An article in The New York Times on May 30 sparked me to write a letter to the editor of the Napa Valley Register contrasting the situation in Napa Valley.
It’s here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/business/economy/small-farms-usda-biden.html
And here’s the letter:
How Napa County is treating small wineries
Julie Ann Kodmur
June 10, 2024
If your life and livelihood have anything to do with growing grapes in the Napa Valley, I recommend an article in the New York Times which details Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s concern for the ongoing loss of small farms throughout the U.S. Since 1981, our country has lost 544,000 small family farms, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Vilsack asks if we’re OK with that.
There is a very important and very unsettling contrast in what our agriculture secretary is saying and doing, trying to save small family farms and how Napa County is treating small family wineries.
Vilsack has a plan: he’s working on multiplying and improving revenue streams to help farm balance sheets. Rather than just selling crops and livestock, farms of the future could also sell carbon credits, waste products and renewable energy.
Why does the federal government recognize the value of small family farms and Napa County does not? Vilsack is very respectful of what small operations bring to the big picture. Why don’t we get that same kind of respect from our leaders? Why isn’t there creativity and out-of-the-box thinking and problem-solving?
Small wineries have been the heartbeat of the Napa Valley for the last 50 years — economically, culturally, environmentally — yet Napa County seems to be stomping the life out of these operations. They are not supporting the 2008 General Plan. They’re not gathering wineries around a big table to brainstorm solutions. When winery after winery is denied the right to exist, or regulated out of existence, no protestation about how the county is “really” pro-Ag seems believable. Look at the actions and deeds, not their words.
Vilsack is working on increasing farmers’ income and access to the marketplace. Napa County, on the other hand, is slamming the door through a huge array of regulations, whether it’s limiting visitation, requiring a CEQA review for one more employee, out-of-date use permitting and more. Why isn’t there a concern on the part of the county about how this mountain of regulations will make Napa wineries less competitive? Why hasn’t the county reviewed its regulations in relation to other wine growing counties in California?
Maybe we could invite Vilsack to visit?
Julie Ann Kodmur
St. Helena
The statistics referenced in The New York Times article can be found on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics service website: