Bruce Rominger and his two brothers farm 2,500 acres on the western edge of the Sacramento valley, in Yolo County, California, growing wheat, corn and safflower, sunflowers, rice and grapes, as well as tomatoes for processing. Romingers have been farming in Yolo County for five generations. Bruce and his brothers are the third generation on this particular piece of ground.

In recent years, the Romingers have begun to experiment with organic production. They have had 150 of their 2,500 acres certified organic, and another 70 acres are in transition. "We see organic as another way to market products from our land," says Bruce. "We felt the premium prices from organic sales would subsidize our learning process, as we move toward a system that is more sustainable in the long-run."

"Ten years ago, people in the valley looked at organic production negatively, but now it is pretty well accepted in the conventional agriculture community. There are half a dozen other farmers here doing the same thing, experimenting with organic row crop operations, mostly rice, fruit, and vegetables. I don't think anyone is assuming it will become the norm. There is only a certain segment of society affluent enough or interested enough to pay the premium (price for organic produce)."

"Farming organically on such a small percentage of our ground doesn't make much difference to profitability; both costs and returns are higher. But reducing pesticides creates a safer work environment for workers, and decreases the potential for groundwater pollution. With the ground in better shape, there are also possible environmental benefits, both in improved ground water recharge and wildlife habitat."

Bruce is learning about organic production systems, and improving his operation by participating with other farmers and researchers in a study at the University of California at Davis. (See profiles on Jim Durst and Ed Sills) The participants get together every 4-6 weeks to compare different row crop farming systems, from conventional to organic. "This has been helpful in several ways," says Bruce. "They are growing similar row crop systems on campus, so I can see how other farmers and researchers are doing it. I can bring my own experience to the project, and take things back home. For example, I’m learning about organic fertility, the value of cover crops and fertilizer, and how they affect yields in comparison to conventional nitrogen fertilizers."

Bruce is concerned about how his operation affects the local environment. "I think of this field 50 or 150 years from now after I’m long gone. What does the land look like? Are there still farmers here? Are there still fish in the rivers? Air to breath? I think about how the way I farm will affect that stuff. We need to look at the problems our production will cause for ourselves and society."

He is also concerned about the loss of productive farmland, which he sees accelerating all around him. "In California, the biggest challenge to agriculture is urbanization of farm land, which is driven by population growth. As new people move in, the land is worth more for housing development than it is as farmland, but only in the short term. The economics of development don't take into consideration the long-term costs to society of paving farmland, which include environmental quality losses, habitat losses, and lost food production capability – making us more dependent on imports from other states or countries."

"I live here. I'm raising my children here. I drink the groundwater from a domestic well. I was raised to take care of what I am responsible for. Even though we think our U.S. agriculture system is highly developed – using sophisticated technology – we have only been doing large-scale farming for just over 100 years. There are civilizations that farmed for 1000 years and still failed because their agriculture wasn’t sustainable. We need to think about it in longer terms so we can prevent that from happening here. It is pretty naïve to think that our irrigated system will be working here 100 years from now."

"But no matter what your values, you have to pay the banker and the taxes before you think about how productive your land will be in ten years or fifty years. We want to make sure our farm and our soil are productive into the future, and that food is produced safely. But we have to make money every year. That's paramount."

Bruce Rominger
Rominger Brothers
28800 Road 29
Winters, CA 95694
Tel: (530) 668-1558
rombros@pacbell.net

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