By snoadmin
Farmers of California are cultivating a new source of revenue making themselves more present – on license plates.
The Golden State is the nation’s leading farm state, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles decided to celebrate this by releasing a “California Agriculture” specialty license plate, the state’s first in 11 years, according to the DMV website.
The plate, which will be available early next month, features a shining sun over a field of crops with the words, “food, fiber, fuel, flora,” according to the DMV website.
“The idea for the plate has been floating around for over a decade, and it’s really fulfilling to finally see it come to fruition,” Steve Lyle, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said.
In order to make the plate a reality, the California Agriculture Plate campaign, which was organized by the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and the California Agricultural Teacher’s Association, collected 7,500 paid pledges within a year. The sale of the commemorative plates will benefit agricultural education initiatives in California, such as the national FFA and 4-H, Lyle said.
“The money will be used for agricultural youth development,” Bob Heuvel, manager of the agricultural education unit for the California Department of Education, said. “These plates have great potential to be instrumental in continuing to fund agricultural education in California, especially after cuts in state funding.”
The new specialty plate, which will cost $50 to purchase and $40 per year to renew, can be purchased through the DMV website.
“The first $50 goes to the DMV for printing the plate,” said Jim Aschwanden, executive director of the California Agricultural Teacher’s Association. “The $40 annual renewal fees are the ones that go to the state agency that sponsors the plate, in this case the Department of Food and Agriculture.”
The plate had to clear numerous hurdles and be approved by the California Highway Patrol, which has the final say on the design, according to Lyle.
“The logo cannot take up the entire plate like in years past. It has to be concentrated on the left side,” Aschwanden said.
According to Lyle, the average age of a farmer in California is 60, and state officials are desperately trying to reverse that trend and interest youths in agriculture, not only in rural areas but also statewide.
“California produces over half of the nation’s fruit; we’re a juggernaut in the farming industry,” he said. “We need to keep agricultural education in schools strong.”
