California County Rejects Ballot Measure to Outlaw Large Cattle, Poultry Farms

Cows graze in a field at a dairy farm on April 26, 2024 in Petaluma, California. The U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered dairy producers to test cows that produce milk for infections from avian influenza HPAI H5N1. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Voters in Sonoma County, California, overwhelmingly rejected an animal rights sponsored ballot measure to shut down large farming operations, according to the latest election results on Nov. 13.

Measure J was defeated by more than 85 percent of the county’s voters in the 2024 general election.

The county still has about 66,000 ballots left to count, but the measure is certain to be defeated after nearly 158,000 votes were cast against the ban, and 27,200 in favor of it, according to the most recent results.

Measure J would have made Sonoma County the first county in the U.S. to ban so-called factory farming, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).

If passed, the measure would have required all large farms in the county to phase out of existence over the next three years. The law would have forced nearly two dozen or more organic and conventional dairy, meat, and egg operations to reduce the size of their operations, pay up to $10,000 per violation, or shut down.

The law would also have required the county’s agricultural commissioner to create a job retraining program for farm workers.

The idea of closing the county’s large animal farms drew opposition across the county, including from several organizations and officials, according to Sonoma County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dayna Ghirardelli.

“It really would have changed our landscape completely,” Ghirardelli told The Epoch Times.

Agricultural production is part of the county’s heritage, she said. “It’s a lot of what makes Sonoma County what it is.”

The Northern California county of about 489,000 residents mainly produces wine grapes, fruit and nuts, livestock, poultry, dairy, and other agriculture products valued at nearly $950 million in 2023—an increase of almost 20 percent over the year before, according to Sonoma County officials.

A cow grazes in a field at a dairy farm in Petaluma, Calif., in Sonoma County, on April 26, 2024. An animal-rights activist group's ballot measure to ban animal farms in Sonoma County was defeated. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Coalition to End Factory Farming

Direct Action Everywhere, the Berkeley-based animal rights activist group behind the Measure J campaign, the Coalition to End Factory Farming, placed the measure on the ballot after collecting about 20,000 signatures.

If passed, Measure J would have forced 21 farms, or CAFOs, to close or downsize, according to the group, including facilities that house more than 37,500 chickens raised for meat, more than 25,000 egg-laying hens, or more than 200 mature dairy cows.

The Coalition to End Factory Farming responded to the measure’s rejection, saying those who opposed it used scare tactics.

“While the opportunity to alleviate animal suffering and move our society in a better direction fell short today, we’ve always known that this will take time and we trust that people are going to get there,” a spokesperson for the coalition said in a statement to The Epoch Times Tuesday. “Our opponents were forced to resort to scare tactics and falsehoods because they understand the public is opposed to factory farming.”

The group plans to continue pushing for the end of animal farming across the country.

“The Measure J campaign raised an incredible amount of awareness,” the group said. “Many people learned about the extreme animal abuse happening in Sonoma County for the first time. We look forward to continuing this critical work together.”

The group chose Sonoma County, located about 80 miles north of San Francisco, because the county’s voters lean Democrat, according to Ghirardelli.

“We are in the Bay Area and are a county that leans primarily in the ‘blue’ direction, and I think they thought they would get a stronghold here,” Ghirardelli said.

The animal rights organization uses mass protest and political organizing in its quest to end animal farming in the United States by 2040, according to its “Roadmap to an Animal Bill of Rights.”

Cows graze in a field at a dairy farm in Petaluma, Calif., on April 26, 2024. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A coalition of farmers and farm bureaus opposed to Measure J formed “No on Measure J,” a political action committee sponsored by Sonoma County Farm Bureau, California Farm Bureau Federation, Clover Sonoma, and Western United Dairies.

Direct Action Everywhere supported a similar ban, called Ballot Measure DD, on Berkeley’s ballot during the general election. Berkeley voters passed the ban on factory farming, voting 60 percent in favor, becoming the first city in the U.S. to approve such a measure, according to the Alameda County Elections Office.

“The City of Berkeley has often led the way on important social issues, like free speech, disability rights, and fur-free policy,” the activist group wrote in a social media post Tuesday. “We hope that other jurisdictions will be inspired by Berkeley’s voters’ decision to keep the city factory farm-free.”

The measure prohibits new or expanded livestock facilities in Berkeley and requires existing ones to close within a year, with $10,000 daily fines for violations.