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 The Carberry family, which includes Air-Way Farms and many related entities, has always
been concerned with the impact of the family operations on the environment and the people
in our environment.
The entrepreneur of our business was Mal Carberry, a crop duster pilot, who was one of
the first pilots to initiate crop dusting at night because there was little wind movement
and few people in the fields. While it was much more difficult to crop dust at night,
he saw the benefits in reducing movement of the chemicals that were sprayed on the crops
as well as reducing the exposure to farm workers who worked in the fields by day.
Under Mal's direction in the crop dusting, as well as the farming operations, we have
always felt responsible for considering the environmental impact of the processes that
we undertake to complete the tasks at hand.
We no longer have a crop dusting service, however, in our continuing farm operations we
have tried to be at the forefront of reducing any negative environmental impacts that
are under our control utilizing some of the following measures:
- We have scheduled well & pump engine replacement of all diesel engines through the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) programs.
- Watering roads to reduce dust & mites (6 water trucks cover 112 miles of roads). We are also looking at controlling or restricting access on our roads.
- Chipping tree prunings rather than burning them.
- Composting the tree prunings to make fertilizer that is used on our fields.
- We incorporate post harvest residue from small grain crops back into the soil rather than burning the residue off.
- We plant small grains on fallow ground to hold the top soil in place.
- Working with "soft" chemicals whenever possible to minimize applications and reduce effects on beneficial pests.
- Apply chemicals at night whenever possible to eliminate drift and exposure.
 We are expanding our drip irrigation program to conserve water and efficiently apply chemicals and fertilizers.
- We placed approximately 300 acres into the Emergency Watershed Program (EWP) to help control drainage runoff from winter rains. In conjunction with the NRCS, it is our intention to create a habitat for wildlife on that property.
- We are using the most advanced techniques and technologies available to eliminate runoff of any kind and to manage subsurface drainage including altering our cropping programs to reduce rather that exacerbate the subsurface drainage problem.
- We collect our tail water from irrigation and recycle it for watering our roads or put it back onto the crops.
- Utilizing low till farming methods where feasible.
- Using GPS systems to minimize passes in a field to conserve fuel and reduce dust.
- Using precision farming methods to apply chemicals and fertilizers.
- Utilizing a GPS system to monitor trucking activities to reduce road traffic where possible.
- Increased width of equipment to reduce passes in the field.
- We are reviewing different ideas and concepts in order to harvest almonds without having to make so many passes through the orchard.
- We continue to be mindful of the need for habitat and we use practices where possible to protect it. We believe that our wheat program and certainly our orchards create additional opportunity for habitat.
 The San Joaquin valley is a very unique place that receives pollution from many external
sources without sufficient air movement to allow that pollution to dissipate and move on
because of the surrounding mountains.
We continue to search for new methods to complete our cultural practices in a more
environmentally friendly way. We are working with John Beyer of the NRCS and David
Mitchell and his assistant, Patia, of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control
District to find additional ways to mitigate these issues. We want to be pro-active
in changes that need to be made and have advised them that we would assist in testing
new ideas or processes that they have discovered in their work.
Pollution control is not easy and it is very capital intensive. The NRCS has stepped
in to help with some financial assistance and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution
Control District also has some funds available. The overall process can be slow and
tedious but the long term effect will be beneficial for us all. |
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