A special press conference to highlight the new “Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER) Program” will be held next Monday, October 22nd at 10:00 am at Bruno’s Iron and Metal located at 3211 S. Golden State Blvd., in Fresno. Federal, state and local officials will gather to showcase how $108 million from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is helping to fund the FARMER incentive program in the Valley and assist farmers in replacing their older tractors and ag equipment with cleaner low emissions technology. The funding assists growers and agricultural processing facilities to replace tractors, trucks and ATVS. The Association’s own President/CEO Roger Isom will be speaking at the event. The entire speaker list includes:
- Autumn Burke, Assembly Member, District 62
- Heath Flora, Assembly Member, District 12
- Buddy Mendes, Fresno County Supervisor, Valley Air District Board Chair
- Mike Stoker, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9
- Samir Sheikh, Executive Director/APCO, Valley Air District
- Manuel Cunha, President/CEO, Nisei Farmers League
- Roger A. Isom, President/CEO, California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association & Western Agricultural Processors Association
- Hector De La Torre, Board member, California Air Resources Board
- Jenny Lester Moffitt, Undersecretary, California Department of Food & Agriculture
- Carlos Suarez, USDA-NRCS California State Conservationist
FARMER funding comes from the California Climate Investments that takes Cap 7 Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Association was one of a handful of organizations that sought to bring that money to the valley to help address air quality issues with agricultural equipment.