Ventura County growers brace for strict pesticide rules
Growers in Ventura County may have to forgo planting thousands of acres of strawberries and other crops this spring to comply with a state pesticide regulation slated to go into effect today.
Facing a court-ordered deadline to combat smog, the state Department of Pesticide Regulation is cracking down on the use of poisonous gases that are injected into fields to kill insects, weeds and pathogens before crops are planted.
The new regulation is projected to be the most costly pesticide rule in California history, with state officials estimating that it could cost growers $10 million to $40 million annually.
The biggest burden will fall on Ventura County, where growers will face strict caps on fumigants because their crop acreage and pesticide use has surged over the last two decades.
State officials have estimated that Ventura County growers could have to stop using fumigants on 5,800 to 7,500 acres, about one-third of the approximately 20,000 fumigated acres.
The new rules will mean the difference between profits and losses for many growers in the region, industry leaders say. About a quarter of the nation's strawberry crop is grown in Ventura County, with the local crop valued at $366 million.
Strawberry growers are the biggest users of methyl bromide, metam-sodium and other fumigants, although the chemicals also are applied to fields planted with other crops, mostly tomatoes and bell peppers.
"You might see barren farm ground out there," said Edgar Terry, whose Terry Farms has 1,400 acres of crops from Ventura to Fillmore. "We've never run into anything like this, nor has any other county.
"I know for a fact we will have to reevaluate all of our ranch lands and decide which ones to keep in strawberry production, which ones to go organic and which ones to go fallow," Terry said. Terry Farms has about 300 acres normally used to grow strawberries and bell peppers that would be subject to the new rules because they are fumigated during the high smog season, generally from May through October.
The U.S. District Court in Sacramento ordered the state to reduce pesticide emissions by 20% from 1991 levels in areas that violated national health standards for smog. When fumigants evaporate from the soil, smog-causing gases waft into the air. In addition, some of the fumes are carcinogenic and can trigger respiratory and other health problems if farm workers or neighbors are exposed.
