SLO County Farm Bureau member Bee Sweet Citrus shared a picture of citrus harvest underway recently in southern SLO County. You can find Bee Sweet Citrus Blood Oranges, Cara Cara Navel Oranges, Lemons, Mandarins, Meyer Lemons, Navel Oranges, and Pummelos at local grocery stores. Photo courtesy of Bee Sweet Citrus. | |
Farm Team Action Alert: Act Now To Save Our Farm Vehicles | |
This Week In SLO County Agriculture | |
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This Issue Includes:
- Community: Farm Bureau Campaign School Feb. 25;
- COVID-19: USPS Will Mail Households 4 Free At-Home Covid Tests;
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State Government: AgAlert - Commentary: Capitol Sausage Making: How The Budget Is Crafted;
- County Government: Board Of Supervisors Meet January 25;
- Business Member Spotlight: Glenn Burdette;
- Social Media Post Of The Week: Young Farmers and Ranchers Social February 2nd;
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Labor: The Packer - Produce Industry Looks To Congress For Solutions To The Labor Crisis;
- Livestock: Morning Ag Clips - California Beef Council Announces New Executive Committee For 2022;
- Wildfire: SLO County Farm Bureau Submits Comments On Proposed State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations;
- Vineyard & Wine: Wine Grape Grower Solutions for 2022 Meeting Is February 8 In Atascadero;
- Produce: AgAlert - From The Fields - January 19, 2022;
- Water: State Says Paso Robles Basin Groundwater Plan Is Incomplete;
- Environment: CalMatters - Rewilding California: New $65 Million Preserve Straddles North and South; and
- Ag Economics: Congressional Hearing Examines Effects of Concentration In U.S. Food Supply.
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Executive Director Report
Here are a few things we worked on this week:
- Met with staff from county California Farm Bureaus to develop comments on the California Minimum Fire Safe Regulations;
- Reviewed the January 25 SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting agenda;
- SLO County Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee officers met to discuss 2022 activities;
- Held a SLO County Farm Bureau Executive Committee meeting;
- SLO County Farm Bureau member Dan Ponti and Deputy Executive Director Matthew Graybeal participated in the SLO County Fire Safe Council monthly meeting;
- Participated in a meeting hosted by the Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District regarding a new Central Coast Sustainable Farming Initiative;
- Gave an update on local agriculture issues on 98.1 KJUG's Tom & Becky Show (watch the Facebook video here);
- Adelaida Farm Center held its monthly meeting at the historic Adelaida Schoolhouse;
- Hosted a meeting with Edna Valley farmers led by Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg to discuss water infrastructure funding opportunities.
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Community: Farm Bureau Campaign School Feb. 25 | |
If you are interested in attending this free campaign training at California Farm Bureau headquarters on Friday, February 25, please email SLO County Farm Bureau Executive Director Brent Burchett at [email protected] or call 805-543-3654. No previous experience is necessary and participation does not obligate you to run in election. | |
2022 Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference: Feb. 25-28 | PUBLISHED ON WASHINGTON - The American Farm Bureau Federation will host the 2022 Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, Feb. 25-28, at the Omni Louisville Hotel. Highlights of the conference include inspiring speakers, hands-on learning sessions, local tours and the Collegiate Discussion Meet. | | | |
COVID-19: USPS Will Mail Households 4 Free At-Home Covid Tests | |
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Record Level of New COVID Cases in SLO County, New Data Visualizations Released
Jan. 14, 2022 - COVID-19 cases are at their highest level in San Luis Obispo County since the pandemic began, with 2,967 new cases reported in the past week, 3,573 current active cases, and a 14 day average of 342. This surpasses the previous peak of 331 in January 2021. These numbers do not include those who test positive through at-home tests or cannot access testing. The County also announced new refinements to its data dashboard, with several points updated based on review and reconciliation between state and local systems, several new data visualizations added, and adjustments—such as removing “cases by occupation”—to reflect that contact tracers are no longer able to investigate most cases. See the full dashboard here.
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State Government: AgAlert - Commentary: Capitol Sausage Making: How The Budget Is Crafted | |
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Commentary: Capitol sausage making: How the budget is crafted
January 19, 2022 – By Taylor Roschen, California Farm Bureau
It may not be fair to say the California state budget is still developed in smoke-filled rooms with handshake deals between cigar-chewing party bosses. We've come a long way in the interest of transparency and public participation. But the process is still enigmatic, to say the least.
So, even though the future of hog farming in the U.S. may be in question, let's talk about how California's budget sausage is made—and you decide if it is humane.
Every January, the governor releases his proposed budget. It's his first shot, based on how much money he thinks he has, to outline political themes and priorities he hopes will guide the Legislature. While the budget draft is released in January, the process actually starts much earlier.
Throughout the fall and winter of the prior year, the governor asks his agencies and departments to submit requests—known as budget change proposals, or BCPs—for what they want and what they need.
Through an often long and frustrating battle with the Department of Finance—still another sausage grinder—the proposals that prevail make their way into the January budget. Like a chef adding the extra finishing touches of herbs and spices, the governor sprinkles in his pet projects and favored requests. And, with an anticipated $45.7 billion surplus this year, he adds a bit more pork.
Now we're cooking. Through the early spring, interest groups, including Farm Bureau, bombard the governor and the Legislature with input: what's good, what's bad, what needs to be augmented or what should be redlined. In budget subcommittee hearings, themed by issue, legislators carry forward approvals, amendments and criticisms of the governor's proposals...
Continue reading here.
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California Farm Bureau's Legislative & Governmental Affairs Report - Jan. 23 | | |
County Government: Board Of Supervisors Meet January 25 | |
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San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday, January 25.
Review the agenda items here and watch the meeting here. Items of interest to agriculture include:
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Item 16 - Request to approve the Joint Funding Agreement between the United States Geological Survey and San Luis Obispo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District in an amount not to exceed $362,715 for Task 2 of the Adelaida Area Hydrogeological Study; authorize the Director of Public Works, or designee, to enter into no-cost amendments to the JFA; and approve a corresponding budget adjustment in the amount of $362,715 in Flood Control District Zone General through the cancellation of reserves, by 4/5 vote. Districts 1 and 5.
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Item 24 - Request to receive and file a report on Board-identified priority projects for the Department of Planning and Building and provide staff direction, as necessary. All Districts. Editor's Note: This agenda item has several important parts that affect Farm Bureau members including:
- Craft Distilleries Ordinance
- Guest Ranch to Dude Ranch Ordinance change
- Cannabis Ordinance Update
- Urban Small Wineries Ordinance
- Implementation of the Paso Basin Planting Ordinance
- Rural Camping Ordinance (Hipcamp-type businesses)
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Business Member Spotlight:
Glenn Burdette
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Thank You Farm Bureau Members | |
Social Media Post Of The Week: Young Farmers and Ranchers Social February 2nd | |
Labor: The Packer - Produce Industry Looks To Congress For Solutions To The Labor Crisis | |
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February 2, 2022 Webinar: CalSavers Sign-Up Deadline Coming Soon: Are You Ready?
CalSavers, California's mandatory employee opt-out retirement savings program is gradually being applied to smaller and smaller employers; in June 2020, employees of 5 or more employees will be mandated to register with CalSavers if they are not already furnishing their employees with an IRS tax-favored retirement savings option. Jonathan Herrera, Outreach & Marketing Manager for the CalSavers Retirement Savings Program will brief attendees on the CalSavers program, employer registration, and employer responsibilities.
Paul Yossem, Regional Vice President Private Sector Retirement Plans for California Farm Bureau Premier Partner Nationwide, will inform attendees about the California Farm Bureau’s Multiple Employer Plan (MEP), partnering with Nationwide to exclusively offer to CAFB agricultural members.
February 2, 2022, 10 AM (Zoom)
Register here. Cost? FREE!
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February 7 & 14, 2022: New Ag Employment Requirements for 2022: 2022 brings new requirements for California agricultural employers. What do you need to know to be in compliance?
Please join FELS for this unique hybrid in-person presentation at Stanislaus County Farm Bureau and Zoom for on on-line audience! FELS Chief Operating Officer Bryan Little will brief you on important legislative actions taken by the California Legislature in 2021 impact ag employers. Carl Borden of California Farm Bureau's Legal Affairs Division will review changes in the California minimum wage and overtime requirements for ag employees that will become effective for employers of 25 or fewer employees in 2022. Paul Yossem of Nationwide (invited) will inform you of the upcoming June 2022 deadline to enroll your business with the CalSavers employee retirement savings program and an alternative offered by Nationwide for Farm Bureau members. Last, Seth Merhten of Farm Employers Labor Service Group Legal Services Program partner Barsamian & Moody will walk you the ever-evolving Cal/OSHA ETS and changes that will become effective in January 2022.
February 7 & 14, 2022, 10 AM (Zoom)
Register here for February 7; here for February 14. Cost? FREE!
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Does the UFW still have the political muscle to restart election fight in California? | When the nation's high court effectively forbade union representatives from accessing fields and orchards to recruit workers last June, the United Farm Workers union turned to Sacramento for help. The union found a lawmaker from a coastal agricultural district willing to carry a bill that would allow | | | |
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Produce industry looks to Congress to solve labor crisis
As hard as it is to achieve, the bipartisan effort of Congress is the only way forward to meaningful farm labor reform. That was the view shared by Dave Puglia, of Western Growers, and Kam Quarles, of the National Potato Council, at a Jan. 6 workshop at the 2022 Potato Expo.
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California farmworkers now get overtime pay after 8 hours. Some growers say it's a problem | For the past two decades during the harvest season, 58-year-old farmworker Lourdes Cárdenas would wake up at 3 a.m. to get dressed, say her daily prayers and prepare lunch before driving an hour south from her home in Calwa to a farm in Huron. | | | |
Farmworkers, growers dissatisfied after overtime change | Uncomfortable adjustments are under way now that California farm operations with 26 or more employees have to pay one and a half times the regular rate for work done after eight hours in a day and more than 40 in a week. | | | |
Farmworkers Bear the Brunt of California's Housing Crisis | On most days, Rosalia Martinez finds it unbearable to live in the converted garage she shares with her husband and three young children. It's a single room without privacy and the rent-$1,350 a month-is a lot more than the farmworker family can afford. | | | |
Livestock: Morning Ag Clips - California Beef Council Announces New Executive Committee For 2022 | |
New Podcast Episode: Livestock Guardian Dogs | Livestock Guardian Dogs Episode Out Now! For this episode, we traveled to Auburn, California to talk with Dan Macon, a Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension, about his own livestock operation and his utilization of livestock guardian dogs. | | | |
California Beef Council announces new executive committee for 2022 | PUBLISHED ON ROCKLIN, Calif. - The California Beef Council (CBC) welcomed a new executive committee for 2022, with Cindy Tews of Fresno serving as chair for the coming year. Tews comes into the role on the heels of Tom Barcellos, who provided leadership and guidance as chair during 2021. | | | |
NCBA backs WOTUS recommendations from EPA Advisory Committee | Today, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) announced support for a report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Advisory Committee (FRRCC). "The FRRCC represents a diverse group of stakeholders including academia | | | |
Advertise With San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau | |
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Get Your Message in Front of Over 2,000 San Luis Obispo Countians!
Our weekly E-News is sent out every Friday to our membership and local leaders. 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.
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Wildfire: SLO County Farm Bureau Submits Comments On Proposed State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations | |
US plans $50B wildfire fight where forests meet civilization | BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - The Biden administration said Tuesday it will significantly expand efforts to stave off catastrophic wildfires that have torched areas of the U.S. West by more aggressively thinning forests around "hot spots" where nature and neighborhoods collide. | | | | |
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SLO County Farm Bureau Submits Comments to California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection on Proposed State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations
Read the letter here.
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Vineyard & Wine: Wine Grape Grower Solutions for 2022 Meeting Is February 8 In Atascadero | |
Wine Grape Grower Solutions for 2022 Meeting by Buttonwillow Wearhouse Company
SLO County Farm Bureau member Steven Easterby is hosting two meetings for wine grape growers in February.
To register for the Feb. 8 Atascadero Meeting click here and for the Feb. 10 King City meeting click here.
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Spring Release & Paso Wine Fest 🍷 | BlendFest on the Coast, February 24 - 27, celebrates traditional, rule-breaking, and unconventional wine blends throughout the weekend on the beautiful California coast. Spring Release Weekend, March 18 - 20, is a three-day festival celebrating wineries' new releases, kicked off with a walk-around wine tasting in downtown Paso Robles. | | | |
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February 18, 2022 Tailgate by Vineyard Team: Avoiding Winter Kill in Young Vineyards Webinar
Want to know more about the science behind winter hardiness management and mitigation? Register for the webinar featuring Dr. Marcus Keller, Distinguished Professor in Viticulture WSU-IAREC followed by a grower panel discussion on the practices they have found most impactful so you can learn the best strategies to cope with winter injury.
Speakers:
- Dr. Marcus Keller, Distinguished Professor in Viticulture WSU-IAREC
- Johnny Pierini, J Lohr Vineyards & Wines
- Lucas Pope, Coastal Vineyard Services, Inc
- Jon Winstead, Vineyard Professional Services
CCA: 2 hours Crop Management
REGISTER NOW
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Produce: AgAlert - From The Fields - January 19, 2022 | |
From the Fields - January 19, 2022
By Richard Bianchi, San Benito County vegetable grower (and SLO County's District Director for California Farm Bureau)
The recent rains have been a godsend. We had a lot of dry ground that needed plenty of moisture. We've got some nice days. Unfortunately, it looks like we've got another 10 days of clear weather, but hopefully after that breaks, we'll get back into another wet period. Over the last three or four weeks, we had anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of rain, depending on where you're at. It was a good start to our winter season. Nevertheless, we're starting romaine, head lettuce, the iceberg business, broccoli, cauliflower. Everybody's slowly starting to move, and it will just pick up from here. Everybody's hoping for better markets with everything.
A vast majority of our workers are vaccinated. Our local Farm Bureaus have made a very, very concerted effort to get out there and make sure our workforce has been vaccinated. But I don't know if I've ever had a winter where we've talked about labor so much. It's been more questions. We're talking about working ranches eight hours a day, and it's almost unheard of. Guys are struggling with trying to figure out what that looks like. There's not enough labor as it is. Now we just took five hours a week out of your menu that you can use.
Markets haven't been great. It's not the best to go and spend an extra time and a half. That's a tough pill to swallow. It's been a tumultuous winter season, because we're trying to figure out what this looks like. We can't just farm five days a week. You need to be out there six days a week. You can't just try and shoehorn everything into an eight-hour day.
Things are looking up when it comes to the rain and the weather, but the regulatory aspect is taking the fun out of it, especially this year. We've got the Ag Order and all the recommendations that are coming down with that. Then you've got (the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act). Those all come with dollars per acre.
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What's New and Improved for Specialty Crop Producers? | Over the past year, USDA has stepped up our support of specialty crop producers and local and regional food systems. USDA believes specialty crop producers are integral to the food system of the future, and we are working to improve available options for specialty crop producers as well as ensure equity in program delivery. | | | |
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Annual pesticide data report out from USDA
Agri-Pulse - Jan. 20, 2022
Fewer than 1% of the fruits and vegetables tested in 2020 had pesticide residues exceeding EPA-established tolerances, and 30% of the samples had no detectable residue, according to USDA’s latest annual pesticide data report.
The findings “illustrate that residues found in agricultural products sampled are at levels that do not pose risk to consumers’ health and are safe according to EPA and FDA,” the report says.
The 9,600 samples were collected from 10 states — California, Washington, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Maryland. Most were fresh fruits or vegetables, but about 1,700 were processed products. The report found some pesticides more frequently in imported than domestic samples.
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Environment: CalMatters - Rewilding California: New $65 Million Preserve Straddles North and South | |
Power outages spur push by California counties for microgrid activation | If a microgrid is built in California to address public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), shouldn't it also be activated when power outages occur for other reasons? That's the question a group representing 38 rural counties ... | | | | |
Rewilding California: New $65 million preserve straddles north and south | If the Sierra Nevada mountains are California's spine, the Transverse Range is its bulging disc. Tectonic pressure has squeezed this landscape against the grain - radiating east and west, defying the north-south... | | | | |
Is The California Solar Dream Fading Fast? | California has more rooftops with solar panels than any other state and continues to be a leader in new installations. It is also first in terms of the percentage of the state's electricity coming from solar, and third for solar power capacity per capita. | | | | |
Water: State Says Paso Robles Basin Groundwater Plan Is Incomplete | |
State Says Paso Robles Basin Groundwater Plan Is "Incomplete" | From the Department of Water Resources: Today, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released four determinations on groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) developed by local agencies to meet the requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). DWR has found in its technical review that the GSPs in four basins contain deficiencies that preclude approval and the plans are determined to be Incomplete. | | | |
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Central Coast Water Quality Preservation, Inc. Will Help Growers Completing Total Nitrogen Applied (TNA) Report
Please note that the requirement to submit a TNA report in 2022 (by March 1st) applies ONLY to ranches that were required to report TNA at any point in time during the previous Ag Order (Ag Order 3.0, between 2017 and 2021). Beginning in 2024 (based on the 2023 growing year), the TNA reporting requirement will phase in for other operations.
Live, individual assistance from now through March 1st:
- Call or email Member Support at 831-240-9533 or [email protected]. Please note that most questions we have received so far can be resolved with a brief phone or email exchange, within the same business day. More complex questions may require a dedicated support session, either in-person, via phone, or via Zoom. If you are not able to use a computer, or an Excel spreadsheet, to complete the TNA Report - please use the Member Support phone line to call us (831-240-9533)
Upcoming TNA Reporting Assistance Workshops:
Tuesday, January 25th
- Location: Santa Maria Library, Sheperd Hall and via Zoom
- 9am-10am: Presentation/Tutorial
- 10am to noon: Live in-person help at two computer workstations. Bring your questions, records, or partially-completed report and we will help you complete your TNA Report on-the-spot!
Tuesday, February 1st
- Location: Monterey County Farm Bureau (Salinas, large conf. room) and via Zoom
- 10am-11am: Presentation/Tutorial
- 11am-1pm: Live in-person help at two computer workstations. Bring your questions, records, or partially-completed report and we will help you complete your TNA Report on-the-spot!
Asistencia en espanol – Ubicacion y fecha (en Febrero) exacta por determiner. Additional Zoom-only Workshop to be held the week of February 14th (exact date TBD)
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Paso Basin Cooperative Committee Meets Jan. 26
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Paso Basin Cooperative Committee will hold a Regular Meeting at 4:00 P.M. on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. Members of the public can participate via phone or by logging into the web-based meeting.
To join the meeting click here.
Passcode: 338420. By phone: +1 669 900 6833 | Webinar ID: 845 3674 0971 | Passcode: 338420. Review the agenda here.
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Ag Economics: Congressional Hearing Examines Effects of Concentration In U.S. Food Supply | |
Hearing examines the effects of concentration in the U.S. food supply | PUBLISHED ON WASHINGTON - House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) delivered the following opening statement, as prepared, during a Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law hearing entitled "Reviving Competition, Part 5: Addressing the Effects of Economic Concentration on Americas Food Supply:" "Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding today's important hearing on America's food supply. | | | |
Small family farms produce majority of poultry and eggs, and hay | In 2020, most of the values of cotton (62 percent), dairy (73 percent), and specialty crops (57 percent) were produced on large-scale family farms. USDA defines a family farm as one in which the principal operator and related family own the majority of the assets used in the operation. | | | |
Ag economists discuss inflation, pandemic-related uncertainties | The Purdue Agricultural Economics Report's annual outlook issue identifies key factors that may affect the agricultural economy in the coming year. For 2022, Purdue experts cite inflation and COVID-19 uncertainty as key issues impacting food prices, general economy performance, farm costs... | | | |
K-COE: Ag Business Insider | |
Winter 2022 Newsletter:
- Making the Most of Carbon Market Opportunities
- What's one of the best investments your business can make in 2022?
- Who should be included in family meetings?
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Farm Bureau Membership Matters | | |
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We cannot support your freedom to farm and ranch without your membership.
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.
We're here to help! Call us if you need some assistance with membership, at 805-543-3654. All California county Farm Bureau memberships are processed through the California Farm Bureau Federation, but please reach out to our SLO County office if you need your membership number or have questions.
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Thank You San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau
Platinum Members
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