Edible herbs and flowers at one of Jacobs Farm's four California locations (Photo courtesy Jacobs Farm)
SANTA CRUZ — In a victory for the state's organic farmers, a Santa Cruz County jury has awarded a North Coast grower $1 million in damages after deciding a pesticide company violated the farmer's rights when its chemicals drifted with the fog onto his organic crops.
Jacobs Farms, which raises culinary herbs on about 120 acres in Wilder Ranch State Park, was preparing to leave the property if the chemical drift continued. Instead, the operation will stay, knowing area farmers will need to be much more careful or risk paying big fines, and organic farmers statewide now have a stronger case to seek redress should pesticides, even those applied properly, end up on their plants....
Jacobs Farms, which raises culinary herbs on about 120 acres in Wilder Ranch State Park, was preparing to leave the property if the chemical drift continued. Instead, the operation will stay, knowing area farmers will need to be much more careful or risk paying big fines, and organic farmers statewide now have a stronger case to seek redress should pesticides, even those applied properly, end up on their plants....
