REDUCING FARM EQUIPMENT EMISSIONS

IN FRESNO COUNTY

Yessenia Figueroa, Roxana Garcia, Madeline Lasell, Nadine Mansour

& Huong Phan

October 26, 2017

 POOR AIR QUALITY
IN THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

• The San Joaquin Valley emulates a narrow bowl as it’s surrounded by

mountains that retain air pollutants from:

• Winds and heat that create an ozone “oven”

• High levels of particulates during winter due to stagnant foggy weather
• Emissions from vehicles (on-road, off-road)
• Wood burning
• Nearby metropolitan areas (i.e. Bay Area and Sacramento Valley)

• 1 in 6 children in the San Joaquin Valley have asthma due to poor air quality,
which is the highest rate of asthma seen across the nation.
 VALLEY SPOTLIGHT:
FRESNO COUNTY FARMS

• Fresno County is 1 of 8 counties in the San Joaquin Valley with a

population of 972,724 people.

• Contains 1.88 million acres of farmland

• 50% of Fresno’s land maintains agricultural operations

• Farm operator demographics (2012):

• Male-dominated
• 5,042 males, 641 females
• Primarily White
• 6,964 Caucasians, 1,616 Spanish/Hispanic/Latinos,
1,499 Asians, 140 American Indians, 52 African Americans
• About half of all farmworkers / laborers are Hispanic
SO, WHAT IS BEING DONE TO REDUCE
AGRICULTURAL AIR POLLUTION?
 TRACTOR
REPLACEMENT
PROGRAM

➢ In 2017, San Joaquin Valley was awarded

$3 million in funds by the California Air
Resources Board (CARB).

➢ Not everyone who applies gets funding for

equipment replacement, they must meet
grant eligibility requirements.

➢ Still a fairly new program with limited

statistics on the air quality changes.

➢ Last year, the San Joaquin Valley Air

Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD)
distributed $500,000 in a pilot program,
which resulted in only 19 tractor trades.

➢ In 2012, there were 5,683 farms in Fresno!

 OUR CAMPAIGN PROPOSAL :
ENSURE EASIER REPLACEMENT OF HIGH-POLLUTING TRACTORS

We aim to replace all Tier 0-2 tractors
with new and improved Tier 4 tractors
designed to reduce PM and NOx within
2 years by 25%.
Fresno equipment
STEP 4:
We will partner with Fresno
equipment dealerships (also, Tesla,
John Deere) to carry out tractor
trade-offs.
STEP 3:
A representative from each farm will
be mandated to attend at least one Air
Quality Workshop hosted by the
Fresno County Farm Bureau between
January - May 2018.
Using flyers and in-person outreach,
we will generate awareness about the
campaign at the mandatory
workshops.
STEP 1:
Our needs assessment would revolve
around determining the specifics
(resources, budget, number of
Partner with partnerships) we would need to address
Conduct Needs when: 1) identifying the tractors in need
dealerships Assessment of replacement and 2) working with
farmers to ensure that they abide by our
policy proposal 3) working with farmers
to ensure the process is user-focused
EASIER
TIER 0-2 TRACTOR
STEP 2:
REPLACEMENTS Qualifying tractors (in need of
replacement) would include:
Identify
● diesel-fueled
Qualifying
Tractors ● self-propelled
● off-road equipment
● vehicles with >25 horsepower
Tier 4 tractors are low-emission vehicles
that will reduce the overall concentration
of particulate matter (PM) in Fresno air.

McKinsey & Company 6

 BENEFITS

➢Reduces air pollution from cars and farm equipment

➢New equipment saves time, lowers production costs,

and improves overall agricultural practices in the long
run

➢Higher yielding crops as a result of less smog

➢Meet California emission standards for tractor

agricultural equipment

➢Reduces health related costs due to pollution

➢Lowers allergy and asthma attack rates

➢Encourage and incentivize research & development

into greener technology for all agricultural operations
 POTENTIAL RESISTANCE FROM DIVERSE
STAKEHOLDERS

• Equipment manufacturers not already investing in green technology or

cleaner fuel options

• Farmers who are focused on agricultural productivity

• Lobbying organizations (National Farmers Union, DCLRS) supporting

farmer interests (profits and productivity)

• Trucking firms, growers, dairies, and other business sectors facing out-of-
state or international competition motivated to resist the imposition of tighter
regulations
 CONCLUSION

• Ultimately, while we expect some push back from farm operators, we believe
we can incentivize them to reduce their tractor emissions, which we know to be
a major source of pollutants in Fresno County.

• Current tractor buy-back practices do not benefit a large number of farmers in

the San Joaquin Valley. Hence, we aim to spread awareness among the Fresno
farmer community and engage in partnerships to ensure that as many farmers as
possible can participate in our campaign.

• Education will be key to our campaign’s ability to permeate the farming

community. Short-term hits to productivity may deter farm operators from
wanting to trade in their tractors, but we expect that demonstrating the
importance of participation in our campaign will lead to the reduced emissions
that we want to see.
 References

• California Breathing. Fresno County Asthma Profile.

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/EHIB/CPE/CDPH%20Document%20Library/County%20profiles/Fresno2016profile.pdf.
Accessed October 25, 2017
• Fresno County Farm Bureau. Fresno County Agriculture. http://www.fcfb.org/Fresno-Ag/Fresno-Ag.php Accessed October 25, 2017
• American Lung Association. State of the Air 2016. http://www.lung.org/assets/documents/healthy-air/state-of-the-air/sota-2016-full.pdf. Accessed
October 25, 2017.
• Bazallergy. Fresno Air Quality. http://bazallergy.com/fresno-air-quality/. Accessed October 25 2017
• Census of Agriculture. Fresno County California.
https://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/County_Profiles/California/cp06019.pdf. Accessed October 25 2017.
• Lighthall, D, Capitman, J. Central Valley Health Policy Institute. The Long Road to Clean Air in the San Joaquin Valley: Facing the Challenge of
Public Engagement. Central Valley Health Policy Institute. https://www.fresnostate.edu/chhs/cvhpi/documents/air-quality-report-2007.pdf.
Accessed October 25 2017.
• California Citrus Mutual. Trade in your tractor. https://www.cacitrusmutual.com/trade-in-your-tractor/. Accessed October 25 2017
• Questions and Answers for the Off-Road Mobile Agricultural Equipment Trade-Up
Pilot Project in the San Joaquin Valley. https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aqip/solicitations/tradeup_qa_04142017.pdf. Accessed October 25 2017.
• Valley Air. AG Tractor Replacement Program. http://valleyair.org/grants/documents/tractor/Guidelines.pdf. Accessed October 25 2017
• United State Department of Agriculture. Environmental Quality Incentive Program.
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip/. Accessed October 25 2017.
• Stemp, G. Agriculture: Green Farming Equipment. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2005;113(9):A590.