Cuts Threaten Growers’ Fight Against Insects

On the front lines of the battle to shield Ventura County farmland from crop-damaging pests, Linda Bellamy is bombarded by grim budget news.

The veteran bug-trapper is a supervisor with the county agricultural commissioner’s insect detection program, the first line of defense in preventing injurious pests from gaining a foothold against the county’s $1-billion farm industry.

But in a cost-cutting move, the year-round county program has been targeted for elimination under a budget proposal pitched to the Board of Supervisors earlier this month. It would be replaced by a seasonal one run by the state.

“I think we actually can protect the county better than somebody from the outside,” said Bellamy, who oversees a staff of 10. “I’m not saying the state would do a bad job, but we do it darn good.”

With county leaders scrambling to close a projected $36-million budget gap, the agricultural commissioner’s office was ordered to cut its general fund costs by nearly half for next fiscal year -- a $657,000 reduction. That led to a budget proposal that included closing the department’s Camarillo office and eliminating 24 positions, which would affect everything from monitoring pesticide applications to certifying produce for export.

“It’s an unprecedented budget reduction,” said David Buettner, the county’s chief deputy agricultural commissioner. “I was around when Prop. 13 was passed, and we weren’t hit as hard then.”

With a June 30 county budget deadline looming, agricultural commissioners around the state are facing mixed prospects.

In farm-rich Tulare County, officials expect their budgets to be cut little or not at all next fiscal year. Agricultural commissioners in Kern and Merced counties are gearing up for a 10% reduction in county funding, although officials there said they expect to achieve those cuts without eliminating core programs and with few, if any, layoffs.

In Monterey County, the third most productive farm county in California, the agricultural commissioner’s office has been targeted for a 47% reduction in county funding next fiscal year, a loss of $923,000. The department expects to lose five positions and reduce a range of services, said Bob Roach, the county’s assistant agricultural commissioner.

In Ventura County, the 10th-largest agricultural producer in the state, the department has been hit hard before by budget cuts.

But the extent of the reductions proposed for next year has many farmers, pesticide safety advocates and others worried about long-term effects on the county’s oldest and most prominent industry.

“It’s a tremendous hit they are going to take,” said fourth-generation farmer David Schwabauer, the county farm bureau president. “I understand there’s a budget problem and everybody is under the gun. But still, you have to really watch where the cuts are coming and what the end results are going to be.”

Pesticide enforcement could take one of the hardest hits. The proposed spending plan would eliminate six inspectors, some of whom issue pesticide permits, monitor application and respond to residents’ complaints.

Department officials said staff losses would cut the number of inspections, curb nonemergency response to complaints about the mishandling of pesticide application and increase the likelihood of pesticide drift onto homes, schools and other sensitive areas.

That’s particularly troubling to pesticide safety advocates, who for years have pressed for more monitoring and enforcement against those who violate regulations.

“I think a lot of people would say there already is a current lack of enforcement and follow-up ... and now those problems could be compounded,” said Eric Cardenas, head of a Central Coast program aimed at reducing pesticide-related health risks.

Other effects are also expected. Growers and shippers probably will pay increased fees -- about $5 per certification, on average -- to certify produce for shipment to other countries. The commissioner’s office also will curtail participation in the Ag Futures Alliance, a group dedicated to keeping the county’s agriculture industry healthy.

None of the cuts is set in stone. A revised state budget proposal released last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger improved the county’s outlook, although it’s too soon to tell what that might mean for the agricultural commissioner.

Department managers will scour the revisions in coming weeks and eventually take recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, which has final approval.

At least one county supervisor wants to take a hard look at proposed reductions in the agriculture department, saying certain farm-related services cannot be done without.

“You can’t continue to have agriculture unless you have inspectors,” said Supervisor John Flynn, whose Oxnard-based district has some of the most productive farmland in the state. “I’ve gotten letters from farmers and farming organizations. They are all extremely concerned. We’ve got to figure out how to somehow maintain that industry.”

Last week on the east end of Ventura, maintaining the industry was exactly what pest trapper Barbara Miller had in mind. Moving through residential neighborhoods, the insect detection specialist set traps for the medfly and Oriental fruit fly, part of a countywide effort against crop-ravaging pests.

Miller and others said it’s easy to see the value of that effort. Less than a decade ago, the discovery of Mediterranean fruit flies in Camarillo touched off an agricultural emergency.

An 86-square-mile quarantine area was established, forcing growers of fruits considered medfly hosts -- including oranges, avocados and lemons -- to fumigate their produce before shipping. The infestation caused more than $50 million in damage for local growers and enraged residents opposed to the aerial pesticide spraying used to fight the bug.

The county’s pest detection effort is designed to catch such infestations early and limit their spread.