A farming county

— Rollie Atkinson
The Sonoma County Fair, our annual mid-summer ritual of
livestock exhibits, horse racing, carnival rides and the Hall of
Flowers, is winding down to an end this Sunday, Aug. 9.
The crowds are down a bit this year and the junior livestock
bidding has needed lots of extra encouragement from 4-H parents and
other ag boosters. But, all in all, the Sonoma County Fair remains
one of the very best exhibits of agriculture excellence throughout
the land.
The Fair always offers a little something for everyone. There
are singing pigs and an Elvis impersonator. The 1970’s Village
People were here and the Hall of Flowers is being invaded by
prehistoric dinosaurs for the “Fair Before Time” theme of this
year’s event. Some of the world’s best wines are being poured and
you can have them with corn dogs, cotton candy or garlic fries.
The Sonoma County Fair is one of our oldest institutions,
founded in 1936 when Santa Rosa was called a “dusty cow town.”
Santa Rosa native Tawny Tesconi is the new fair manager and she is
assisted by a 15-member board of directors that work throughout the
year to prepare for the two-week event.
In times before there was an annual county fair, back  150 years
ago, Sonoma County was just a rural expanse, without an industry or
much else. It took European immigrants and Mexican Land Grant
owners to make Sonoma County a “farming” place. The culture that
defined this place — then and now — was agri-culture, a way of life
wedded to the soil.
Today, the heart and purpose of the Sonoma County Fair is still
all about agriculture. You don’t have to tell that to the hundreds
of 4-H and FFA youth that show their livestock at the fair. Like
the kids, the flowers, produce, crafts and other farm exhibits are
all Sonoma homemade.
This year’s Fair includes a series of demonstrations and
displays under a “Sustainable Sonoma” heading to promote
environmentally friendly and healthy living practices, with a
special emphasis on eating locally and thinking globally.
Sonoma County’s pioneer farmers grew their own gardens and
raised their own eggs, meat and milk. There were dozens of small
dairies, chicken hatcheries and fruit processing operations.
Families lived on the land, feeding themselves, preserving crops,
butchering their own meat and plowing their fields. It was mostly
organic by necessity.
Back then more people lived on farms than lived in cities. Today
the population balance is the opposite but there are more than a
few “sustainable” trends that are keeping Sonoma County a “farming”
county.
This year’s official Sonoma County Crop report is dedicated to
the 13 flourishing community Farm Markets in the county and the 147
Certified Producers. The county fair happens just two weeks out of
the year while some of these local farm markets are open half the
year and longer.
Agriculture is a $593 million industry in Sonoma County, led by
winegrapes ($381 million) and dairy herds ($95 million). All the
rewards of farming are self-earned from long and tiring hours of
labor. In some years when the weather or growing season adds more
challenges from lack of rain or poor harvest conditions, some
farmers must go a whole year without a paycheck.
For these and other reasons, all of the county’s city slickers
should celebrate at the Fair with more than just a ride on the
ferris wheel or a wager on the horses. The best salute to our
farmers is the financial encouragement the many bidders offer the
youth livestock exhibitors.
This year’s junior livestock auction tally will be short of the
record-breaking $1 million from two years ago, but there will be
plenty of support for scholarships and investment in our future
farmers.
Like all good farmers know, no two crops or harvests are ever
the same. And the most important one is always next year’s.