[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E901-E902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING THE BERETTA FAMILY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 11, 2019

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today with the 
Honorable Jared Huffman to honor the Beretta Family as the recipient of 
the 2019 Sonoma County Farm Bureau Luther Burbank Conservation Award, 
which recognizes an individual, business, or family that is committed 
to environmental stewardship. The Beretta Family Dairy has become 
increasingly environmentally friendly over the last 70 years.
  The Beretta Family started focusing on their farm's impact on the 
environment in the 1950s. They stopped using chemical fertilizers, 
focused on pasture management, and committed to growing as much of 
their own feed as possible to reduce the amount of food that had to be 
trucked long distances. They currently produce 60 percent of the feed 
required for their 350 dairy cows, which not only helps the 
environment, but reduces the cost of feed as well. Starting in 1981, 
the Beretta family has used recycled water from the City of Santa Rosa 
to water the hay and silage on their 200 acres. By using recycled 
water, the family is conserving the groundwater in the aquifer 
underneath the Santa Rosa Plains. In 1992, the Beretta Family developed 
their

[[Page E902]]

fertigation system which combined the cows' manure with the recycled 
city water and kept the manure from contaminating waterways. After they 
started using this system, their crop yields increased by one ton per 
acre. The Beretta Family Dairy was one of the first farms to 
collaborate with the City of Santa Rosa and the Sonoma Resource 
Conservation District on a nutrient offset project. The Beretta Family 
has hosted students from the Sonoma Resource Conservation District's 
FARMS (Farming, Agriculture, and Resource Management for 
Sustainability) Leadership program. They have provided opportunities to 
students that otherwise may not get to experience a working dairy.
  The Beretta Family Ranch is currently operated by Doug and Sharon 
Beretta and their children Jennifer, Lisa, and Ryan. Lisa's son Brayden 
has shown an affinity for agriculture and may be the fifth generation 
of the Beretta Family to continue the family dairy business. In 2015, 
Doug Beretta, and the whole Beretta Family, were given the Water 
Quality Stewardship Award by the North Coast Water Quality Control 
Board in recognition of the family's management of water and resources 
on their dairy. Doug Beretta is the current Director and past President 
of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau and the Sonoma County Fair and is a 
member of the 4H Replacement Heifer Committee and the Youth AG and 
Leadership Foundation.
  Madam Speaker, the Beretta Family is dedicated to environmental 
stewardship and has worked to make their dairy environmentally friendly 
over the last 70 years. It is therefore fitting and proper that we 
honor them here today.

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