SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — 20 years after its passage, Senate Bill 703 went into effect banning nearly all agricultural burning to help limit air pollution, but farmers say the new practice is exceedingly more expensive.
- The bill introduced by then State Senator Dean Florez, outlines a ban on agricultural burning to limit the pollutants being spread in the air. After the bill was passed, Florez said it was tough sledding to get to this point, but he's happy to see it go into effect.
- Stephen Montgomery, chair of the Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club, said he believes the law going into effect is a great thing because it limits the pollutants being put into the air by burning.
- Jonny Holtermann, a fourth-generation farmer and President of the Kern County Farm Bureau, said while farmers have had time to make the changes, the costs associated with the new regulations are significantly higher than the alternative. She noted there are subsidies from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, but the funding is limited and it's unclear if more funding will be allocated at the state or federal level to offset the costs.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
If you're like me, you may not know about the times of agricultural burning here in Kern County, but if you grew up here, or have lived here for decades, you may remember a time when smoke from controlled agricultural burns filled the sky around you. I'm Sam Hoyle, your Shafter Neighborhood reporter, earlier this year after it was passed in 2003, California State Senate Bill 703 went into effect, banning nearly all ag-burning operations, sans a few caveats.
The prevailing thought behind banning ag burning is to limit one of the factors contributing to poor air quality in the central valley, with a Kern County consistently showing some of the worst air quality in the country. Though for ag producers like fourth-generation farmer and president of the Kern County Farm Bureau Jenny Holtermann, the new law means more work, which creates extra costs.
“It's a cost of doing business, and it's a very expensive cost that comes with it,” said Holtermann. “You're looking at, you know, over, you know, $1,500 to $2,000 an acre, and depending on time availability, and that's just then we have to chip it into the soil. So that's extra, you know, more money that you're looking at there. So it is, it is very costly to do, and lots of big equipment, and it takes time to do such a project.”
However, for Stephen Montgomery, Chair of the Kern-Kaweah Sierra Club Chapter, the law going into effect spells a positive change.
“The means of getting rid of unwanted agricultural waste. Now, of course, is chipping, shredding and mulching. Those procedures have the actual pleasant benefit of improving the soil of the agricultural operations affected. And yes, it's more costly, less convenient, but at what? What cost is the alternative of continuing the old practice of burning?” said Montgomery.
Since the bill's passing over 20 years ago, there were several deadlines to enact that got pushed back, before it was agreed to do a staggered roll-out of the law starting in 2021. With that, came funding to help farmers adjust to the changes, but the funding is limited. Dean Florez, then state senator who introduced the bill, now member of the California Air Resources Board, said the process to bring the law to where it is now was tough sledding and while it's gone into effect, the financial aspect of it will still pose a challenge.
“The money that was allocated, $180 million was part of the deal, and the deal was an end to AG burning, if indeed, we can take these funds, and these funds are supposed to last, really, anywhere between 10 to 15 years, but I have no doubt that there will be more dollars necessary, and agriculture is going to need some economic help in order to get this accomplished,” said Florez.
Holtermann noted, the additional funding is helpful for farmers, but without a solid plan in place to help farmers incorporate the increase in labor and equipment needed to carry out the plan, it raises some concern.
“It is super helpful, and a lot of farms can't do it without that assistance. So we are grateful for that, but it doesn't cover the whole thing, and the funding is limited, like you said, so without the state being there to support these kinds of funds, it could go away. We're – it's very uncertain.”
At the top of this story, I mentioned there are some instances where growers can burn as long as they receive a burn permit to do so per the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, in cases of diseased crops that could spell further trouble down the line if they're shredded and redistributed on the land.
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