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Be Wise needs support
Be Wise needs support
Date: 11/2/2011 9:51:27 AM ( 13 y ) ... viewed 1433 times October 28, 2011
Important Notice Please Do Not Discard
Dear Be Wise Ranch Members & Organic Farm Supporters,
As some of you may or may not know but in recent months Be Wise Ranch has become the main target for a small group of homeowners who reside near the farm in the San Pasqual Valley of Escondido. This group of homeowners have enlisted the assistance of some of the members of the County Board of Supervisors, to be more specific Pam Slater Price & Diane Jacobson and have asked them to support them in any way possible to possibly force a shut down of Be Wise Organic Ranch and Organic farming in San Diego County as a whole if necessary.
This morning it was brought to my attention that on November 3, 2011 an item concerning eye gnat control will be published and placed on the agenda for discussion and voting at the next County Board of Supervisors meeting scheduled on November 9, 2011.
We need everyone’s help to stop this railroading of our farm. We are asking everyone to call in and email the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and voice their opinion and opposition to NOT RECLASSIFY EYE GNATS AS A VECTOR PROBLEM and let it remain as a nuisance issue until all of the research and control procedures and methods have been attempted.
To give you some background on the issue and how it got started you would need to go back approximately 5 years. A group of homeowners in Jacumba started a campaing against an organic farm and it’s farmer. The county brought in and enlisted the help of an entomoligist by the name of Jim Bethke from the UC Cooperative Extension. Mr. Bethke and his team of assistants were brought in to research, study and devise a plan for control of the eye gnats in Jacumba. Since there has been little research done in the last 40 years on the eye gnat issue this was uncharted territory. Under the instruction of the County Environmental Health Department the organic farm was forced into taking extreme measures to control the eye gnat problem which costs in upwards of $250,000 dollars. In the end it was found that the control measures were unsuccessful and a failure. Finally, with the help of entomologist Jim Bethke and his team a plan that included an eye gnat trap was designed. These traps were found to have good success and be effective control measures for decreasing the number of eye gnats in the Jacumba community. However, this was not satisfactory to the community residents and while the problem was decreased to minimal numbers the end result is the residents want the farm to cease in it’s existence entirely. The Jacumba residents remain vigilant in their campaign to shut the farm down. This small group of residents have come together to organize a community network in order to force the county into taking measures to eliminate and eradicate all eye gnats. This measure could quite possibly mean and most likely will end all organic farming in the county of San Diego.
So how does this affect Be Wise Organic Ranch? Be Wise Ranch acknowledges that eye gnats can be an issue but we believe that our recent efforts to work with the entomologist; Jim Bethke and his team from the UC Extension that we could as a team at our cost get control of the eye gnat problem that is of concern to the Escondido residents here in the Agricultural Preserve area. I have been working with Jim Bethke and discussing the options which include mass trapping here at the farm. This mass trapping is not an inexpensive solution but one that the farmer would be willing to implement. There has been proven success and we feel that we can control the problem if the farm instills the mass trapping before the summer months and if the residents set up minimal trapping on their side. Mr. Bethke explained to me in one of our many discussions that once the eye gnats hatch in the soil they fly away from the farm and reside in the nearby residential area (just as other natural insects do) then once the soil is freshly plowed the eye gnats return to the farm to start the process all over again. The eye gnat issue presents itself three (3) out of the twelve (12) months each year. While we have not seen a huge problem here at the farm to cause concern we felt as good neighbors it was in our best interest and in the interest of the nearby homeowners to cooperate and work with Jim Bethke, his research team and in fact we met with a representative from Pam Slater Price’s office to show our cooperation.
The research team just completed their work here at the farm on October, 21, 2011 and we were told that they would return to their offices, compile the research, look over the numbers and come up with a decisive plan that we could implement before the warm months approach to tackle the issue before the Summer. We are just waiting for the completed report and recommendations to proceed as per the outline of Jim Bethke as well as to continue farming and abiding by the Best Agricultural Practices of Land Management that have been set forth.
All of this was explained to the nearby residents/homeowner by Jim Bethke at a recent homeowners association meeting. The minutes of this meeting were emailed out to residents in the association as well. As it was explained by Jim Bethke even with control measure full control of the eye gnats could take up to two (2) years but that was an estimate, research and previous control methods in Jacumba show mass trapping to be an effective measure. However, this is not the solution that the nearby residents want and with that they have joined forces with the original Jacumba group in an attempt to force and pressure the County Board of Supervisors to change the classification of the eye gnat as a nuisance into a vector problem. This reclassification could give the County Environmental Health Department more power to dictate, impose fines and eventually close down any organic farming operation that they deem as the cause of the vector problem. This could start with the eventual forced closure of Be Wise Ranch.
If this becomes an ordinance then the County would have the authority to come into to Be Wise Ranch which is part of the Agricultural Preserve and “SPRAY CHEMICAL PESTICIDES” in order to control the “vector” problem. Be Wise Organic Ranch would cease to exist. There would be no more Be Wise Ranch in the local stores, restaurants or nationwide distribution centers which provide organic produce to consumers all across the United States.
We have read the control measures that were imposed on the farm in Jacumba and we have had numerous conversations with the farmer there, these out of date measures that are of an enormous financial burden that proved not to work and this would put Be Wise Ranch out of business. Be Wise Ranch has not been included in the discussions with the residents or the County Board of Supervisors so at this point in time we cannot say exactly what the final outcome would be once this issue is passed as an ordinance. We only know from the tone of the homeowners, from what we have heard from the farmer in Jacumba and what we have heard from the researcher is that the nearby residents along with several members of the County Board of Supervisors that the prognosis for the farm to continue organically is possibly coming to an end. The residents want total eradication of the eye gnat. This is unreasonable and an irresponsible stance, the eye gnats have existed in the Southern half of the United States ever since man began to irrigate and plow the fields. Eradication of anything is not natural; it is not what nature intended.
The land that Be Wise Ranch farms on organically is part of an agricultural preserve and we would not be able to stay in business and follow the Best Agricultural Practices of Land Management should this vector ordinance come to pass.
I have attached a list of telephone numbers and emails to the County Board of Supervisors as well as Jack Miller who is the head of the County and in charge of writing this ordinance laws. We are asking you to step up and support the farm by emailing and phoning Jack Miller with the county as well as the representative on the attached list that advocates for your area. We want them to know that shutting down and putting Be Wise Ranch and other organic farmers is not an option.
We need to save our farm before it is too late and I am sorry to say that the wheels have already been set in motion, we need to act now.
Respectfully,
Bill Brammer, Organic Farmer
Be Wise Ranch
County Board Of Supervisors Contact List
District 1: Greg Cox
Phone- 619-531-5511
Fax- 619-235-0644
Email- greg.cox@sdcounty.ca.gov
District 2: Dianne Jacob
Phone- 619-531-5522
Fax- 619-696-7253
Email- dianne.jacob@sdcounty.ca.gov
District 3: Pam Slater-Price
Phone- 619-531-5533
Fax- 619-234-1559
Email- pam.slater@sdcounty.ca.gov
District 4: Ron Roberts
Phone- 619-531-5544
Fax- 619-531-6262
Email- ron.roberts@sdcounty.ca.gov
District 5: Bill Horn
Phone- 619-531-5555
Fax- 619-685-2662
Email- bill.horn@sdcounty.ca.gov
Environmental Health- Vector Control
Attention: Jack Miller
Phone 858-694-2888
Email- vector@sdcounty.ca.gov
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