LAKEPORT – Speaking to nearly 200 local Farm Bureau members Thursday, state Sen. Patricia Wiggins said that she's especially concerned about agriculture in what she called an “interesting time” in the industry's history.
Wiggins was the guest speaker at the Lake County Farm Bureau's 84th annual meeting and barbecue at the Lake County Fairgrounds.
“I consider agriculture to be one of my top priorities,” said Wiggins.
She explained that agriculture is at a critical point, with two acres of farmland lost to development every minute. Wiggins said she hopes more people begin to think about buying their food locally, because California's farmers produce the best and safest food products in the world.
Wiggins shared updates on some of her recent agriculture bills, including SB 562 and SB 634, which deal with strengthening and expanding the Williamson Act. Those bills passed the Senate and are now moving through the Assembly.
As for the nearly $40 million in cuts to Williamson Act subventions proposed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wiggins said she believes that funding ultimately will be restored in the final state budget.
Wiggins also authored SB 773, which supports cattle ranchers by waiving trucking restrictions on Highway 101 and is scheduled for a hearing before the Assembly Transportation Committee on July 2.
One Wiggins bill that has special pertinence for Lake County is SB 319, which would extend a law that allows local teens to work longer hours in the county's pear sheds during the summer harvest.
“Your county sometimes faces a serious labor shortage,” said Wiggins. SB 319 will help both the local pear industry and teens by giving them employment opportunities and a chance to earn money for college.
SB 319 passed the Senate April 23.
Wiggins' spokesman David Miller told Lake County News that SB 319 passed the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee 7-0 in a June 20 hearing. The bill has another hearing yet to go before it will go to the full Assembly for a vote, Miller said.
During the evening Farm Bureau President Jeff Gleaves presented the Agricultural Appreciation Award to Toni Scully of Scully Packing. Scully has been an active voice in lobbying for immigration reform and the pear shed bill extension.
“Immigration reform isn't dead,” Scully told her fellow Farm Bureau members. But she added that everyone there needed to “pull hard to keep it alive.”
She asked everyone to do two things:
– Call Sen. Barbara Boxer's office (Sacramento, 916-448-2787; San Francisco, 415-403-0100) or e-mail her (to do so, visit her Web site at http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/policy.cfm) and urge her to support comprehensive immigration reform, Scully said. “That's the little car our AgJOBS bill is riding behind.”
– Have friends and family in other states contact their senators and representatives and urge them to support immigration reform if they want their food to continue to be produced in the United States.
Other evening highlights included honors for departing Farm Bureau board members John Hildebrand and Brent Holdenried. Gleaves said the current board will selects its new officers at a July 11 meeting.
The Farm Bureau also recognized its annual scholarship winner Kristina MacPherson, who received a $1,000 award. MacPherson said she wants to become an agriculture teacher, a goal she'll begin pursuing this fall when she begins studies at Cuesta College, a community college in San Luis Obispo.
Representatives from the state Farm Bureau also attended Thursday's dinner, including George Hollister of Comptche, who represents Lake and Mendocino counties on the state Farm Bureau Board; Dr. Charles Crabb, former dean of the College of Agriculture at California State University, Chico, and now the head of the California Farm Bureau's governmental affairs division; Judy Culbertson of the Farm Bureau's Agriculture in the Classroom program; and Gary Sack, the Farm Bureau's North Central Region field representative.
Lynn Figone-Gallagher, the Lake County Farm Bureau's office manager, said it had taken Farm Bureau staff – led by Executive Director Chuck March – two months to organize the annual event.
“It's turned out really nice,” said Figone-Gallagher, who estimated that more than 180 Farm Bureau members attended. This year's turnout, she said, surpassed last year's.
She credited March's leadership and organization skills for making the event – and the bureau as a whole – run smoothly in its mission to represent local agriculture.
All funds from the event, which included a silent auction and raffle, go to the Farm Bureau chapter's scholarship and educational activities fund, Figone-Gallagher said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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