Many California farmers have embraced sustainability and strive to curb their climate impact. Instead of casting blame over controversial programs, a Merced farmer says industry peers should be working together.
Get the news that matters to all Californians. Start every week informed.A machine separating manure from waste water being fed into the digester at the Legacy Ranches near Pixley on Sept. 29, 2023. Several farms house digestors systems that feeds methane gas to the CalGren facility to produce renewable natural gas. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight LocalSimon Vander Woude is a third generation dairyman in Merced.
For our family farm, “sustainability” means doing more with less. Our dairy is the host of a hub-and-spoke model of methane digesters in Merced County, and all the dairies that send their gas to this hub are family farms. My wife, children and I are laser-focused on efficient operations, producing milk with less impact to our climate.
Investing our own funds, we’ve embraced clean technologies, from solar energy to state-assisted replacement of diesel engines, and a self-financed methane digester that provides non-fossil fuels for large vehicles. We do not look to the state to buy our offsets. Instead, all the renewable gas from our operations is sold to private fleets incentivized to lower their carbon footprints within the state through programs like the LCFS.
We are doing the right thing and making strides to lower emissions for each pound of milk or pound of beef produced – so please don’t characterize family farms like mine as large corporate polluters. That said, if we make this a big farm vs. small farm discussion, we are only wasting time pointing fingers. We should be joining hands to work together as a farming community around the globe.“I am a CalMatters sustaining member because I want unbiased journalism that allows me to make up my own mind.”Catch up on the top stories in California with a summary of our reporting and commentary from the past week.
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