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Almost 300 members of the California Farm Bureau joined together last week to discuss issues, receive updates on pending legislation and make personal visits to elected officials in Sacramento. Throughout the Capitol Ag Conference 103 meetings were held with legislative offices in Sacramento and 49 of those were directly with a legislator. As the President of this organization, nothing makes me prouder than seeing our members use the infrastructure and influence of Farm Bureau to make a difference in the future success of their farms and ranches.
Advocacy and influence take a serious investment in time spent. In the short term, this time investment is individual members leaving the ranch to walk the halls of the Capitol building. It’s farmers sharing their personal stories instead of spending the day prepping their fields to plant. It’s the staff of CAFB showing up for hearings, scheduling visits and being up to speed on even the smallest of details pertaining to the issues at hand.
In the long term, the investment in time is something that requires a commitment to staying the course, and the availability of resources to see it through.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the Third District Court of Appeal sided with the California Farm Bureau, the California State Water Resources Control Board and others related to the Central Valley’s Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program. Three environmental groups had challenged the adoption of general waste discharge requirements for growers within the Eastern San Joaquin Watershed. These groups challenged on a variety of points in three different cases. Through steadfast commitment, integrity, and subject mastery, CAFB and fellow agricultural intervenors/respondents achieved a win for agriculture on all points in all three cases at both the trial and appellate court levels.
This legal battle began in the Central Valley, but the court’s decision is precedential and applies to all irrigated lands regulatory programs throughout the state of California. While the decision was handed down in a moment, the fight to uphold farmer’s privacy rights and protect water quality with both reason and balance began 15 years ago when CAFB Senior Counsel Kari Fisher first began representing growers interests in this comprehensive permitting process.
Through Farm Bureau’s strength of leadership and organizational structure we were able to invest staff and financial resources into a fight lasting the better part of two decades. The reality is that most groups cannot maintain the fight with this longevity and the ability to outlast your opponent is as much a viable tactic in law as it is in other avenues of competition.
Whether it’s water quality, water storage, immigration reform or crafting the next Farm Bill, the issues we face are not small, they are not short-term, and they are not easily solved. Farming and ranching in California is an uphill battle and it’s only through our collective commitment and organizational strength that we’ll see these types of court wins in the future.
California Farm Bureau remains steadfast and while every win for agriculture is important, there’s something special about the hard-fought battle. We invest years of staff time and countless financial resources while we apply an ongoing determination to protect growers’ rights and our ability to keep farming and ranching. This is our good harvest after a rough year and we’re proud of that achievement.
Now, it’s time to get back to work.
For additional information on the Third District Court of Appeal decision click here.
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