Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Koren Widdel, County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer
Subject: Agricultural Identification (Ag ID) Program
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution approving establishment by the Agricultural Commissioner of an agricultural identification (Ag ID) program pursuant to Section 2350 of the California Food and Agricultural Code, to facilitate access by commercial producers to ranches and other commercial agricultural properties during wildfires or other disaster-related evacuations.
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BACKGROUND:
During the 2020 CZU Complex fires, the County saw an urgent need for agricultural producers to access their properties in the coastal evacuation zone to avoid heavy crop and livestock losses. At that time, the County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures (AWM) compiled a list of verified growers requesting access, which was submitted and reviewed by CalFire before being sent to law enforcement personnel operating the evacuation checkpoints. This enabled producers and their employees to gain entry through these checkpoints in the short term, but there is a need to create a more formal countywide program that addresses the many limitations of this ad-hoc solution.
In October of 2021, the State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1103, now codified in Section 2350 of the California Food and Agricultural Code, which created a legal framework for establishment of agricultural access programs for livestock producers. In the most recent 2023-2024 legislative session a new bill, Assembly Bill 1141 has been introduced. If enacted in its current form, this bill would expand the existing livestock access framework to all commercial producers, including those of row crops, nursery stock and other "planted" agriculture. The County proposes the creation of an Ag ID program using this framework that will initially allow safe entry to producers of livestock...
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