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MAY 15, 2024
Voters will get to decide whether to make Sonoma County the first county in the nation to outlaw so-called factory farming. On Tuesday, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors sent a measure, known as Measure J, to the November ballot. If passed, it would ban larger animal farms, which are officially called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. The county Agricultural Commissioner’s Office says the ordinance would lead to one-point-six-million-dollars in expenses to cover inspections and reporting. The Human Services Department says it would need to spend an additional one-point-five-million-dollars related to job assistance and retraining, if the measure passes. The coalition behind the initiative is associated with group Direct Action Everywhere, whose current and former members have trespassed onto poultry facilities and have been in high profile court cases. Opponents to the measure include the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, who says that it would force companies like Straus Creamery, Clover Sonoma, and Petaluma Poultry out of business.
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