Ag operations annoy some urbanites

Agriculture is a key industry in Merced County, contributing nearly $3 billion per year to the local economy, but city dwellers living next door find it's not all tranquility and charm, according to an article in the Merced Sun Star.

The story was based on a research report in the most recent California Agriculture journal, "California communities deal with conflict and adjustment at the urban edge," which focused on the confluence of agriculture and neighborhoods in Merced and Monterey counties.

UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Maxwell Norton, one of the study's authors, told reporter Carol Reiter that the research involved interviews and the tracking of urban-agriculture complaints to agricultural commissioners. Most complaints from urban residents are about aerial spraying, night noise and dust.

"In Los Banos people seem to be very sensitive to planes flying over their homes," Norton was quoted. "They automatically think if it's a small plane, it's an ag plane."

The study also looked into reasons for varying levels of urban/ag conflict in different localities.

"We found that the population of Los Banos is fundamentally different from the population in Livingston," Norton said. "In Los Banos, there are a lot of truly urban people, Bay Area transplants who are commuting. They did not grow up around ag."

Norton said farmers have learned to tread lightly when it comes to getting along with their neighbors.

"They try to avoid tractoring or spraying in the afternoons when children are home," Norton was quoted "And there are some crops they avoid growing near urban areas, like cotton."

Keeping urban areas as compact as possible will help ease conflicts as the valley's population grows, the authors suggested in the California Agriculture article.

"There are many more residents now scattered throughout the rural areas," Norton said. "It's become increasingly difficult to have a buffer between the farms and residential areas."

An 'urban edge' near Monterey. (Photo: California Agriculture journal)