Ag Alert. June 1, 2022

30x30 Continued from Page 1

not going to be good for the operation. They’re not going to be good for the land, the crop, etc. There’s too many variables.” The extent to which working lands can help might be based on the farmer’s prac- tices, said Taylor Roschen, a California Farm Bureau policy advocate. “You might be able to say that pre- scribed grazing practices on rangeland are going to help boost native plant species or forage for pollinator species,” she said. “You could talk about some of the healthy soil management practices that are taking place on real crop operations, and how that is providing better species biodiversi- ty, species richness and soil health.” Many of these practices are not based on long-range timelines, she added. “That’s the challenge that we have to ar- ticulate, is there’s immediate biodiversi- ty benefits that can be offered on work- ing lands by making these investments while we also make long-term invest- ments through conservation easements,” Roschen said. Mitchell said the farm’s very existence is a boon to the environment. “Just with the planting of the trees and vines that help with carbon sequestration, I think it’s a major component,” Mitchell said. “The habitat that we provide in these working landscapes is paramount. You can go to any orchard, row crop (farm), vine- yard, and you’re going to see a very lively, integrated biodiversity on those lands with different wildlife that is utilizing the crops for food, for cover.” Machado, who grows almonds, walnuts, cherries and olives, said, “We use cover

crops on just about everything.” These serve two purposes, he noted: to attract pollinators, and to “increase the tilth and hopefully developing enough biomass to help improve the soil.” Machado has participated in the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Healthy Soils program. “We saw benefits from water use, water savings, and then just building up the mass,” he said, adding he wants to keep doing this. Mitchell pointed to the success of CDFA programs such as Healthy Soils and the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program. “I just think it’s a really shameful miss on the agency’s part to not recognize the working landscapes, and really the ad- vancements we have made over the last decade,” Mitchell said. “We’re right in the midst of seeing a lot of change happen- ing in farmland and understanding the science and understanding our climate changes, and how we can best suit solu- tions for that.” Roschen said there may be budgetary support. The governor’s May revision to his budget proposal allocates $768 million over two years for “nature-based solutions” and the 30x30 plan, while a proposal from Democratic state senators suggests $500 million for 30x30. The Machado farming family put prop- erty into an easement to continue a legacy. “The family’s been here since 1906,

and it’s been in farmland,” said Machado, whose grandparents immigrated from the Azores and ultimately put down roots in Linden. “Upon the transitioning from one generation to another, the farmland usu- ally ends up being sold or developed. Our interest was to try to maintain the legacy of the family and to keep it in farmland.” An easement also serves as “a barrier to urban growth,” Machado said, noting that development in rural areas can suddenly limit how and when a farmer can carry out regular activities. “Urban growth, or pock- ets of urban growth in rural areas, can be very detrimental to the practice of agricul- ture,” Machado said. Mitchell said the 30x30 exclusion will not slow her down. “We have a long list of landowners who wish to take the volun- tary step to see their farms protected for the next generation of farmers,” she said. Mitchell said more needs to be consid- ered beyond climate resilience. “To be able to protect this most valuable land in California should be everybody’s priority, just from a food-production, food-security standpoint to climate resil- iency and those climate benefits that these lands are also providing,” she said. Machado put it bluntly: “Without food, you can’t eat. Without agriculture, you don’t have food.” (Kevin Hecteman is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

managed private grazing lands, ranches, and working forests with formal durable protections for biodiversity such as conser- vation or mitigation easements.” Agricultural easements and Williamson Act contracts are only considered “com- plementary conservation measures” because, the report states, “protection is temporary, management does not protect natural conditions as a primary goal, or they are too small to be mapped.” Despite calling for avoiding pesticide use on lands under conservation easements, the report names “organic farms” along- side Williamson Act lands and commu- nity gardens among spaces ineligible for 30x30 consideration. Machado said he is puzzled why the state wouldn’t include the farmland in the plan “but at the same time they’re providing funding to purchase ease- ments, which basically keeps the land in a permanent use, which you would think would meet the definition of the type of conservation they’re trying to do.” He added, “That raises a lot of questions.” Charlotte Mitchell, executive director of the California Farmland Trust, said it was obvious early on that most working lands would be excluded. “In speaking with some of the agency folks,” Mitchell said, “it’s really about the durably managed lands,” which are lands are defined by the state as lands owned by the state or under easements for the purpose of protecting species and habitat. Mitchell added, “We can’t be durably managed to meet objectives that are

Agricultural Market Review Quotations are the latest available for the week ending May 27, 2022 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. No Quote 137-140 138 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 112.11 99.61 103.15 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 175-244.14 204.05-245 185.30-233 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock 13 No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 76.62 95.84 96.05 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per bu. trucked 8.42 9.80 9.60 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 210-240 (P/S) 14-15 (forage mix, bale) 19 (G/P, per bale) Region 2, Sacramento Valley No Quote No Quote No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 240-300 (P/S) 370-400 (G/P/S) 400 (P/S) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley No Quote No Quote No Quote Region 5, Southern California 240-260 (G/P/S) 398 (P/S) 400 (P/S) Region 6, Southeast Interior 220-227 (P/S) 360-375 (P/S) 360-390 (P/S) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote

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Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt.

39-43

54-56

Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price 11.75-12.25 (No. 1) No Quote Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. No Quote

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June 1, 2022 Ag Alert 11