A Call for Leadership

Much as farmers must constantly adjust the way they do business to compensate for changing weather and market conditions, so must Ventura County’s agricultural commissioner develop new skills and habits if he is to carry out the duties demanded by an evolving county.

Earl McPhail, who has held that job for two decades, has been slow to respond to the growing need for his office to play the roles of diplomat, educator and enforcer of the delicate balance between farmers and their urban neighbors. This is why the Board of Supervisors recently balked at reappointing him to another four-year term. Instead, the supervisors gave McPhail six months to prove he can do a better job of communicating with them and responding to the public’s concerns.

We share the board’s concern that McPhail has not kept pace with the county’s changing needs. Unless he demonstrates a desire and ability to embrace the broader role of the ag commissioner in modern-day Ventura County, the board should find someone who will.

The supervisors’ action came after years of complaints by homeowners and environmental groups that Ventura County is less vigilant than other farming counties at enforcing regulations on the use of pesticides. The state Department of Pesticide Regulation contends that the Ventura County’s pesticide control program has suffered from shoddy investigations, lax enforcement and poor record-keeping of pesticide violations at farms for at least six years.

The frequency and urgency of complaints has increased as the county has grown and changed. Twenty years ago, Ventura County’s population was only 530,000 and farming was by far the largest industry. Today, more than 730,000 people live here--many of them in new subdivisions carved out of what used to be isolated cropland. The roar of tractors and wind machines, the stink of smoke and manure, the wind drift of dust and pesticides that once affected only neighboring farms now catch the attention of suburbanites who may love the view but don’t hesitate to complain about the side effects.

For this phenomenon of shrinking fields, farmers are hardly to blame. The Times supports Ventura County’s right-to-farm ordinance and believes that farmers who follow the laws and abide by pesticide regulations deserve to be left alone to do their business. Increasingly, it falls to the county ag commissioner to make farm neighbors understand this. And when a few farmers flout the law by spraying on windy days or cheating on buffer zones, the ag commissioner must respond firmly and consistently. Otherwise, it is law-abiding farmers who end up paying the price.

Some changes the farm community has brought on itself. In recent years Ventura County agriculture has become more chemically dependent. Although lemons continue to be the county’s leading crop, the No. 2 spot has passed from avocados (one of the least sprayed or fertilized crops) to strawberries (one of the most heavily treated). The most vigorous battles have been fought over methyl bromide, a potent poison that is injected into the soil to sterilize it before planting. In 1996, dozens of people became ill when methyl bromide was applied to strawberry fields too close to homes. Wider buffer zones and closer monitoring in subsequent years vastly reduced the problem.

That history illustrates the need for the ag commissioner to actively lead the way in educating farmers and the public and making sure all safety requirements are met.

In many ways, Ventura County entered a whole new era last November when two-thirds of its voters approved the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) growth-control measures. Over time, these measures may reduce some of these neighbor conflicts as farmland within city limits disappears and housing construction in the countryside is curtailed. But as a story in today’s Times explains, SOAR is likely to increase the number of schools that are built adjacent to working farmland. That unfortunate situation magnifies the importance of strictly following and enforcing safety regulations.

If farmers are to continue to thrive in the Ventura County of the next millennium, and if the rest of county residents are to coexist with agriculture on good terms and in good health, we will need a county agricultural commissioner with the zeal and diplomatic skills to serve both camps. The Board of Supervisors is correct to challenge Earl McPhail to prove that he can fulfill that role.