March 30, 2018 -- The county announced Thursday night that the Board of Supervisors appointed Dr. Harinder Grewal, of Stanislaus County, to serve as the new Ag Commissioner. We'll hear a little more about Grewal in the first short piece.
In the next piece, we'll hear from Devon Jones, the Executive Director of the Farm Bureau. She'll tell us about the importance of the Ag Commissioner to her membership, which is mostly conventional farmers, though plenty of cannabis growers are members, too.
Being the Ag Commissioner was a full-time job before the rollout of the cannabis ordinance. This department head is also the Sealer of Weights and Measures, which means keeping track of all devices used to weigh and measure commodities. According to the county's mid-year budget review, the projected revenue for weights and measures is 20% less than projected. Farm Bureau members want to make sure their recertification fees don't increase to make up for that shortfall.
We'll also hear from Jones about the role of the annual crop report, her thoughts on the place of cannabis in the Ag Department, and her concerns about regulatory creep.