Sonoma County Conservation Action (SCCA) is OPPOSED to Measure J which has been submitted for voter consideration on the November 2024 Ballot by a group named the Coalition to End Factory Farming.
The SCCA Board, after careful deliberation and consultation with a its many local environmental and agricultural partners, is opposing Measure J because of its negative impact on Sonoma County’s sustainable, small, and organic farming communities. Furthermore, it will not advance Sonoma County’s well-known leadership in fighting climate change and environmental degradation.
While Measure J was undoubtedly written with the intention of addressing environmental and animal welfare issues, it will unintentionally undermine the County’s large number of farms that practice “sustainable agriculture”, in the name of terminating a very few farms that may not comply with the type of agricultural practices SCCA supports. There are better pathways to remediating problematic agricultural practices than eliminating sustainable farms along with a few bad actors.
Sonoma County’s farming community has produced national leaders in environmentally sound sustainable and organic farming practices. We should support policies that will make our sustainable agriculture MORE successful and not undermine its viability.
In evaluating Measure J, Conservation Action identified the following potential impacts.
- Measure J may result in large tracts of farmland and grazing being converted into Commercial and Housing Developments outside our existing Urban Growth Boundaries (cities). Because Measure J’s policies will undermine the viability of farming, farmers may abandon the business of farming and sell their land for development.
- Measure J will result in the elimination of the large amounts of locally-produced dairy, poultry, and eggs, which currently supply Sonoma County, the North Coast, and much of the State of California.
- Measure J will not prevent the importation of dairy and poultry products from outside of Sonoma County. Products now raised locally would instead be long distance hauled & delivered from large Corporate CAFOs from across the State, Country, and outside our National Borders. This will increase carbon emissions from transportation and there would be no assurance of improvement in animal welfare for products sold in Sonoma County.
