CALF_News_December_2018_January_2019

20 CALF News • December 2018 | January 2019 • www.calfnews.net LABOR SHORTAGE OUT WEST Continued from page 7 FEEDYARDS, FARMERS WORK TO FIND CAUSE OF E. COLI IN LETTUCE California feedyards, dairies and other agriculture are often scrutinized when it comes to the environment and food safety. Most recently, an E. coli outbreak in lettuce around Yuma, Ariz., put feedyards on the radar as the possible cause of the problem. Regulations have been set by Arizona and California Leafy Greens Marketing asso- ciations to create buffers between lettuce and other vegetable farms and feedyards. As for the California E. coli /lettuce situation, on Sept. 28, the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) announced it has increased the standard buffer zone from 400 feet to 1,200 feet for CAFOs with 1,000 animals – and one mile for those with 80,000 animals. Those are according to information on the California LGMA website. In addition, the LGMA said “more rigorous assessments will be in place whenever leafy greens are grown close to CAFOs.” Also, where risk assessments suggest a need, LGMA stated that surface waters pass- ing within 400 feet of a CAFO with more than 80,000 animals must be treated to meet microbial acceptance criteria for post-harvest water if used in any overhead irrigation application at the field level within two weeks of harvest. These California LGMA standards, overseen by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, followed similar standards announced earlier in September by the Arizona LGMA. In November, Larios and other feedyard reps were meeting with the California state ag secretary and leafy greens farmers to hopefully work out a reasonable answer to the situation. “The area cattle feeding industry has brought in university specialists and other sci- entists to try to resolve this situation,” Larios says. “We’ve found that E. coli is present in humans and all animals. It is part of our environment. “We have a delegation that is working with our farmer neighbors and friends to lessen the impact of these regulations to them. Vegetable production is important in our area. When you stop vegetable production near a feedyard, it hurts land values and our neighbors. Now only hay can be grown within the buffer zones around feedyards and other CAFOs.” These standards are on top of allegations that cattle are a major cause of methane gas that allegedly hurts the environment. The California Cattle Growers Association, headquartered in Sacramento, works to offset pressure from anti-beef groups. “We have to work with our communities to educate them on how feedyards operate, how we care for the environment and the welfare of our animals,” Larios says. “We must assure them that we are not anti-Earth. “Beef has the No. 1 economic impact on the Imperial Valley. We must step up to the plate and show we want to be involved in our community. “Feedyards in other areas should monitor our situation closely because they, too, could face criticism and regulations that can have strong economic impacts on them and their neighbors.” For more on the leafy greens situation, visit https://lgma.ca.gov/2018/10/califor- nia-lgma-updates-food-safety-practices-prior-to-the-desert-growing-season/.  done. My cowboys make $4 per hour over the minimum wage, so will the added time and a half apply to that also?” Once again, people in the capital of Sacramento don’t realize that the Imperial Valley is not the Silicon Valley when it comes to a normal workday. Nine-to-five may work at Google or Apple – but not at a feedyard, dairy or vegetable farm. Larios is often asked about bring- ing in employees from Mexico, just a 10-minute drive south of Brawley. “Young people in Mexico favor the urban life like in the U.S. Agriculture needs workers, but when they cross the border they immediately go to the cities.” Desert palms provide beautiful surroundings in the Imperial Valley. And he contends that Mexicans and other foreign people should come here legally.“As a legal immigrant myself, we need to approach it in the legal way. Legal is the right way to do it.” So as the low availability of good employees and the required reduced work week put even more pressure on California feedyards, Larios and the new guard of feedyard operators will continue to find ways to maintain their reputation as some of the best fed-cattle producers in the nation. As Larios says,“We will continue to need good employees, even if it takes two to five years to train them.” 