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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E901-E902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE BERETTA FAMILY
______
HON. MIKE THOMPSON
of california
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today with the
Honorable Jared Huffman to honor the Beretta Family as the recipient of
the 2019 Sonoma County Farm Bureau Luther Burbank Conservation Award,
which recognizes an individual, business, or family that is committed
to environmental stewardship. The Beretta Family Dairy has become
increasingly environmentally friendly over the last 70 years.
The Beretta Family started focusing on their farm's impact on the
environment in the 1950s. They stopped using chemical fertilizers,
focused on pasture management, and committed to growing as much of
their own feed as possible to reduce the amount of food that had to be
trucked long distances. They currently produce 60 percent of the feed
required for their 350 dairy cows, which not only helps the
environment, but reduces the cost of feed as well. Starting in 1981,
the Beretta family has used recycled water from the City of Santa Rosa
to water the hay and silage on their 200 acres. By using recycled
water, the family is conserving the groundwater in the aquifer
underneath the Santa Rosa Plains. In 1992, the Beretta Family developed
their
[[Page E902]]
fertigation system which combined the cows' manure with the recycled
city water and kept the manure from contaminating waterways. After they
started using this system, their crop yields increased by one ton per
acre. The Beretta Family Dairy was one of the first farms to
collaborate with the City of Santa Rosa and the Sonoma Resource
Conservation District on a nutrient offset project. The Beretta Family
has hosted students from the Sonoma Resource Conservation District's
FARMS (Farming, Agriculture, and Resource Management for
Sustainability) Leadership program. They have provided opportunities to
students that otherwise may not get to experience a working dairy.
The Beretta Family Ranch is currently operated by Doug and Sharon
Beretta and their children Jennifer, Lisa, and Ryan. Lisa's son Brayden
has shown an affinity for agriculture and may be the fifth generation
of the Beretta Family to continue the family dairy business. In 2015,
Doug Beretta, and the whole Beretta Family, were given the Water
Quality Stewardship Award by the North Coast Water Quality Control
Board in recognition of the family's management of water and resources
on their dairy. Doug Beretta is the current Director and past President
of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau and the Sonoma County Fair and is a
member of the 4H Replacement Heifer Committee and the Youth AG and
Leadership Foundation.
Madam Speaker, the Beretta Family is dedicated to environmental
stewardship and has worked to make their dairy environmentally friendly
over the last 70 years. It is therefore fitting and proper that we
honor them here today.
____________________