Agriculture Today - May 2008
After more than 34 years of County service, Jerry Prieto prepares to say good bye
Fresno County’s “top agricultural cop”-- Agricultural Commissioner Jerry Prieto, Jr. – is retiring next month, after more than 34 years of service to County government.
The popular agricultural commissioner will be missed—despite his department’s role in regulating agricultural production in Fresno County, protecting the county’s environment, public health, safety and welfare. Prieto found a way to successfully enforce the myriad laws and regulations on the food and fiber industry, while at the same time earning the respect and admiration of those he regulated. It’s not easy to be a county agricultural commissioner. The tasks are many and the responsibilities are considerable – at the same time that budgets and staffing keep getting tighter and leaner.
Agricultural Commissioner’s offices in most California counties are understandably busy, but for the office that oversees the nation’s number one farm county with more than 350 commercial crops, it can be outright overwhelming. Tasks assigned to the Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner’s office include enforcement of the rules and regulations placed on agricultural chemical use, export inspections, nursery stock and seed inspections, predatory animal management, weed control, apiary inspection and bee disease abatement, registration of organic producers, and even compliance with selling produce at Farmers’ Markets – just to name a few. In addition, the commissioner’s office oversees inspections and standardization of measuring and weighing devices, wearing the dual hat as Sealer of Weights and Measures.
“When you look at the sheer numbers of what we do, it’s overwhelming,” said Prieto.
Preito’s success and popularity can be attributed to his being both a protector and an enforcer of agriculture in a proactive, hands-on and effective way. He started his career with the Fresno County Department of Agriculture in 1974, working on the regulatory and compliance side of the industry. When he left the department to work as the Fresno County Resources Manager at the County’s Public Works Department, he quickly learned what it was like to be “regulated” by water and air quality regulatory agencies – a learning experience he brought with him when he returned to the Agriculture Department in 1999 to become the County’s top regulator for the agricultural industry.
“We’re here to serve the agriculture community and while regulatory enforcement is a primary duty, we need to help educate our farmers about how to come into compliance, too,” said Prieto.
As Ag Commissioner, Prieto focuses on helping farmers and ranchers come into compliance through outreach and education. The department’s Compliance Assessment Team conducts no-risk, on-farm audits to help identify what is needed to come under compliance with the various regulations. Follow-up inspections help ensure the outreach program has been successful. “Our growers do a great job of compliance. We run a fair enforcement program,” Prieto added.
In presenting Fresno County Farm Bureau’s Distinguished Service Award last week, FCFB President Russel Efird said, “Jerry instilled a focus with his staff on helping farmers and ranchers learn the regulations and how to comply, instead of approaching the regulatory component in a punitive, heavy-handed way. Through this fair enforcement approach, farmers and ranchers in Fresno County do a good job, complying with the many rules and regulations in agriculture.”
In addition to the FCFB award, the Fresno-Kings Counties Cattlemen’s Association presented Prieto with an award earlier this year in appreciation for his service to agriculture. “No matter what the face of agriculture it is, Jerry is there to help you,” said FKCCA President Mark Thompson, citing support for livestock issues, pest management or land use. “When you deal with 350 different commodities, you need a guy who’s on top of it all -- and, Jerry is,” added Thompson, who also serves on the FCFB Board of Directors.
Strong leadership
Throughout the years, Prieto has directed several effective solutions to protect local agriculture. He took the lead in managing the Peach Fruit Fly outbreak in 2006, and in working with the USDA and CDFA to eradicate the pest and to minimize economic losses for most farmers. He also took the lead in bringing together growers on the west side to develop an effective Pesticide Drift Management Program that has eliminated losses in certain crops from herbicide applications.
Likewise, Prieto has been active in helping fine-tune the County’s Right–to-Farm Ordinance, and he has been a stalwart champion of farmland preservation in Fresno County. Prieto’s staff spent much time researching and gathering data to establish the Golden Triangle, a two-mile radius around major east side cities and communities that are losing fertile farmland to development. “I’m proud of the staff who developed the information [that is being used in land use policy discussions],” said Prieto. “Once we lose the land, it’s gone and we can’t go back,” he said. “We need to get things in place now or we risk losing it.”
One area Prieto wishes had come to complete fruition is the All Hazardous Food and Agricultural Emergency Response Plan for Fresno and Stanislaus counties. The cooperative project, born from the Exotic Newcastle Disease threat to the poultry industry, provides guidance to respond to a major disease outbreak that could threaten Valley agriculture. Although the plan is in place, it has not been adopted for statewide application and lacks the funding sources to do so.
On the statewide level, Jerry served as the first chair of the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association’s Food Safety and Agriculture Security Committee, as well as was that Association’s president for two years. He also is a former member of Governor Davis' State Committee on Terrorism, and Western Weights and Measures Association Board of Directors.
The Clovis resident is a member of Fresno County Farm Bureau and the Fresno County Council of Governments Farmland Conservation Steering Committee. He is the chair of the Fresno County Council of Governments Farmland Preservation Advisory Committee and the Fresno County Land Conservation Committee. He currently serves as the chair of California Agricultural Secretary Kawamura’s AB 771 Honeybee/Seedless Mandarin Co-Existence Working Group.
A long-time love of agriculture
Having grown up on a farm in Corcoran, Prieto has always had a love of this Valley’s land that is genuine and respectful of its fertile potential. Even as a young boy helping his father irrigate in the Tulare Lake Bottom, Prieto learned what it takes to be a farmer and what hard work is all about. Working hand-in-hand with his father on the farm, even while attending Fresno State, Prieto learned a strong work ethic.
“My father always said when you work for someone, you give them a full day. You owe them that. I appreciate the discipline my parents taught me,” he added. “My father put a lot of trust in me. All I ever wanted to do was to be a farmer.”
After 34 years giving the County more than a “full day,” Prieto will now get his chance to be that farmer. The first days of retirement will be a departure for Prieto, but he will stay busy working on his “hobby” cattle farm located in rural Clovis and he is looking forward to spending more time with his two grandchildren. He intends to stay engaged in land use planning efforts.
Likewise, Prieto is anxious to put to use his new fishing equipment he got as part of the FCFB’s Service Award. “I’d like to go fishing again. I haven’t been fishing in nine years,” he added.
"I love my job. I am going to miss it.” And, the farmers and ranchers of Fresno County will miss him, too.