I Was Wrong
We are starting our second
week of deer season (hunting), and I wrote last week that recent years have
been very different to those seasons when I was growing up. I was wrong. This
year has already seen the arrest/citation of a hunter who parked on the side of
Highway 154 in the late afternoon last week, jumped over our fence and
proceeded to cross our Armour Hill pasture with a rifle slung over his shoulder.
One of the ranch personnel spotted him out in the field, called the ranch
manager, the sheriff and me. We all converged on the parked truck and waited
for the officers to arrive. According to California law, a property must be
fenced, cultivated or posted to qualify for a trespass violation. Of course,
the Armour Hill pasture is fenced and posted, although people keep tearing off
the posted signs right where the hunter entered.
I was surprised that
someone would so obviously trespass and try to hunt as well but it was
suggested to me that because the National Forests are closed because of the
Zaca Fire, which is where most deer tags are issued as the place to hunt, the
choice is reduced to finding a ranch owner who allows hunting or to trespass
and hope to get away with it. I have the feeling that this deer season might be
busier than it has been in recent years. I am not looking forward to that
prospect because there are some individuals who are determined to trespass no
matter what.
In the past two years we
have had people come up the Santa Ynez River, perhaps not being aware that it
is mostly private property, for which we pay taxes, to hunt ducks. This usually
occurs around Christmas time and happens just below our horse breeding
facility. Gunshots are not something that pregnant mares appreciate. In fact,
young foals are not very happy about sounds like that either and it becomes
extremely dangerous as they bolt to avoid the sound, hopefully, not running
into anything.
Fires, Theft and Pests
We have endured, here in
the Valley, over a month of smoky air, sometimes chokingly, brown or gray
skies, ashes falling everywhere and questions as to when it is going to end.
Asthma and hay fever sufferers have been particularly affected, wondering
whether it is safe to participate in their usual activities or some days,
whether they should even venture outdoors at all.
In talking recently to a
person long associated with fighting those fires, I got the answer to a
question I asked last week about whether anyone knew of a fire here that had
lasted as long as the Zaca fire, to date. He presented me with data about fires
over the last 75 years which was astounding. Generally speaking, from Riverside
to Monterey Counties, mostly in Santa Barbara County, over these years the average
length of the fire was about 15.3 days and approximately 100,000 acres was
burned. The longest and largest fire was in 1932 in Ventura County which lasted
35 days and consumed 220,000 acres.
So with this information
and much gratitude to the individual who presented it, the question remains, is
there a change in forest fire policy that we are witnessing these days? That
is, when we can see anything of our surroundings at all. It would be
educational to hear from our experts on what their thoughts are regarding the
pros and cons of different fire policies so that the public could understand
the rational behind how fires are attacked.
So too, you are perhaps not
aware of the huge increase in metal thefts on agricultural properties in recent
years. All sorts of metal such as copper, aluminum, bronze and steel are being
stolen from farm fields to be sold to recyclers to finance, among other things,
drugs. Our local Rural Crime Task Force has been very busy in trying to solve
thefts of metals, chemicals, farm equipment and fruits and vegetables. Cattle
rustling is still occurring occasionally as well. The Rural Crime Task Force,
supported by our Sheriff’s Department, meets quarterly with ranchers and
farmers to discuss current and resolved investigations. It is a wonderful
vehicle for both parties to work together to resolve crime issues on our
ranches and farms.
As for pests, our farmers
and ranchers have waged war for generations against disease and crop loss with
the help of pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics. These days, it is
politically correct to advertise your agricultural product as “free” of all
sorts of things which, in the past, kept your fruits and vegetables looking
good as well as keeping in one piece during shipping since most of these items
came from some distances away. As some of the residual effects of certain chemicals
and other practices became evident, it became important to ban or control
applications of these things to the food we consume.
Most people who are not in
agriculture are not aware that the chemicals they can buy at any home
improvement store, for the people in agriculture a permit is required. Not only
that, but people in agriculture must be tested and then licensed to even buy
those products. The tests are quite difficult to pass and require advanced
skills to understand the questions or even pronounce the products being
discussed. Application rates, reporting requirements and reentry times to
fields information must be thoroughly understood and complied with due to food safety.
An absence of knowledge of
the rules that farmers and ranchers must comply with has led, I fear, to a
blanket condemnation for some people of all pesticides, herbicides or
vaccinations for humans or animals. It is unfortunate that such misinformation
has been allowed to persist because there is a lot of benefit to many of these
products if used properly and certainly safer for a licensed individual than
for the average homeowner who may not even read the label. It would be ideal if
we could raise alfalfa without the weevils showing up to eat the entire crop
but it is not realistic. It is also not going to be the case that weeds will
stop growing just where you don’t want them. If you apply water in an arid area
like the Valley, weeds are going to appear along with whatever you have
planted. Perhaps you have the hours or help to remove them before they set seed
for the next bigger generation from your garden but multiply that by a couple of
hundred acres and you see the need for herbicide. Since methyl bromide is being
phased out of California, I don’t know what the strawberry farmers are going to
do as there is no current replacement for it. Does this mean fewer berries,
fewer jobs or an impact to the local economy? It certainly does for the Santa
Maria Valley and other strawberry growing regions. What chemical will be
restricted or eliminated next? Are you aware that allowing a vineyard to be
built within a mile of alfalfa fields means that certain chemicals can no
longer be used? We have already lost our last local dairy due to the impacts of
that. Do you understand what the radicals among us are doing to the people who
are trying to safely and cheaply feed you? It is nice to have food available to
us that is grown locally but it is not possible to (1) keep all crops available
year round and (2) feed all of us locally. We must bring food items in from
around the country. For a variety of reasons, which I shall try to cover in
upcoming issues, we have begun to import a lot of our food from other countries.
I have repeatedly warned that this is not a good thing for safety reasons but
of course, I am only one voice.
Ag Tourism and the UN
I’ve been reading some
frightening but encouraging information in a new publication entitled “Standing
Ground” produced by the American Land Foundation and Stewards of the Range, two
groups dedicated to preserving American private property rights. Did you know
that there was a move to designate a portion of San Luis Obispo County a United
Nation’s World Heritage Site? The result of this would have been, had it been
successful, to place that portion of the county under the regulatory authority
of the United Nations! I don’t know how many of you have been impressed by the
overall job the United Nations has been doing, but I for one, don’t even want
it to know we exist. I am sure it would just love to get its hands on some of
this beautiful Valley, and I am sure that there are some residents here that
would just love that too but it will never happen. It will never happen because
there are too many of you here who love this Valley and who know all too well
what would happen should some organization take control of us.
In fact, there are a number
of us wondering why our local leaders are so gung-ho to promote agritourism
here when we have such a lively agricultural community already in place. I
don’t know too many ranchers, maybe just a couple, who are at all interested in
bed-and-breakfast operations or carriage rides around their place. Does this
mean that we’re going to have helicopters buzzing our homes and animals (who
hate them) showing tourists how beautiful the Valley is? I know from spending
time in Hawai’i how awful the noise is and how intrusive they can be on your
peace and quiet. The increased activity of the firefighting helicopters gives
you an idea. We all certainly love the firefighting ones but tons of tourists? How
about the big balloons flying overhead? What do you think of them? I know one
rancher who was trying to get them reestablished here in the Valley just like
they are in the Napa/Sonoma vineyard areas. Did you know that the ranchers ran
them out of the Valley 20 years ago after they landed anyplace they liked,
putting horses and cattle through the fences, scaring dogs and cats and people
alike, cutting fences to let themselves out of pastures, creating huge fire
dangers in the dry grass with their burners and landing in residential
neighborhoods? I don’t think we need to revisit that nightmare again, do you?