Misconceptions about Borrego's Farms

I appreciated the opportunity to attend the Borrego Water District’s (BWD) “Town Hall Meeting” on March 19. In spite of the tortuously manipulated format that discouraged the expression of public opinion, I felt the meeting had value. Quite a few Borrego farmers attended the meeting. It was a chance to listen and learn about other people’s perspectives.

I do want to point out, however, that a couple of people made remarks about Borrego farms that simply are not true. I’d like to set the record straight.

First of all, one gentleman asserted that Borrego farmers “get their water for free,” implying that that is not fair when BWD residential customers have to pay for the water run through their meters. In point of fact, access to agricultural water in Borrego is far from free, or even cheap.

A typical Borrego farmer pays tens of thousands of dollars each year in pumping costs, and that’s on top of the hundreds of thousands of dollars he or she has invested in capital costs like wells, pumps, tanks, and irrigation lines. Like some other water users in Borrego, we conserve our water, in part because of the bottom line. No one should be using water carelessly.

Second, one person suggested that Borrego farms are just “corporate agri-business,” implying that our interests are somehow impersonal and unethical. There’s nothing true about that. In point of fact, most farms in Borrego are family owned. Three generations of my family, for example, have worked at Ellis Farms. I’ve pointed this out before, so when people persist in denying it, I tend to take the “agri-biz” remarks as a kind of prejudiced or self-interested slur against farmers.

Finally, one person speaking at the meeting implied that Borrego farms do not contribute to the local economy. This too is wrong. Local farm payrolls exceeded $3.1 million the last time I checked a couple of years ago, and most of this money is spent locally. Many local merchants know how important that is, particularly during the summer. Local farms employ over 120 full time and over 200 part time workers.

We are your neighbors.