“Without good quality water, we will not get a good crop”
George Bonacich

George Bonacich came from a farming family and farming is what he has known his whole life.  He grew up in Cupertino when farming was the primary industry.  He attended college at UC Davis, and got a degree in “Plum log”, which is fruit tree production  - a job that’s he has done ever since.  He manages many farms in Santa Clara and San Benito and owns his own land and pasture in San Benito County.  Fortunately, farming will continue in the Bonacich family, George’s son is the 4th generation farmer.

George first heard of the Farm Water Quality Planning short course through one of the many Farm Bureau mailings.  He knew he had to do something to take control of the situation.  Since he does manage a lot of farms, he decided it was in his best interest to take the class for himself and to cover the farms that he manages as well as to learn more about water quality issues.  He did talk to all his landowners and let them know that he would be taking this class and all of them were very happy to be covered by him.  “Without good quality water, we will not get a good crop” is a quote that George sticks by and I think a lot of other farmers do too. 

What George learned in the class, he took right out and applied to the farms that he manages.  All the owners are very supportive and help him in any way that they can.  One of the major things that he learned from the class was water quality monitoring using the water testing kit.  He had never monitored the amount of nitrogen that was coming from his well water before.  Once he tested the water, he found that he has way too much nitrogen in there.  He made an appointment to have the Mobile Lab service come and test his well more precisely.  They confirmed his finding and confirmed that there was no value in adding additional the fertilizer to the trees.  After that finding, George has been able to cut down on his use of fertilizer – and eliminate nitrogen fertilizer all together, and has saves a significant amount of money in the long run.  Ever since that, he has continued to monitor all the wells that he manages with the result that he uses a lot less fertilizer, the water quality in the wells continues to improve, and everyone is saving money.

George says that he is glad that he has taken these classes and has stayed on top on the new studies and new regulations.  He believes that; in the long run, it will help everyone out.