Ramonan Chosen for SD County Farm Bureau Board

One of the newly elected Board members of the San Diego County Farm Bureau is Elaine Lyttleton, of Hatfield Creek Vineyards & Winery in Ramona. 

Lyttleton was asked to run, specifically because the Farm Bureau Board recognizes the dynamic growth of the vineyard and Boutique Winery industry in the Ramona Valley AVA and thought it should have specific representation at the Farm Bureau.
Lyttleton is Secretary of the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association and she and her partner Norm Case grow and make Petite Sirah and Zinfandel wines on their 6 acres in Ramona. The Ramonan is also on the Board of the San Diego Region Irrigated Lands Group (SDRILG) which is administered by the San Diego County Farm Bureau.

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) adopted rules in 2007 that require all agricultural and nursery operations to test wet and dry weather runoff for pollutants and report the test results. Growers can do it themselves or in a group. The San Diego County Farm Bureau carefully studied the regulations and decided to provide members in San Diego and Orange County with the option of doing it as a group, a major cost savings to the farmers. 

Lyttleon is a past Chairperson of the Board of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, and currently serves on the Ramona Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee. She is also part of the Ramona H.E.A.R.T. Mural Project, which has a goal of creating thirty outdoor murals in Ramona over the next five years. 

“The Farm Bureau is like a trade union for the farmers,” Lyttleton said. 

She hopes to effect positive changes to help the small farmers in the area, as well as the vineyard and winery owners.