Dairy Farmers Welcome Inspections

SACRAMENTO (AP) â€” Ann Silva welcomes the day when environmental inspectors will come to her Central Valley ranch. <br><br>The third-generation dairy farmer admits it is unusual to look forward to an

Wednesday, December 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SACRAMENTO (AP) â€” Ann Silva welcomes the day when environmental inspectors will come to her Central Valley ranch.

The third-generation dairy farmer admits it is unusual to look forward to an inspection, but says the voluntary examination by the California Department of Food and Agriculture will establish her dairy as one of the state's most environmentally friendly.

Silva is one of hundreds of dairy farmers pushing for environmental certification under the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program, the first program of its kind in the nation.

The program brings together local, state and federal regulators, farm groups and farmers and awards certificates after farmers complete six hours of classes on environmental law.

To earn the certificate, dairies must pass an onsite examination that looks at such things as whether the dairy has taken precautions to keep manure from entering nearby waterways.

``We basically think we are on top of the rules, but we're just making sure we know all of them,'' said Silva, whose Tracy ranch includes 780 cows.

The first dozen dairies won certification this month and several more are expected to follow, said Michael Payne, a University of California, Davis, veterinary pharmacologist and the program manager.

The program requires that farmers develop an emergency environmental plan, learn how to judge if their waste ponds are large enough, and learn about the complicated laws ruling the dairies.

Because the program is voluntary, the dairies are not cited during the final inspection. Dairymen can try repeatedly to get certified, and once they are, they have to be inspected every five years to keep their certification.

More than 1,400 dairymen have completed some or all the class work since the program started two years ago. The program itself is free, but often requires farmers to fix their dairies to come into compliance.

California has about 2,300 dairies, creating a $4 billion industry in 1999. Dairy is the state's top agricultural industry, and California beats all other states for production, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.

But along with top production scores comes top manure production. California cows create 30 million tons of manure a year.

About $750,000 in grants have gone toward the program that farmers say is an important step away from imposed regulations and toward taking responsibility for a soiled reputation.

Bill Jennings of DeltaKeeper, an environmental organization dedicated to protecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, says manure from dairies has seriously impacted the delta's water quality.

There are few ways for the government to recognize the responsible dairies because there is no mandated monitoring of manure runoff, Jennings said.

That tarnished image is what Johan Bartelink hopes to shed with his certificate of environmental stewardship.

The Escalon dairyman was one of the first farmers to obtain the certificate and says he plans to push for green labeling, similar to labels given to organic produce.

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On the Net:

California Department of Food and Agriculture: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov