As ballots start landing in Sonoma County mailboxes for the 2024 General Election, politics are raging out in ag country. If you’ve driven around the county’s farmlands lately, you’ve likely noticed there are more “No on Measure J” signs dotting yards and fields these days than there are anti-Newsom signs on The 5.
So what are they all about? Measure J, reportedly authored by Bay Area-based animal and environmental activists, would ban large animal farms from operating in unincorporated parts of Sonoma County — specifically, farms that pack a certain number of animals into a certain amount of space, and ones that don’t follow rigorous disposal standards for getting rid of animal poop. There’s no official analysis of how many farms Measure J would affect, but FWIW, the folks who authored it have counted more than 20 local cow, chicken and duck farms they think meet the definition.
Along with all the yard signs, in-person Measure J rallies have been ramping up — on both the “Yes” and “No” sides. The two camps even held dueling protests in downtown Santa Rosa two weekends ago, according to the Press Democrat:
On Saturday, opponents of the ballot measure said the proposal would hurt family farms, threaten jobs and the local agricultural economy. Supporters of the ballot measure, on the other hand, argued that the measure supports small farms, animals and the environment.
The day’s events kicked off with a No on J tractor parade followed by a pancake breakfast provided by the Professional Fire Fighters of Sonoma County Local 1401 union and a rally in Courthouse Square. About 200 people attended the rally. … The No on J event wrapped up at 12:30 p.m. Yes on J activists kicked off their activities shortly after at 1:15 p.m, also at Courthouse Square. From there, the crowd of about 100 people marched through downtown Santa Rosa and dropped a banner over a pedestrian bridge on Highway 101 near A Street.
The measure’s supporters argue that the way we’ve been farming at scale is cruel to animals and ruining our environment, to boot. Its opponents, for their part, argue that the particular definition of a “factory farm” laid out in the Measure J literature is murky and potentially quite impossible to abide by — fanning fear across the farming industry, and dependent industries like restaurants and tourism, that this initiative could cause the whole system to crumble.
At city halls across Sonoma County, elected officials have been coming out against Measure J, too. “The City of Petaluma published an online statement saying that the measure’s 45 days per year limit on confinement would make dairy and poultry farming at any scale impossible because ranchers must house their animals against the elements in the winter months,” the Bohemian reports.
Even far-left Cotati just joined the “No” camp, after holding out for a while.
There’s some big money behind both camps, according to another analysis by the Press Democrat: “The total of about $2 million pouring in — about 60% of it coming from outside Sonoma County — makes it clear that many see Measure J as potentially precedent-setting, whether their interest lies in animal welfare or the survival of the North Bay’s multigenerational family farms,” the paper reports. And KRCB news radio adds that these precedents could extend to the national level.
No pressure, y’all! Good luck parsing through the back-and-forth…
