- Author: John M Harper
This is a re-post from CWGA.
CWGA Legislative Action Alert – Members located in Marin County and Surrounding Areas:
Marin County is in the process of correcting an omission in the land use code that for the last 15 years has left ranchers in Marin without a pathway to commercial livestock slaughter in the county. On March 14th, the Board of Supervisors will meet to consider changes to the development code that would allow ranchers to conduct small-scale on-farm slaughter of poultry as well as allow a mobile slaughter unit to provide small-scale USDA-licensed slaughter of all species on ranches in the county. Both of these proposed rules would make it possible for ranchers to bring product to market without traveling across the state, submitting animals to stressful travel and costing the farms time and money. Anyone who has an interest in Marin's ranching community and/or locally produced meat should plan to write letters to the Board of Supervisors and speak at the March 14th meeting. Letters can be sent to the Board of Supervisors at BOS@marincounty.org.
The proposed rules would specifically allow:
1. On-farm slaughter by a rancher of his/her own poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese) for commercial sale without a use permit. This would be limited to 20,000 chickens (or equivalent) per year and only in lands zoned A3 - A60 (lands zoned A2 or ARP as well as those located in the Coastal Zone would be excluded). Ranchers would be able to process animals that are raised "on the same site or on other agricultural properties located in Marin County that are owned or leased by the processing facility owner or operator” but rabbits (traditionally included in the definition of “poultry”) would be excluded from this rule. Additionally, these processing activities would be limited to 5000 square feet.
2. Mobile Slaughter Units (MSUs) could provide USDA-licensed slaughter services to ranchers for all species without a use permit on lands zoned A3 - A60 (lands zoned A2 or ARP as well as those located in the Coastal Zone would be excluded). MSU's could not operate on any single property for more than 3 consecutive days and up to 12 total days within a calendar month unless the rancher secures a temporary use permit. Ranchers from other properties could bring their animals to where an MSU is in operation to have their animals processed. The unit would have to be located more than 100 feet away from any property lines.
3. Stationary slaughterhouses providing USDA-licensed slaughter services for all species would NOT be allowed in Marin County.
On March 14th, the Board of Supervisors has the power to approve, deny or even change these recommendations up to and including:
• Re-inserting rabbits into number 1 above.
• Allowing numbers 1 and 2 above in lands zoned A2 or ARP (the Board cannot at this time change the land use rules for farms in the Coastal Zone).
• Reversing or modifying the recommendation in number 3 in order to allow for some form of brick-and-mortar USDA slaughterhouse.
Substantial pushback from those who oppose ranching and livestock slaughter is expected at the March 14th meeting. It is very important for the Board of Supervisors to hear from the agricultural community on this issue, and members of the public who value local meats produced on local lands should also speak. Potential talking points might include:
• Raising pastured livestock is one of the oldest and most appropriate uses of Marin's coastal grasslands
• Without access to local slaughter services, ranches incur great cost in money, time and fuel to truck animals out of the area …just so they can be sold back to Bay Area consumers.
• Slaughter services are an essential part of the ranching business. Raising animals in an ecologically sound fashion is a fruitless endeavor if those animals cannot affordably be brought to market.
• New and small-scale ranchers are particularly paralyzed by the costs and complexity of working with distant slaughter facilities.
Also being recommended by the Planning Commission is a new rule to require use permits for ranchers in lands zoned ARP if they want to conduct educational tours. Until now, these activities have been considered “principally permitted” (i.e. a by-right activity that requires no permit or permission from the county). In the development code, “educational tour” is defined as: "Interactive excursion for groups and organizations for the purpose of informing them of the unique aspects of a property, including agricultural operations and environmental resources.” This has historically included school visits, chef/buyer tours, tours by organizations such as MALT or AIM, as well as open-farm type programming to help connect with new CSA members and other customers. Lands zoned A3-A60 would be unaffected by this change, but for those in ARP lands, the requirement to secure a use permit could mean $5,000-10,000 and extensive review by county Planning before allowing one of these activities to take place on your land. Given the growing interest by the public in visiting farms and ranches as well as the importance of transparency in the food system, this may pose a problem for many ranchers. Making your voice heard on this issue is recommended as well.
Again, on both matters, letters should be sent to: BOS@marincounty.org and please plan to speak on Tuesday, 3/14 (time TBD) in Suite 330 of the Marin Civic Center.
For questions contact Vince Trotter, Agricultural Ombudsman for Marin County at 415-524-7394 or marinagombudsman@gmail.com.
- Author: John M Harper
Announcement reprinted from California Wool Growers' Association newsletter. I was part of the team and it reflects input from Mendocino and Lake County ranchers as well as the rest of the state.
California has experienced five large-scale, multiyear droughts since 1960; however, the current event is considered the state's most severe drought in at least 500 years. Each year of the current drought has presented different challenges; for example, much of California received no measurable precipitation December 2013 through late January 2014. In the following year, the Sierra Nevada snowpack was just 5% of normal. As California ranching is largely dependent on rain-fed systems, as opposed to groundwater or stored water, it is very vulnerable to drought. In fact, rangeland livestock ranchers were among the first affected by the abnormally warm, dry winters at the beginning of the current multiyear drought.
In this article, we highlight lessons learned so far from past droughts, as well as California's unprecedented and ongoing multiyear drought. We draw on ranchers' perspectives and experiences, including research results from a statewide mail survey of 507 ranchers and semistructured interviews of 102 ranchers, as well as our own experiences. The mail survey (the California Rangeland Decision-Making Survey) included questions on operator and operation demographics, goals and practices, information resources, and rancher perspectives. Semistructured interviews are part of a larger ongoing project (the California Ranch Stewardship Project) examining rangeland management for multiple ecosystem services.
The publication is available at the following link - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019005281630027X
- Author: John M Harper
Please help me by completing the UCCE Livestock & Range Social Media for Program Delivery Survey at: http://t.co/C9koJHUPp5
Social media for UCCE Extension delivery is generally faster and less expensive than traditional methods that included workshops, paper newsletters, radio spots and newspaper and trade journal articles. While those methods will continue, I need to justify using the new methods like Twitter, Blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn groups.
It's important to evaluate impacts on clientele such as you who are taking this survey and who read my blog. Measurable impacts are often very hard to come by unless I ask. Your responses will also help guide me in writing future blog articles that will be useful to you.
I hope you will take the short time to complete this survey as it will help me to not only improve my program delivery but help me explain how important these types of delivery methods are for UCCE. Thanks in advance for your time!
- Author: John M Harper
Great News!
Ken Tate has agreed to expand his presentation at the upcoming California Ranch Stewardship Workshop on October 21 from 1- 4 pm at the Farm Advisors' office! His presentation is entitled Research Update: Grazing and
Environmental Topics. This is a very timely subject as Ken will be highlighting new research that has focused on water quality, sensitive species conservation and riparian health – important to both Mendocino and Lake County ranchers as they deal with on-going regulations. Ken will provide the science that landowners need to be informed when dealing with regulatory agencies. You don't want to miss it!
Remember. Preregistration ($15) is required either by credit card, check or cash at our web site at: http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=13795 to ensure we have sufficient handouts and refreshments (We've had numerous requests for Schat's cookies.). If you'd like to pay by check or cash contact our office and talk to either JT or Tanis. (707) 463-4495.
Hope to see you there!
CA Ranch Stewardship Workshop
- Author: John M Harper
November 7, 2014
• What the U.S. Drought Monitor means to you
• How CA Ranchers are coping with the drought
• New feeding strategies for livestock in drought
• NOAA's forecast for the coming season
The map tells the tale of California's relentless drought, its location and severity. This workshop will tell you the story of the Drought Monitor, in particular how the map may help you qualify for drought relief assistance – and how local California experience and information can be used to inform the drought mapping process. Results will also be shared from current studies of how ranchers are impacted by and managing for drought on their ranches, as well as on the newest livestock drought feeding strategies. The California state climatologist will present the forecast for the coming season. The workshop will be on the UC Davis campus and webcast to the majority of participants at local satellite locations across California. The workshop recordings will be posted on-line.
Questions and comments from local satellite webcast locations will be included throughout the workshop.
Agenda
9:15 AM | Registration Opens and Morning Refreshments Served | |
9:50 AM | Welcome, Ken Tate, UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension | |
10:00 AM | U.S. Drought Monitor: Setting the Context and Introduction of Speakers, Mark Svoboda, National Drought Mitigation Center | |
• A Behind the Scenes Look at the Drought Monitor: History, Tools, and Methods, Eric Luebehusen, USDA | ||
• How to get information into the US Drought Monitor Process, Brian Fuchs, National Drought Mitigation Center | ||
• The California Drought of 2011-14: Brief History and Current Impacts, Brad Rippey, USDA | ||
11:00 AM | Questions and Discussion about the Drought Monitor and California, Chad McNutt, NOAA Discuss the Drought Monitor and how California's ranching and range community can inform the process. |
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12:00 PM | Lunch Provided by the UCD Rustici Rangeland Endowments | |
1:00 PM | California Ranchers' Experiences with Drought, Leslie Roche, UC Davis Insights to on-ranch drought impacts, outlooks, and management based on surveys and interviews of over 500 ranchers living through this drought. |
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1:30 PM | New Livestock Drought Feeding Strategies, Glenn Nader, UC Cooperative Extension Tips for improving the nutritional quality of low quality feed products, and supplementing livestock diets on rangelands. |
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2:00 PM | Seasonal Climate Forecast and Opportunity for Q&A's for the Coming Season, Michael Anderson, California State Climatologist, California Department of Water Resources | |
2:30 PM | Closing Remarks, Tim Koopmann, President, California Cattlemen's Association |
Contact for Information and Registration – Tracy Schohr at tkschohr@ucdavis.edu or (916)716-2643(916)716-2643
Workshop and Webcast Locations – UC Davis campus and webcast to Auburn, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield, Tulare, Merced, Ukiah, Redding, Susanville, Yreka – more locations and details coming soon.
Useful Links
U.S. Drought Monitor – http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
U.S. Drought Monitor California– http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CA
UC Rangeland Watershed Laboratory Drought Page – http://rangelandwatersheds.ucdavis.edu/main/drought.html