Kaweah Delta's Site Search Includes City-Owned Akers/198

Visalia - Kaweah Delta's fast-track facilities study that will weigh alternate sites for a hospital that includes expanding downtown or a new site on Shirk and 198. Now the hospital has apparently asked the City of Visalia to add in the city owned property at 198 and Akers currently under contract to Westland Development.

"I absolutely can't comment on that," says VP Lindsay Mann, the incoming CEO, "except to say we want to consider sites up and down the 198 corridor." The hospital is looking at a two month time frame to compare locations for an expanded hospital either on "clean dirt" as Mann calls it a or retrofitting and adding on in the downtown.

"We want people to understand that the choices are not either/or," says Mann. "We have short term needs downtown" that likely will be accommodated by expanding at that campus "but we could do other things at a new site." The hospital wants to be able to recommend a path to the Kaweah Delta board by June.

The hospital is being pressed to look at expansion in part because seismic regulations require an upgrade of some buildings. Meanwhile, the growing need for services is pushing the need to plan quickly for new beds.

City council member Jesus Gamboa, who like all of his council colleagues prefers the hospital remain in the downtown area, says he has heard of the hospital's interest in the city land on Akers. "I've heard there is a letter but I haven't seen it," says Gamboa. "If the hospital is interested in being part of the development planned already out there (at the Westlands 30 acre center) that would be one thing," he says. "If the hospital wants to replace that development that would be another."

The city council is expected to rezone that property for commercial development that would include some major retailers, restaurant and a family fun park as part of the development. "That was the vision we had for that site and for my part I want to stick with it," says the council member.

The location has been called ideal for retail/highway commercial use and now the only corner at Akers and 198 that is not developed as the new freeway nears completion. The site has great visibility from the elevated freeway that runs adjacent to it and it's the first property within the city limits that can be developed along more than a mile of open farm land that is off limits currently to development.

The city council will be put in the uncomfortable position of not just having to work with the big health care provider on alternate locations from the hospital's point of view, but from the entire community's perspective, the council has suggested. In this situation they would be put in the position of not just approving a site - they would sell it to them.

"I think if the hospital would leave downtown it would just rip the heart out of it," says another council member privately.

The council will be on the hot seat to approve a zone change and annexation on Shirk if that is the choice of the hospital. But at Akers the land is already in the city and expected to be developed. The Shirk location will have to face the coming debate over the scenic corridor plan expected to be taken up later this year (see article on page 5). But the Akers and 198 land already has some entitlements shortening the development process.

Westlands has paid $100,000 (non refundable) to the city to buy the property and spent months trying to attract tenants. But today they don't have all they need to break ground. It's possible there could be room for a new medical complex on the site or adjacent the site. But a new hospital complex would require all or more of the entire 30 acres. Still, developer Craig Mangano has said he hopes to break ground by September although he has been working to put the center together for about two years and has drawn nearly 40 site plans. "We've got a lot in this place," he says.

There will already be a busy place with the expansion of Cigna next door soon to be underway.

The hospital feels competitive pressure from a new private hospital that has just chosen a new site on west 198 behind Mission Oaks office complex.

A few years ago the hospital went out to Lovers Lane and Caldwell and bought farm land there for a future site but were discouraged to develop it by both the county and city because it is far out of the city development boundary. A few months ago the board suggested they would no longer pursue that option.

Centers Of Excellence

The hospital is working on several "centers of excellence" says Lindsay Mann, that could be located away from the main hospital campus because they don't require overnight intensive care. One is the new Cancer Center - a joint venture with private docs in the planning stage. Mann says the hospital has now worked on a new Heart Institute as well that could have a compliment of overnight beds and an additional cardiac cath lab and other labs. That institute is likely to be located near the hospital's other heart program inside the hospital - the program affiliated with the Starr Medical Group.

The proposed institute would be a separate entity with their own identity - separate entrance, says Mann. He says he would not characterize the project as a heart hospital.

Sitting on the hot seat looking at what the consultant comes up with on the facility study is city manager Steve Salomon who will hear the pleas of both the hospital administrators and board members and his bosses - the council.

The city offered to kick in $40,000 - half the cost for the facilities study.

If the hospital decides to expand Downtown, the city has said they are ready to help anyway they can. They have access to redevelopment and CDBG monies to assist downtown - monies they would not have at "clean dirt" sites.

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Tulare County - The Allen Group has decided to put their very successful home building division up for sale, confirms CEO Richard Allen. "We were approached by a number of national home building companies," says Allen, "who want to be in the Central Valley."

The company entered the home building business only three years ago. "We've gone from nowhere to number one in just three years," says Allen who will continue to do the business office and industrial development projects including the big Mid State Industrial Park on Plaza in Visalia.

The residential division is developing about 1000 homes in four regions including Nevada, San Diego, Imperial County and the Central Valley. The company sold about 400 homes in the Central Valley including a number of projects in Visalia in the last fiscal year. That totaled to about $70 million, says Allen.

Allen says six national builders have expressed interest in the company. "We don't know if the sale will take place but we thought we would be honest with our employees and tell them this week before companies started to make site visits," he says. Employees were told Tuesday. "This is really good news for employees," says Allen, "since our best asset is our people." He says a well capitalized company who might buy the home builder would grow the company.

"The last 20 years the growth was on the Coast and the next 20 years the growth will be in the Valley."

In the Central Valley the company has projects in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties run neck and neck with Centex for month to month sales.

Allen continues to sponsor many community events including this week's bike race. Allen came to the Visalia are with his company, Imperial Cup, and ended up selling it to develop efforts to real estate development. The Allen Group has its headquarters in San Diego.

Since its founding in 1991, The Allen Group has developed more than 3.5 million square-feet of office and industrial space throughout the western United States. The company is also actively involved in residential development, including single-family subdivisions, condominiums and apartments in California and Nevada.

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Clinic-UC Center Could Be Built Downtown

Visalia - The dusty old railroad yard in the middle of Visalia - not far from the historic Fort Visalia location - is getting new attention this month as ambitious plans to build multi story buildings and remake this part of town are discussed.

The plans include a new 3-story medical clinic building on one side of Oak at Bridge and an already planned 2-story transit center possibly going to 3-story if the University of California funds an educational extension center for Visalia. The city also is working with another new player who could build in the same area clustering an old town look that keys off the aura of the Depot Restaurant and other historic buildings along this railroad corridor which the city now owns.

UC Center

Mayor Don Landers has pushed our state legislators these past few weeks to pay attention to the fact that Tulare/Kings counties area has about half a million people without a four year college or the prospect of getting one. In late February he wrote the Governor looking to get some attention and the resulting stories in the press may have helped. Now he is vexed by the announcement that the UC system will fund extension centers for Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield - affiliated with the new UC Merced - but not for Visalia even though one is planned here sometime in the future.

The publicity and a trip to Sacramento last week by the city council prompted Sarah Reyes to offer to write a letter to the UC regents to fund a center here hoping for the assistance of Cruz Bustamante who sits on that board. "Indications are that we might be successful," says Landers, particularly if the city offers to help house a site and other development costs.

That's where the new transit center comes in - a building designed for 2 stories would now add a third story, says Landers, providing a home for the educational complex if Sacramento bites the bullet.

Clinic Plans

Fast growing Family HealthCare Network is negotiating with the City of Visalia to buy land for a new 3-story clinic site at Bridge on the north side of Oak Street. The site is now occupied by an old warehouse the city bought last year and intends to tear down soon.

FHCN director Harry Foster says the non profit clinic has run out of room at its relatively new clinic site a block north. "We figure a 15,000 sq. ft. addition might last us another 5 years until we're ready to add on to it," says Foster. The existing clinic at Bridge and Murray would remain open.

The opportunity came about when the city looking to site the new transit center planned extension of Oak St. to the east, as well as constructing Bridge St. north over the railroad tracks.

Now the transit center is nearing completion on its design work although now it may even be expanded with a third floor for a UC extension center. The new city building will carry a Mission era look similar to the Depot restaurant just down the street. FHCN architect Fred Scott says work on the new FHCN clinic will carry on the same look.

The new health clinic would be right across the street from the new transit center and could open within months of one another.

Foster says his board will hear a financial plan this week and if the numbers work out they will move forward on finalizing a deal with the city. "We plan to take advantage of the city's in-lieu parking plan," says Foster that helps pay for more public parking in this - the old railroad yard in Visalia.

Foster says Family HealthCare Network is looking more and more at owning their own buildings rather than leasing as they do at Bridge and Murray. The health care clinic system is under consideration at multiple locations in the county including new clinic sites in Cutler-Orosi and now in Three Rivers. They recently opened a clinic in Springville. The nonprofit began its work in Porterville where they do own their 30,000 sq. ft. clinic.

Leaders don't rule out the old transit center being used again as a railroad depot in the future if passenger service ever runs to town.

The remaking of Oak St. calls for continuing the street to the east toward Ben Maddox setting up the possibility this new kind of more intense development will continue to the east. Within the next few years the city will begin working on the Santa Fe bridge over 198 in an effort to tie this area to the rest of the city by making Santa Fe a 4-lane thoroughfare.

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Avenal - North Carolina-based Duke Energy plans to build a two phase 1200 megawatt power plant on the valley's westside near I-5 and Hwy. 198 within the city limits of tiny Avenal. "We've been working with them since July," says Avenal planning director Jim Doughty "and we believe we're just the right place for the plant."

Avenal, a town of some 13,000 where nearly half the population is behind bars in the state prison there, sprawls almost 20 square miles across the Kettleman Hills all the way north to the California Aqueduct. That's where Duke found a 153 acre site they are buying, says Doughty, on the way to building what will be at least a $300 million natural gas powered plant. Construction would start as soon as late this year.

The City of Avenal has water rights on the state owned Aqueduct providing one ingredient Duke needs to site the plant. Other key attributes; it is proposed on land that has been plowed for years - no environmental issues there - it's next to a PG&E gas pumping station and two other gas lines, it sits astride high power lines that bring power from Diablo Canyon and Duke owned Morro Bay power plant into the valley and its far from neighbors who might complain about such a facility nearby.

"They hope to fade into the landscape" out on the valley's westside, quietly churning out enough power for 120,000 homes - more than all of Tulare County. The double stacked plant should be visible from I-5 three miles to the north of the big highway.

Doughty says the company has found the air credits it needs to build the plant as well although a new rule may allow the company to mitigate its extra pollution rather than offset it with credits.

This week Duke signed a long term agreement with the State of California to sell $4 billion worth of power over the next nine years. It's clear Duke is counting on this new valley plant to add to its Morro Bay and San Diego plants they have in the state. Opposition to expansion of the Morro Bay plant that Duke claims will increase the efficiency of the facility has surfaced. But Doughty doesn't expect complaints in Avenal. "They are a good neighbor," and "everyone is excited about the plant."

The city planning commission will hold the first public hearing on the facility on Monday, April 2nd at 6 p.m. at the Avenal Municipal Court Room.

Doughty says that the new facility will bring about 50 jobs, provide enough tax base and revenue for the city to about double its general fund and allow many stalled projects to be completed. Plans are underway to wrap a new industrial park around the site to take advantage of the low cost power the plant will provide, he says. That could be the real benefit for the area - more jobs. A power plant with an adjacent industry can sell electricity directly to the company without passing through the grid that would otherwise add this transportation cost to the generation cost.

Doughty says the new plant will be "cutting edge technology" recycling virtually all the water they use. Duke offered to sell power to the state months ago for five cents kwh. Now Governor Davis has negotiated long term contracts at 6.9 cents average after skyrocketing power costs in California this past six months.

Doughty says the company will file a formal application to the California Energy Commission by June and that the CEC has promised to expedite approval within six months. That would mean the first phase - 600 megawatt plant would be under construction in early 2002 and online in 2003 at the earliest.

Doughty worries the unsettled landscape for power generators in California could still put the kibosh on this facility depending on how legislators change the incentive to generate power here. "If they go back to pre-regulation those companies will all pull out," he warns. Duke's biggest problem with this proposed plant - finding the generators in time, he says.

The south valley already has about 4000 megawatts under construction over the next few years, prompted in part by access to natural gas near oil fields. There are also sites along the main north/south and east/west grid making it easier to send power from where it's being generated.

The Governor has said the state needs about another 5000 megawatts to meet demand and seeks short term "peak power" facilities by this summer. But it is clear that within the next few years more than this much permanent power will be coming out of the south valley to meet state demands.

But the other factor clearly is that while coastal Californians clearly love the power they need, the microwaves and computers, they don't like power plants in their backyard. Out on the dusty hills around Avenal where oil wells already dot the landscape, nobody is complaining.

Governor Davis wants financial incentives for conservation and power plant construction in time to make a difference this summer.

Legislators are rushing to pass those incentives within by month's end, he said, allowing three months for consumers and suppliers to act before the heat of summer.

Among bills considered, the Senate energy committee approved legislation to accelerate the siting of power plants. It also was considered a proposal to restructure rates for generators that use renewable energy to provide about 30 percent of the state's electricity.

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Tulare County - A deal hammered out in the past six weeks would mean an end to the controversial canal lining plans by Tulare Irrigation District in the Kaweah Delta area. This week the deal was signed by Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District (KDWCD) board agreeing to pay TID $3.50 per acre feet of water they bring into the delta - as long as they do that in unlined, earthen canals. The agreement is for at least 10 years.

Now the matter goes to the TID board next Tuesday where it is expected to be the subject of a closed door meeting. "It's unlikely it will be signed next week but we're heading toward an agreement," says TID board chair David Bixler. Indeed it could ben next month before TID signs on the dotted line.

KDWCD engineer Dennis Keller says this agreement is only one of three needed between the parties to end the controversy. In addition to their agreement TID and the city are working on a separate agreement and the city and KDWCD are also working on an agreement. "All three must be signed for the contracts to be valid," he says. "The intention of the agreements is to bring in more surface water into the area for the benefit of all," he says. "The $3.50 payment to TID is intended as an incentive to help pay the freight," he says.

To increase recharge into the city area the agreement calls for water to run in the earthen canal near the city including Cameron Creek and Packwood Creek.

The agreements between KDWCD and the city will call for more cooperative efforts to bank water. Separately, Cal Water - the city's private water provider - working on a study to bring in surface water that would help alleviate the area's overdraft problem.

Cal Water's general manager Paul Risso says the water company is underway on a six month study to plan its supply options for the next 20 years. He says that consultant study could call for more surface water supply or participation by Cal Water in more area recharge basins.

The long time plan to line the canal by TID comes as it sought reimbursement for water lost to percolation into the ground as it made its way on the nearly 10 mile trip through canals east of Visalia into the Tulare area from the Friant Kern Canal between Ivanhoe and Woodlake. Because of the high cost of this imported federal water TID began cutting back on their allotment in part because KDWCD ended payment to TID. For the past few years TID had spent perhaps $4 million planning to build a concrete canal expected to cost at least $10 million, but they were opposed by lawsuits led by local landowners opposed to the plan.

The locals formed the POWER Group to oppose the plan that would have meant cutting hundreds of mature oaks that grace the banks of the canal. They protested in front of bulldozers last year as a judge ruled in their favor implementing an injunction to halt the canal lining process last fall.

That effort was led by Dr. Tom Mitts who owns land along the canal. Mitts says he has spent hundreds of hours and six figures of his money to fight the plan and now he is pleased the deal is apparently done.

We say apparently because TID has yet to sign although they negotiated this latest agreement. While some board members at KDWCD didn't want to give TID payments because of the long and bitter fight, they voted unanimously to fund them "if this would end it" a number said.

Having been down this road before, only to stumble over last minute glitches, POWER Group's Brian Blain quips that "I'm cautiously optimistic, again."

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Visalia - Tulare County's Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) unanimously approved the City of Visalia application to annex some 688 acres owned by the Shannon family on the city's northern tier. The annexation will allow one of the largest housing developments in the city to take shape over the next decade along with mixed use and commercial development on the city's northern boundary.

The County's largest annexation ever could result in some 2500 homes being built when completed.

"The most important part to me is we follow our concentric growth principles," says mayor Don Landers.

The state Department of Conservation had opposed the annexation on the grounds that the city had not properly "protested" a Williamson contract on some of the land back in 1969 - an issue the city and LAFCO disagrees with them on.

LAFCO executive director George Finney says in his part recommending approval that LAFCO - in any case "has the final say on whether the protest was adequate." Most of the land was in a mile of city limits allowing annexation in any case.

By approving the annexation this week LAFCO affirmed that the proposed development of the project was consistent with the city's general plan.

It asked the city to work to annex the large county island - Bird Land - near the project. City planner Steve Brandt says the city will invite the 300 to 400 families who live in Bird Land to become part of the city within a 90 day period. "We want to show them the benefits of being in the city." Many of the homes in the division are on septic tanks.

Finney says the LAFCO board required the city defend any lawsuit brought by the Dept. of Conservation.

The city's 2020 growth plan identifies the lands as being within its first tier - (10 year) urban boundaries allowing them to make the argument that the big "planned community" was not "leap frog development" but part of the city's long term general plan adopted as far back as 1991. In addition the Shannon's offered a 380 acre ag conservation easement on part of the project on lands north of the river that the Shannon's own as additional mitigation measures to put this piece into urban development.

The city had a big stake in the Shannon Ranch in part because the city already bought 80 acres of the land for its new regional sports park under design right now. City officials have been impressed with a plan going into the Shannon Ranch would be the biggest planned development in the city since the Northeast Specific Plan.

Northside supporters are pleased that the new development will be coming to the area likely bringing new development on the northern gateway to the community.

Already the city is looking at controlling the intersection of Riggin and 63 and River Way and 63 to insure safe access into the big project and its sports park. Landers says the city is hoping it can soon link Riggin to St. Johns Parkway to relieve east/west traffic off of Houston Ave. - the only through street right now.

The project plans a mixed use of clustered development with "villages" of dense housing, bike paths and open space between and commercial nodes on the corners spreading from Highway 63 clear to Demaree. 554 acres of the project will be developed to new single family homes. There will also be a 10 acre school site, 60 acres of commercial office and 35 acres of multi family. Modoc Ditch winds its way through the project offering chances for a continuous bike and pedestrian path to link the development.

Builder Craig Mangano said new homes could be under way in about a year.

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Tulare County - It will be a month before Tulare County's 2000 Crop Report is out, but Lenord Craft, Tulare County's Ag Commissioner thinks the seven consecutive years of higher returns for farmers may be ending. "It's my gut feeling we will be down for 2000," says Craft mirroring the lower prices for crops nationwide. Now it's not just grain farmers from the Midwest who are suffering. In the past year the grief has spread to the Golden State across multiple commodities. Nearby counties in the richest agricultural region in the world, are likely to fare no better when they release their crop reports.

Tulare County is the number two county in the U.S. for ag production with receipts in 1999 of just over $3 billion. In 1998 Tulare County's ag income stood at $2,924,235.

The last time Tulare County's ag income fell for the year was in 1991 when a harsh freeze cut the orange crop to a quarter of its typical value. "This will be the first time, absent some sort of natural disaster, that we fell back," says Craft. In fact it's been a steady march skyward since the late 80s in Tulare County when ag income in this most diversified county was half what it is today. Now, some worry there's a race to the bottom.

Spilled Milk The county's top crops led by milk will likely come in lower because farmers received less per unit - in the case of milk less per gallon - less per hundred weight - for their product. Tulare County ag income took a hit in 1998 - the big El Nino year that devastated so many crops coupled with another freeze that took place in December 1998 (and really affected orange production in the 1999 crop report). But an increase in the price dairy farmers were paid for their milk was up 25% from the year before. The increase to nearly $900 million lifted the Crop Report's total value 1% in 1998. Milk again led the party in 1999 with a drop in the per unit price but an increase in volume that more than made up for it. Production of market milk increased 15% that year boosted by cheese demand. About half of California milk goes to cheese.

Tulare County is the nation's biggest milk producer making just under 5% of the U.S. milk supply.

While the supermarket sells the gallon of milk for $2.50 to $3 a gallon the farmers get a little over $1. A continuing theme of farmers is that consolidation in the retail sector is squeezing their bottom line. California Citrus Mutual general manager Joel Nelsen says the USDA has released two reports on the consolidation issue including product slotting fees just to get shelf space at retail stores.

But the pain of consolidation would be lifted if prices paid to producers would improve.

For valley dairymen - once considered the bright spot of the local economy - the returns turned down in 2000 some 25% from their high in 1998 averaging about $11 per hundred weight last year says Gary Korsmeier, CEO of the California Dairies. "That's below the cost of production for some producers. If fee costs weren't as low as they are we would be hurting far worse," says Korsmeier.

Here's the breakdown of the average price dairy farmers got for the past few years.

The per cwt for milk:

1997 - $12.41

1998 - $14.82

1999 - $13.26

2000 - close to $11

The upshot is that Tulare County's big milk engine was sputtering in 2000 as dairy farmers felt happy if they broke even. Even with lower prices for the milk, dairy farmers in Tulare County increased milk production over 1999 but a slower pace than the 15% the year before.

Korsmeier says production went up about 5% in 2000.

Gloomy Grapes: After the recent grape season we are seeing some grape vineyards being pulled while others are not being pruned - a sign the owner doesn't expect much this coming season.

If milk is down - the number two crop for Tulare County, grapes, is likely to be down as well from 1999. Price for both raisin and table grapes in 2000 were down a whopping 36% from the year before, according to the CDFA although wine grapes were only slightly down in price. Grapes in 1999 were valued at more than $444 million - its highest value ever.

Only 10% of county grapes go to wine. The poor returns in 1999 come after a year of massive plantings of grapes in California that some say caused an oversupply statewide. While prices for grapes were down, the total tonnage in California was up in 2000, 24% from the El Nino year - 1999.

Sour Returns For Citrus: What about oranges - the other top crop in Tulare County? In 1999 the freeze hurt production dropping the value to $349 million from its $470 million level the year before.

Although 2000 was not a freeze year, returns to citrus growers were poor by most accounts with most growers reporting loss due to late maturing fruit, loss of markets to foreign citrus and small fruit size.

CCM's Joel Nelsen says hopes were high in 2000 for a rebound from the ‘99 freeze year when 80% of the crop lay on the ground. In 2000 "we had a decent size crop but we were producing below our cost. That made it two years in a row of red ink." This month the oranges are better but "it's hard to celebrate if we are just breaking even," says Nelsen. "There was a 10% hit by high energy costs that ended any hope of profitability," says Nelsen.

Nelsen says the big issue for the industry is unfair trade practices by foreign countries who subsidize their crop and sell in the U.S. market below our costs. "We have an April 26 International Trade Commission meeting on this issue," says Nelsen. The Trade organization hopes that Congressman Bono will introduce country-of-origin label legislation that will mandate foreign produce be labeled giving U.S. producers a boost since many consumers would like to buy American if given the choice.

Nelsen doesn't know if total production in Tulare County will be higher that ‘99 - a freeze year - but the reality is that it was a red ink year.

Sunkist Loses $4 Mil: Some sort of measure can be seen by the troubles of Sunkist who operates more than half the growers of Tulare County. The co-ops 2000 annual report is now out and suggests the toughest year for the Sherman Oaks-based cooperative in years. The report shows a more than $4 million loss compared to a $4 million profit the year before.

The Sunkist report notes that fresh fruit shipments were up from the ‘99 freeze year from 53 million cartons to 75 million cartons yet total sales were down to $847 million from $862 million during the ‘99 freeze year and more than 20% below returns in 1995. Growers "retained" earnings dropped from $66.2 million in 1999 to $52.7 million in 2000. Last fall Sunkist and their CEO parted ways. The co-op gave on the unpopular idea of importing Argentina fruit on the Sunkist label - a policy that rubs some growers wrong essentially competing against themselves.

Foreign producers have an advantage of lower costs, says Joel Nelsen and in this supply and demand marketplace "our members are bleeding to death."

For a taste of the competition, take a trip over to Vons or Costco and find those cute little boxes of European Clementine oranges that are being imported into a state where oranges are the state symbol. Are we headed for an oxymoron situation like Orange County, California where there are virtually no orange groves? Nelsen says the EU subsidized their citrus industry last year to the tune of $1.4 billion.

Fully 80% of our oranges goes to the fresh market compared to 5% in Florida. About 40% of our oranges are exported. If the value of the dollar continues to fall, it will mean it will be more attractive to buy our exports. Today the first major depreciation of the U.S. dollar since 1995 is helping to boost exports even though there is a world wide slowdown in demand because of a weak economy, USDA says.

Neighboring Kern and Kings counties each depend on cotton crop returns more than Tulare County. But cotton farmers in 2000, if they made money, did so only because of government payments.

Spud Glut: California and the Valley are not the only growing regions feeling the depressed prices. Nationwide farmers are complaining they won't be in business long unless some relief is on the way. Even the famous potato grower of Idaho have the problem the Midwest grain farmers complain about - too much product. The good news - "potatoes rot" notes an Idaho newspaper - unlike Midwestern grain which can be stored for years.

Nationwide the exit of farmers from farming could be dramatic in the next few years. An economist at a USDA conference last month said the number of dairy farmers could fall to as low as 20,000 eventually from the current 85,000 operating now. But if Tulare County is the future of dairy farming consider the implications if it only takes a few hundred dairy operators to make 5% of the nation's milk. Depending on milk for the county's economic engine - to push our crop report to a new high - may hide the fact there is plenty of red ink for many of the remaining county crops.