Valley air district: Improved equipment will help growers make transition to cleaner practices

Not all of the air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley comes from the burning of fossil fuels in cars, trucks and other motor vehicles.

Smoke from open agricultural burning, and dust from nut harvesting have long contributed to localized impacts to the valley’s air quality.

But change is literally in the air thanks to a number of incentive programs developed by the eight-county San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. These incentives targeted to growers include the Ag Burn Alternatives Grant Program — which incentivizes alternatives to open burning — and the Low Dust Nut Harvester Grant Program, designed to ​​reduce air quality impacts stemming from nut harvesting.

"Given that the agricultural community is key in helping the valley meet clean air goals, these programs must remain relevant and responsive to the needs in the field," air district governing board Chairman Vito Chiesa said in a news release.

"We must ensure all farmers, especially small farmers, have an opportunity to receive Air District funding to replace their dirty equipment and practices with effective, cleaner options," Chiesa said.

On Friday, tours were organized at two farms in Fresno County to demonstrate the latest equipment funded in part through air district incentives.

Representatives from the Nisei Farmers League, California Cotton Ginners Association, Western Agricultural Processors Association and other ag groups were involved along with officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board and others.

At one of the farms near Fresno, vineyard chipping equipment was demonstrated in the field.

Only last September, longtime Kern Country grower Steve Murray told The Californian that he recognized that the practice of open-field burning of old grapevines and tree orchards must come to an end in the valley.

But he also had concerns.

"Nobody now wants to burn," he told The Californian. But there are challenges in finding alternatives.

The equipment demonstrated on Friday may be one possible answer. Not only can it easily chip old grapevines, it can fully chip vineyard material that contains embedded metal wire and stakes, thereby reducing the laborious process of hand removal.

A near-complete phase out of agricultural burning in the valley is looming in just 16 months. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2025, growers will have fewer alternatives.

But significant progress is already happening. According to the valley air district, more than 12,500 old high-polluting pieces of ag equipment have been replaced through these incentives and other joint efforts. And the open burning of more than 194,000 acres — representing nearly 5.4 million tons of woody waste — has been eliminated through non-burning alternative practices including chipping and soil incorporation.

In 2021, the air district received $178.2 million in new state funding to launch the expanded grant program to assist farmers in transitioning to chipping and grinding of material for incorporation into the soil.

The integration of the woody product into the soil is sometimes called whole orchard recycling. Not only does it keep particulate pollutants out of the air in the form of smoke and soot, it keeps millions of tons of carbon out of the atmosphere through carbon sequestration.

According to studies sponsored by the Almond Board of California, growers can increase their yields by chipping up their old trees and incorporating the material back into the soil. The process reintroduces needed minerals and helps orchards retain water.

"Agriculture has helped to clean up the valley air," Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League, said in the air district's news release.

"Today we are showing elected officials and federal and state agencies the innovative technology currently being used in the fields to reduce particulate matter, especially in almond harvesting activities," Cunha said. "The agriculture community is continuing to look at new technologies to help further reduce emissions from its activities."

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.

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