Two New Solano County Ombudsmen to Assist Agriculture

Two New County Ombudsmen to Assist Agriculture

Solano County has two new ombudsmen on board working with local farmers and ranchers to help improve the local agricultural industry.

“Solano County recognizes that agriculture is important to the overall economic, social, and environmental health of the county, and these two positions are designed to create a climate where agriculture can remain viable,” said Jim Allan, Solano County Agricultural Commissioner.

The ombudsmen are Adam Cline, Farm Assistance Revitalization and Marketing (FARM) Coordinator in the Agricultural Department, and Jim Louie, an Agricultural Principle Planner in the Resource Management Department.

Both positions were created by the Board of Supervisors after a series of recent agriculture studies and extensive outreach by the County of Solano revealed that local farmers and ranchers could benefit from increased agricultural expertise in county government.

In his role as a FARM Coordinator, Cline will serve as liaison between the County and local farmers and ranchers. At the same time, he will be working to promote and to increase marketing opportunities for Solano County agriculture.

“The more avenues farmers and ranchers have for selling their products, the more likely they can remain profitable, thus removing an incentive for farmers to sell land for development,” Cline said.

Prior to coming to the County, Cline was a local manager for a statewide cattle, beef, and hay growing operation.

As the Agricultural Principal Planner, Louie will be working to simplify and streamline the County permitting processes so farmers and ranchers who want to expand into the development of agricultural-tourism, product processing and direct marketing can do so with sensible guidelines in place.

“The permitting processes I will be working on will be tailored to the distinct agricultural regions within the county, of which 10 have been identified. The County understands that one size does not fit all when it comes to agricultural activities,” Louie said.

Louie recently worked on the Solano County General Plan Update and has been working as a public and private planner for 40 years, many of those in Dixon.

To contact the ombudsmen, call Cline at 707-784-1310 or email afcline@solanocounty.com or Louie at 707-784-3173 or jalouie@solanocounty.com.