Fresno farmer: With proper training and use, pesticides are safe to apply to crops

Fresno is not just home to the fields of fruits and almonds I farm, it’s my home, too. I was born and raised here and, like many other local farmers, I have a deep family connection to the land which, in my case, goes back four generations.

We all care deeply about this community and the health of our friends, families, and neighbors. We want to continue that legacy of family farming so we can leave our children and grandchildren a place where they can continue to cultivate the land and put food on the table.

That’s why carefully managing and treating our produce and seeds is such an important part of our job. One of the ways we do that is with the safe and efficient application of pesticides. They help us keep produce and farmlands healthy by protecting against pests and disease. All farmers use pesticides, even organic farmers. It is one of the key tools we use to prevent pests and diseases from harming our produce and crops.

As farmers working this land every day, we care about the environment and the farmlands where we live and work. Because of that, we take special care in our use of pesticides to make sure they are safe and used responsibly. Just like we use chemicals to prevent malaria and other diseases, we have to use pesticides to prevent disease from reaching our produce and crops. They are necessary to grow bountiful food, both today and for future generations.

Safety is the No. 1 priority. Pesticides undergo rigorous government review and registration before being made available, and use is monitored to enforce safe application. We take seriously the existing standards and regulations for applying pesticides.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve trained hundreds of applicators on the safe and effective use of pesticides. They undergo strict processes to ensure their sprays target exactly where they need to go without risk to surrounding lands and residents. We are always highly targeted in how we spray and try to be as efficient as possible.

Additionally, we must wear personal protective equipment to protect ourselves and to make sure we don’t carry pesticides on our clothing back home to our families.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions about pesticide treatment. Opponents of pesticides argue that it’s too dangerous to the health of those who use it and to people living nearby. Meanwhile, environmental groups argue that pesticides harm the environment.

But the reality is that the state of California has deemed them safe and with that, we wouldn’t use pesticides if we didn’t have to. They are expensive, and applying them is cumbersome. However, not using pesticides would be far more costly to our environment, not to mention our economy.

For example, there are some insects, like the Asian ctrus psyllid, that carry incurable diseases that seriously damage commercial and residential citrus trees. Once a tree is infected in California, it must be destroyed. The consequences of not using pesticides against this kind of insect could be severe, leading to a high percent less harvestable land.

As farmers, our job is to keep the environment safe for farming. We all care deeply about our land and actually share the same goals as others who are concerned about pesticides. I’d add that farmers are probably the biggest environmentalists I know. We want to be good stewards of the land because it is our livelihood.

The bottom line is that safe and efficient pesticide application is necessary to keep our farmlands healthy and to do our jobs which help feed the world.

Today, farming in Fresno County is a nearly $8 billion industry. Communities like ours exist because of agriculture. If we want to keep our hometown growing, literally and figuratively, we all need to find some common ground on this issue so we can protect our farmlands for future generations.