Agenda 05-02-2019 - 8-a - Minutes

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8 1 Peter Sandbeck said there are 28 or 29 in the Century Farm program. 2 Peter Sandbeck said they are trying to enroll more African American farmers, and during 3 the depression farmers had to turn to neighbors for help. He said one had to sell an adjoining 4 white farmer with the understanding that it would be sold back. He said this resulted in the 5 African American farmers going in and out of farm ownership. He said the Century Farm 6 program stipulates that the farm has to have been with the same farmer the whole time. He 7 said staff is working on this issue, as it is inherently unfair. 8 Commissioner Price asked if the present use value trust fund is already up and running. 9 Peter Sandbeck said no, not yet, and this was part of their annual work plan. He said 10 the Food Council asked for APB support for creating a future trust fund to help fund agricultural 11 preservation and farming. He said this will be presented to the BOCC at a future meeting. He 12 said the idea is to use lapsed tax revenue from a farm that has gone out of present use value to 13 put towards preservation. 14 Commissioner Price asked if there is a program to link older farmers with newer farmers. 15 Peter Sandbeck said Mike Ortosky oversees this program, but there have not been that 16 many takers yet. 17 Commissioner Greene thanked him for the collaboration with the Food Council, which 18 did approve the trust fund at its last meeting. She said the proposal would take this "old" money 19 and set it aside, with half going to lands legacy for easements, and the other half to the small 20 farmers grant program. She said she hoped the APB and the Food Council can continue to 21 collaborate at every level 22 Commissioner Marcoplos said meat is a recurring issue in discussions, and cows that 23 are eating grain create methane while grass fed cows to do not. He asked if the APB could do a 24 survey of who is raising grass fed beef, and what food sources are selling this local meat. 25 Commissioner Dorosin referred to "continuing the Orange County agricultural heritage 26 project' and asked if this has started yet. He said having some kind of video of the VAD 27 Program etc., would be helpful to have on the website. He said this would actually be helpful for 28 all advisory boards to do, as it would raise the profile of all of this good work. 29 Peter Sandbeck said some oral histories and videos are sitting around, and the 30 documentation part is important, but he also agrees the informational/educational aspect is 31 equally important. 32 Commissioner Dorosin said he would love to see 90-second videos created that could 33 provide information to the public. 34 Commissioner Greene said as these videos are distributed in the county, it may be a 35 way to recruit new or younger farmers. 36 Commissioner Price said the Community Farm Stewardship Association used to link 37 younger and older farmers, and asked if this still occurring. 38 Peter Sandbeck said he assumes so, as this is an active group. 39 40 Commission for the Environment Bradley Saul, Chair 41 42 Bradley Saul said the past year they spent much of their time on their upcoming State of 43 the Environment report, which is due out in October 2019. He said there will hopefully be a 44 community event in conjunction with that report. He said they have been in touch with Todd 45 McGee, Community Relations Director, for some weekly eco-tips. He said the Department of 46 Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) has a forest tree policy management 47 program, and a former commissioner has suggested that this should be implemented 48 countywide. He said other local governments are considering similar things, and all will be 49 meeting to discuss further to create unity. He said the greenhouse gas emissions inventory is 50 still in progress.