Perhaps you’ve not heard of Measure J. It’s on this November’s ballot and its opponents believe that if it’s passed it will doom Sonoma County’s small family farms, farms like Strauss Family Farm and others.
According to its supporters, Measure J was crafted to supposedly protect animals on “factory farms,” but opponents point out that there are no factory farms in Sonoma County. Farming in Sonoma County is a decidedly family affair, they say. With an average of 350 cows, 85% of the diary farms in Sonoma County are certified organic and the opposition believes that the passage of Measure J will make it impossible for these dairy farms to continue their operations. The same is true for chicken farmers.
Factory farms are huge operations with massive feedlots. The small farms in Sonoma County bear little comparison, yet Measure J will force them to scale down their operations, perhaps to the point of failure. For this reason, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors oppose the passage of Measure J. Their studies indicate that the economic effects on the county would be enormous, in the range of a loss of $250 million and the potential loss of $121 million to affiliated businesses, and the effect on the local agricultural economy will, in their opinion, be traumatic.
19,746 registered voters placed Measure J on the ballot believing that it will protect farm animals, but as written, opponents note, it will send most to slaughter and the abandoned pastures may ultimately be sold for development.
To read the full text of Measure J, Click Here.
Yay on J!
If you make your money torturing animals and creating festering s**t ponds that leach into our ground water, you are the threat.
Come on.
Does Sonoma County really want more real estate development instead of open agricultural spaces? Because what Measure J doesn’t answer is what happens to the land if it’s not used for agriculture. It’s not going to stay undeveloped, people!
Measure J is being pushed by an extremist animal rights group from Berkeley, Direct Action Everywhere (DxE). Their ultimate agenda is NO animal agriculture (dairy, eggs, poultry, meat) and NO companion animals (dogs, cats, horses, etc.) They stalk and harass anyone who doesn’t agree with them. They attacked Bernie Sanders in 2016 for supporting Family Farms, like in Sonoma County. They harassed the founder of SF Vegans who calls them “abusive and destructive”. They are currently following and harassing Tyler Florence (including at his home) for using Rosie Organic chicken. Don’t let these Bay Area radicals determine what happens in Sonoma County. No on Measure J.
Farming has been around since the beginning of civilization. On our farm we used the cows waste as compost letting the compost pile age until it was safe to use as fertilizer. Our gardens were amazing and all of it was organic. There are sustainable farming practices that protect the environment.