By David Strecker, SJFB President
October of 2021 is quite possibly the hardest article I have had to write. I wish I had better news to report on. The recall election of Gavin Newsom failed. Although he will complete his term that he was elected to in 2018, it certainly wasn’t as easy as he thought.
I know there is a lot of questionable ethics in the way California runs its elections but the high profile people that were brought in to campaign at the last minute was to excite the Democratic base. Recalling Gavin Newsom failed but he has his work cut out for him to win reelection in November 2022. Who will run on the Republican side will be determined in the near future, however, don’t be surprised if the Democratic Party looks for a replacement before supporting the incumbent.
The midterm elections will not only concern the governorship of California. There are committees currently looking at redistricting that could affect multiple races in San Joaquin County. San Joaquin County has two different representatives in the House of Representative, Jerry McNerney and Josh Harder.
There is a lot of talk of trying to get San Joaquin more in line with the Central Valley and only have one member of Congress encompassing the entire county. Additionally there is some talk of redistricting the county supervisors areas. Over the last several years, development throughout the county, but mainly the south county, has created the need to review borders of supervisor districts.
As this growing season wraps up, water levels throughout the state are at critically low levels. Although the call to build additional storage can never stop, the need for an above average snow pack and rainfall in the winter is critical to the 2022 growing season. Unimpaired flows and SGMA will always be a problem and create difficulty in agriculture regardless of how many above average winters we have. I’m as frustrated as any of you with the lack of progress and the repeating pattern of below average winters, then the missed opportunities of plentiful winters lost to the sea.
Commodity prices have steadily climbed throughout the year. If water supplies are not an issue, 2022 could be a record-breaking year for our farms and ranches. Despite the opportunity, my family is considering crops for the 2022 season that require less water. Acreage of permanent crops has increased throughout the county and many are not so lucky.
When COVID 19 came into the spotlight almost two years ago, I knew it was something that we would be dealing with for some time. I think we can all agree this has gone on for too long. Mandate is an ugly word regardless of what it is being used for. This country was founded on freedoms and liberties. Those are currently forgotten terms.
From day one, I have felt the people of the world needed education on how to handle upper respiratory illnesses. Masks, social distancing, vaccines each have their place and time of need, however, overuse and forced implementation can be worse than the actual virus. I repeatedly spoke last year of being safe and smart in running your operations and living your lives. As year two of this pandemic is right in front of us, I can only emphasize that advice.
I wish I had great news to share with you. But much like agriculture, it ain’t over until the grain is in the hopper. Sometimes the worst looking crops produce the most. Sometimes we get a little to confident and count our chickens before they hatch. As winter approaches, we need to pray for rain. I hope by late January we have confidence in how the 2022 growing season will be. I hope we don’t need a March Miracle, but we will take it if we need it.
I pray you are all blessed and healthy this harvest season and 2022 can be a breakout year. Let’s deal with one problem at a time and start by PRAYING FOR RAIN!!!
