An additional $118.8 million in FARMER funding has been accepted and appropriated by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. The Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions program, or FARMER Program, provides financial support to upgrade agricultural equipment. President and CEO of the Western Agricultural Processors Association, Roger Isom said the FARMER program has been immensely successful.
“It has gotten a lot of reductions,” Isom noted. “It’s the most cost-effective program out of any regulation or incentive program that the Air District or the California Air Resources Board has by far. So, it’s the best bang for your buck if you will. That’s the terms coming from the regulatory agencies.”
The FARMER funding will help producers upgrade their older diesel tractors, harvesters, and other equipment with lower-emission options. In the first four years of the program, more than $432 million has been provided to replace agricultural equipment in the San Joaquin Valley. Highlighting the success of the program, applications have grown substantially. The queue of applications has increased from 2,061 to 3,305 since April.
Funding support for the program comes from California’s cap-and-trade program, the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund, and the Air Quality Improvement Fund. The California Air Resources Board administers the program, with funding divided among 35 air districts in the state. Isom said that incentives like the FARMER Program allow agriculture to be part of the solution in addressing air quality concerns.
“It’s the way that we wanted to do this. It’s the best compliance approach. Agriculture isn’t fighting it. It’s not a mandatory truck replacement rule like we had to do with trucks. This is just voluntary,” Isom explained. “If you can do it great, if you can’t then we move on to the next guy. So those that can afford it, those that can do it, do it.”
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