Commentary: We are coming together in Reno to honor our agricultural way of life

Next week, in Reno, we will open California Farm Bureau’s 105th Annual Meeting, bringing together Farm Bureau members representing America’s most bountiful and diverse agricultural state.

For this unique opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen our vision for a prosperous agricultural industry, our theme this year is Vision – Action – Results.

As we gathered at this time last year, the vision of prosperity for many farmers and ranchers was understandably blurred. We were in the third year of historic drought conditions that resulted in curtailments of water supplies for agriculture.

All told, more than 1.3 million acres of farmland were taken out of production—the result of harsh, dry conditions and California’s failure to follow through on long-promised water infrastructure to provide flood control in wet years and to store excess water during dry ones.

Farm Bureau has long projected a vision for securing adequate, enduring water supplies for our nation’s most populous and critical farming state.

This year, we saw entirely different impacts of California’s failure to act on that vision, as a deluge of atmospheric river storms flooded valuable cropland in Monterey County and left dairy farms under water in Kings and Tulare counties, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in agricultural losses across the state.

Not content to just let floodwaters recede, we demanded action to enable more of that water be captured for future farming use.

At our urging, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the first-ever executive order requiring the California State Water Resources Control Board to ease permit requirements to allow farmers to use floodwater diversions to recharge groundwater. This action resulted in 40,000 acre-feet of additional groundwater recharge in the San Joaquin Valley last spring and summer.

We didn’t stop there. Using the California state budget process, we worked to have groundwater recharge enshrined into law as a beneficial water use.

Despite our long frustration over inaction of state regulators and legal challenges by advocacy groups, we never lost sight of our vision of a long-term water supply solution that would help with California’s groundwater sustainability while bolstering surface water supplies.

While the 2023 El Niño weather phenomenon ended the drought and a second El Niño year could bring more rain, we know too well that the next California drought is always just around the corner.

During the drought, we advocated to reject water policies solely rooted in managing water scarcity. We believed then and now that our state leaders needed to build infrastructure and a water portfolio focused on securing and protecting water abundance for California.

In 2014, our Farm Bureau members worked to pass Proposition 1 to allocate $2.7 billion for new water projects. Yet after decades of discussions and years of delays—including after the initiative’s passage—California still wasn’t acting fast enough.

Our members’ activism is turning the tide. This year, the governor certified that Sites Reservoir, an offstream storage facility planned for north of Sacramento, can now be fast-tracked for construction. Sites Reservoir stands to bring an additional 1.5 million acre-feet of water for drought relief. It will be the first major California reservoir built in almost half a century.

Since 1919, the California Farm Bureau has worked to help farmers thrive. We continue to secure opportunities for future generations that will lead us forward with vision and action to produce continued results.

At our annual meeting, held in conjunction with the Young Farmers & Ranchers State Conference, beginning this weekend, we honor our member farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses.

We will present awards honoring achievements of our county Farm Bureaus across California. We will salute our up-and-coming young agriculturalists and our longtime members who have dedicated their lives to furthering agriculture.

This year, we are presenting Farm Bureau’s Distinguished Service Award to Wayne and Barbara Vineyard of Placer County, who have been involved with Farm Bureau for 65 years, and to Kulwant Johl, who has served on the Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau board for 35 years, including four as president.

Our Farm Bureau members, from those with decades of contributions to others attending their first annual meeting, stand tall for their fellow farmers and ranchers and the greater cause of agriculture.

Our members don’t accept the inertia of a slow-to-act political landscape. They are active in working for solutions. They go beyond mere statements, acting with determination to make a difference.