Monica Vaughan

The Valley air district has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds to help farmers upgrade tractors to newer, cleaner burning machines. But despite hefty grants, the programs are inaccessible to many small farmers, and ag equipment still contributes to the Valley’s smog problem.

After a federal judge ruled that the EPA wrongly approved of a flawed plan to reduce San Joaquin Valley air pollution, clean air advocates hope the federal agency will step in to strengthen regulations of polluting industries.

A California senator set out to ban agricultural burning in the San Joaquin Valley nearly 20 years ago. A messy political fight left a legal loophole that allowed air regulators to postpone the deadline.

Even with $220 million in financial incentives, growers are wondering how they’ll afford whole orchard recycling in the long term–especially small farmers, who have fewer resources to begin with.

In their new plan to ban agricultural burning, air regulators are using outreach and financial incentives to convince growers to adopt an alternative known as whole orchard recycling.

Long-term exposure to the particulate matter released by open agricultural burning has been associated with a suite of health problems, and the communities most affected are majority-Latino.

The San Joaquin Valley air district committed to ending open agricultural burning by 2025, but nearly two decades of postponing the ban have left clean air advocates dubious that local air regulators will follow through.