SALINAS, Calif. — As regulators scrutinize the new-found genetic match between tainted spinach and manure from a nearby cattle ranch, Salinas Valley-area farmers are increasingly fearful that the long-standing coexistence of two leading agricultural practices may be in jeopardy.
The breakthrough suggests that deadly E. coli O157:H7 somehow might have traveled from cattle to a spinach field, provoking an outbreak that has killed three people and sickened nearly 200 in 26 states.
Those who farm in this valley known as the "salad bowl of the world" worry that the finding announced Thursday by state and federal regulators might help trigger new rules restricting where they can grow produce in a region already crowded with farm fields, cattle ranches and new homes.
"There has been farming and ranching here for at least 100 years.... and all of a sudden this problem is exposed?" said Scott Violini, a fourth-generation cattle rancher based in Salinas, sitting on the back of his pickup.
Investigators caution that they are far from pinpointing a direct link between cattle droppings and spinach, and they and other experts list many possible factors that could have spread the bacterium, including wild boars, irrigation water and even dust.
But already, some health experts are urging potential safeguards -- such as more fencing and even more stringent testing of soil, water and produce -- which some farmers are already doing voluntarily.
One idea floated last week was that of a required buffer zone, a demilitarized zone of sorts separating cattle and produce fields that could place wide swaths of valuable land out of bounds for growing.
All of this raises the stress level of farmers who grow three-quarters of the nation's spinach.
"It's an enormously scary situation for anyone producing food crops," said Jim Rider of Watsonville, who grows organic apples and cut flowers but still is unnerved by the spinach outbreak. "We all know that we do a pretty good job, but you also know there's no way you can produce a 100% clean and safe product when you're growing it outdoors."
He and others cringe at the prospect of new standards that could turn the Salinas Valley into a virtual greenhouse, its fields fenced, netted and sanitized. "If you build those, everyone is going to buy their produce from Chile because it's cheaper," Rider said.
