazing, you should understand this plan. If you already farm next to federal and state owned protected land, you too should understand this plan. And if you ever plan to develop anything in Butte County, you should read this plan.

Butte County is rich with environmentally protected, public and privately owned, open space habitat ground and we accomplished all of it without the BRCP.

I encourage your phone calls and all of your questions. After you call me, call your Chico, Oroville, Biggs and Gridley City Council members and the Board of Supervisors. They will have the final approval.

After 12 years of stakeholder meetings and reading drafts, I still learn something new about the HCP and NCCP process every time I open the document. Let’s learn and understand together. Maybe a collaborative plan that celebrates our agriculture and protects habitat can be created for future generations rather than the selfish plan we’re being asked to support.

(Reprinted from the September/October Butte County Farm Bureau News.)

New membership categories available

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Executive Director Column
By Colleen Cecil
Butte County Farm Bureau News
January/February 2019

It’s a New Year and we are excited to be bringing you a new Butte County Farm Bureau level of membership that will help to make navigating the regulatory framework easier.

As of January 1st, the Butte County Farm Bureau will offer a new level of membership that gives you all the benefits of being a Farm Bureau member and an AgSafe member for one annual price.

agsafe

You’re probably asking, “who is AgSafe and why should I consider this level of membership?”

If you have taken one of the many education courses we offer here at BCFB over the last three years, you have already interacted with AgSafe. Since 1991 AgSafe has worked alongside food and farming enterprises to help in creating a safe, sustainable workforce and food supply, by providing practical education and resources.

The non-profit organization, AgSafe is headquartered in Modesto and has a “boots on the ground” approach to teaching both the why and how of worker safety, human resources, pesticide safety and food safety. They are your partner in protecting workers in the field, as well as packing, processing and food manufacturing facilities.

The new level of BCFB membership is the Agriculture Safe Membership and it will be $325 a year. Agriculture Safe Members receive all the benefits of a BCFB Agriculture Member plus the benefits of being an AgSafe Micro Member. BCFB Agriculture Safe Members will have access to a 1-800 BCFB Hotline to get answers to any questions or concerns regarding worker safety, HR, pesticide compliance and food safety plus you’ll receive a 15% discount on any AgSafe Workplace Compliance Package.

Do you have an Injury Illness Prevention Plan? How about a Food Safety Plan? Maybe you don’t have an Employee Handbook but know you need one? AgSafe can work with you to create these items that are specific to your operation and your agricultural commodity. Did I mention you get a discount on these additional services because you’re a BCFB Agriculture Safe Member? (I did; just making sure you read it.)

Maybe you still want to learn more? I don’t blame you. First I would encourage you to visit www.AgSafe.org and review what AgSafe offers. As a BCFB Agriculture Safe Member you are going to get a username and password for the AgSafe website that will give you the ability to use and download the hundreds of free resources, webinars and templates that you can put into work on your operation immediately.

Next, you need to attend Grower Day on Wednesday, January 9th at the CSU Chico University Farm and hear from AgSafe CEO Amy Wolfe who will be our keynote speaker. Amy is going to speak to the realities of agricultural compliance and why you need to care about it.

Look for more about Grower Day on page _ of this newspaper. Please make note of our new location for Grower Day, the CSU Chico University Farm. Doors open at 7:30 AM. The coffee will be hot, the donuts will be fresh and our sold out tradeshow of local ag companies will be on hand. I want to give a big thanks to Grower Day Presenting Sponsor Nationwide. We are thankful to Nationwide and all of our sponsors and vendors who help make Grower Day possible and have been incredibly flexible and understanding with our change in date and venue for Grower Day.

Lastly, on behalf of the Butte County Farm Bureau and the Butte Ag Foundation, I want to thank the many who supported the Camp Fire Animal Agriculture Fund. We continue to pray for all who have impacted by the fire and are looking forward to a new year and new beginnings.

Camp Fire Animal Agriculture Assistance Fund

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On behalf of the agricultural community of Butte County, the Butte Ag Foundation will accept monetary donations that will be used to feed and maintain the livestock that have been impacted by the Camp Fire.

Large and small animals are currently being housed and cared for at the Butte County Fairgrounds in Gridley. The extensive and devastating damage of the Camp Fire has all but eliminated the pens, corrals and barns that these animals once called home. It is likely that many will reside at the fairgrounds for weeks after the fire is contained. Donations to the Butte Ag Foundation will be used for feed, supplies, and health needs of the animals that cannot easily be met through other dedicated funds.

Should funds remain after the livestock have been reunited with owners and/or placed in new homes, funds will be used to repair, replace and or upgrade livestock facilities for future crisis use.

The Butte Agriculture Foundation is a 501(c)3 Public Benefit Corporation and supports locally organized agriculture groups and committees to provide the resources and services needed to be successful in the efforts to inform and promote the value of our agrarian community. For more information visit http://www.ButteAgFoundation.org or call (530) 533-1473. You may also email info@buttefarmbureau.com.

From the Executive Director

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Each issue of the Butte County Farm Bureau Newsletter includes an editorial from Executive Director Colleen Cecil. The following was printed in the September/October 2018 Issue of the Butte County Farm News which is mailed to current members of the Butte County Farm Bureau.

colleen

I can now add protester to my resume. So can the approximately 80 others from Butte, Glenn, Tehama, Colusa, Yuba and Sutter County Farm Bureaus who jumped on our two chartered busses and headed for Sacramento on Monday, August 20th for the well-publicized Water Grab Rally that took place on the North steps of the Capitol.

It was a day with mixed emotion for me. I was excited to be participating and as I do when I am excited, I smiled. To add to the energy of the day, I saw many in our industry that I consider friends. People who I had not seen in years; people who I have grown up with and worked alongside. We were all there for the same reason and I was generally happy. But I was reminded by someone taking my picture that I probably shouldn’t look so happy. After all, the reason we were there was not a reason to celebrate. I was and still am down right infuriated over the State Water Boards plan for unimpaired flows on the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers.

There is a more factual and detailed article about the Bay Delta Plan Amendment in this newspaper that I encourage you to read to begin to understand the complicated events that have been and will continue to unfold. I however wanted to reflect on the day itself.

More than 1500 people gathered that day. The rally was organized by Assemblyman Adam Gray from the Merced area. The event was important enough that four Congressmen and almost a dozen California Assemblymembers and Senators all addressed those who gathered. Also providing remarks were Central Valley County Supervisors and City Council members.  Each detailing how the unimpaired flows would devastate their already struggling communities.

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Assemblymember Gray was the event organizer but it was County Farm Bureau’s that rallied the masses. My colleagues from Merced, Stanislaus, San Joaquin and the North State County Farm Bureaus listed above, spent about five weeks planning our participation with a weekly conference call hosted by California Farm Bureau.

We worked with CFBF’s legal team to see that fact sheets were developed and made public so we could more easily educate on the complicated topic.  We ordered charter busses and identified pick up stops in major points in our community. We blasted social media – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – with notification of the rally and encouragement to participate. I even remember the Facebook post that joked about needing a band at the event. The joke was on them as the Merced Unified High School District made it possible for the Atwater High Marching Band to be in attendance at the rally and keep the energy high.

As much as I wish we didn’t have to participate in this rally, I can now look back and say we needed it. We needed to see farmers from the North and the South join voices for the same issue – water. We chanted, we held our handmade and printed signs, we stood with lifelong farmers and the future of our industry as many blue jackets of the FFA participated too. We showed Sacramento’s appointed regulators they can’t divide us and we are not going to just “adjust” to this new regulation like we have for so many others.

We didn’t win but we were heard. The State Water Board has now pushed their decision on the Phase One till November 7, that day after the November election. Negotiations will continue.

I picked up my boys from school late that Monday afternoon and my six year old, who knew I was going to the Capitol in Sacramento for the Water Rally, asked me, “Mom did they take the farmers water today?” I smiled and told him not today, buddy. Not today.