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Idle land brings hard times to the Imperial Valley

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 18, 2008 at 6:41 am

From the Imperial Valley Press:

Over the years the acreage of Robert Slaton’s family farm has been pared down. Now less than 100 acres behind his home is what amounts to the hay field, adding to the work he gets as a hay cutter and hauler.

But two years ago one of the farmers Slaton depended on for work began fallowing his crops. The work Slaton had was divided with another contractor and reduced to half. Slaton estimated that accounted for about 20 percent of his business last year. “It’s a pretty serious deal,” Slaton said of the impacts of fallowing. “When you’re getting your regular paycheck chopped off … it’s hard.”

Slaton admits he’s a farm service provider on a much smaller scale than some of the other agriculture businesses around the Valley. He spends much of his time taking care of his elderly mother, who has Parkinson’s disease, in between the demands of the family’s operation.

Since fallowing began in the Imperial Valley in 2003, money has been paid to farmers on a per-acre basis to save water for transfer to the coastal cities. And when there are no fields to plow, no seeds to plant and no harvest to reap, farm service providers, workers and the economy are impacted.

This week the Local Entity, tasked to distribute money to farm service providers and noncompetitive grants to mitigate the impacts of fallowing, completed its duty. It took more than two years and one committee reorganization to get it done. The $3.5 million they awarded, however, was only for the first two years of fallowing. The impacts of the last three years have not been mitigated.

“We’re a few years behind the eight ball already. The decision for the board will be to decide where to proceed from here,” IID Legal Counsel Jeff Garber said.

Nicole Rothfleisch, executive director of the Imperial County Farm Bureau, said farm service providers are the most directly impacted by fallowing. “We’re already once again three years behind,” Rothfleisch said. “Farm service providers are losing the business they would have had on that field.”

Read more from the Imperial Valley Press by clicking here.

May 18, 2008 · Filed Under Imperial Irrigation District & Imperial Valley