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If Measure A passes, what will be next to destroy–our farming/ranching/diversity? The sponsors of Measure A use Sonoma as a shining example of restrictive zoning. But these special interests seem to forget about the unintended consequences with these kinds of restrictive land use measures.
Sonoma started out with a similar initiative. Now on the ballot in Sonoma is Measure J. Guess what this does? It outlaws centuries old ranching in Sonoma. While they try and say it’s only Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO’s, all the smaller ranches that sell their milk to the large producers go out of business. What about the farmers who grow crops for the cows and chickens. Yep, they go out of business too. It actually, destroys diversity by losing support of carbon sequestration rangeland.
A few Facts:
The county’s 42 organic dairies represent 40% of the organic dairies in California, and produce more than a tenth of all organic milk nationwide, much of which goes to renowned brands like Straus, Clover, Horizon, and Organic Valley. Goodbye.
“If the initiative were to pass then, one of the costs of the initiative, would be loss of jobs, loss of revenue, loss of local income,” Haveman, an economic analyst at Marin Economic Consulting, said. Goodbye.
The report asserts nearly $260 million would disappear from the county’s economy should all livestock and poultry production be lost. Goodbye.
With indirect losses in adjoining businesses like farm supply, veterinary services, and secondary processing like cheesemaking factored in, losses in output are forecast to rise above $400 million. Goodbye.
More than 1,300 jobs, which generate $80 million in labor income, could potentially be lost as well, half at directly affected businesses, and half at related ones. Goodbye.
Sonoma County’s climate plans incorporate dairy farms for carbon sequestration, the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District has invested more than $125 million of voter-approved sales taxes to preserve farmland, undeveloped grasslands are among the best remaining habitats for threatened and endangered species, and local farms are producers of high-grade fertilizer used on a variety of crops, here in Sonoma County and across Northern California. Moreover, decades of city and county land-use planning — including voter-approved urban growth boundaries — are dependent on preserving a thriving agricultural economy. Goodbye.
Let’s not be like Sonoma. We already know from the fiscal report that Measure A will cause huge financial consequences. Measure A is Abysmal, Awful, Appalling, Atrocious, please don’t fall into the A-Hole – Vote no on A.
Data Source: https://www.noonmeasurej.com/post/pd-editorial-the-high-cost-of-outlawing-farms
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