According to a recent survey of some 300 farmers by the University of California,Davis,the biggest change in daily farming practices in recent years is increased red tape, paperwork and regulations that often have little to do with the day-to-day reality of working a farm or ranch.

Laws are "written by those who do not know agricultural practices and problems," lamented a farmer quoted in the 150 page survey. Eighty-six percent of the farmers reported an increased amount of time spent on recordkeeping and report writing.

Had the researchers from U.C. Davis asked Bill Giorgi to take part in their survey, he would have given them an earful.

"It used to be the federal government was the only one creating havoc for the agriculturalist. Then the State of California decided to get into the act and have tougher regulations than the feds imposed on us. Every year seemed to bring new regulations."

Giorgi says that even with the increased federal and state regulations he was able to deal with "all that&emdash; some of it was needed and had positive affects on our environment."

But an increasingly frustrated Giorgi believes it is local "politics" that are causing local agriculturists to lose ground in the fight to keep ranching in Santa Barbara County a viable operation.

"We are being dealt a fatal blow by local friends and neighbors who enjoy the view sheds we have created and maintained as stewards of this land."

Giorgi says that "some people employed by Santa Barbara County are not satisfied with the fact that our land is already protected by many state and federal laws, that we are presently taking good care of our land."

He believes that, in an over zealous attempt to protect the land, new county regulations have simply resulted in a whole new level of bureaucracy for ranchers.

"We try to work with these county planners, but it is hard to work with someone who doesn't know the difference between a plow, disc, hoe, crops, trees, brush, weeds, etc. It would be like me trying to create a proper procedure for brain surgery."

Giorgi says the Valley's agricultural community has repeatedly asked the county to have someone with a background in agriculture hired if they create new regulations pertaining to agriculture, but this has not been done.

He has plenty to say too, about the controversial, ongoing GPAC process taking place in the Santa Ynez Valley this year.

" I listened to GPAC members say they all wanted to help agriculture survive and thrive in the valley, and how GPAC wouldn't propose any new regulations relating to agriculture. I was deeply saddened when they proposed serious restrictions on agriculture, and not one of them even asked what the affects of the proposed regulations would have on Ag's survival."

An example of this, Giorgi says, is GPAC's plan to downzone area Ag properties to a 320-640 acre (one square mile) minimum parcel size, which would cause financial havoc for ranchers. "I wouldn't be able to build a house for my kids if they wanted to stay on the ranch. It would be hard to get financing on one single parcel, I wouldn't be able to sell off a smaller parcel of 100 acres to pay inheritance tax, but would have to sell the whole ranch, the list goes on." he says "The main question here is, do you want agriculture to go on?"

"You can't be at war with the people that own the property that contain the plants and animals you want to protect. You need to work with us property owners, help keep us in business by not pushing for endless regulations that drive us out of business, but rather offer us incentives for having endangered plants and animals on our property. Right now under the current political climate, they are liabilities to us. Will that help save them? As Doctor Phil would say, 'that dog don't hunt.'"