You’re a farmer embroiled in a dispute with the federal government over land use.

Do you gun-up, seize a wildlife refuge and ask for snacks? Or do you take the government to court because that is the right and sane way to handle it?

John Duarte, owner of Duarte Nursery in Hughson, intelligently chose the latter and is headed back to federal court in March.

Duarte Nursery is a state-of-the-art facility that draws farmers and scientists from around the world. It produces grapevines, and fruit and nut trees known worldwide. But that doesn’t exempt him from the wrath of what California Farm Bureau President Paul Wenger calls “overzealous regulators who utilize their authority and their power to put down growers who maybe want to speak up and disagree with their viewpoints.”

When Duarte became one of those growers by filing a lawsuit against the government a couple of years ago, he found himself knee-deep in legal retribution from the Environmental Protection Agency. He enlisted the help of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative group that protects the rights of private property owners.

California Farmer to Battle Feds In Court Over Farmland
DAHBOO77
Jan 18, 2016
https://youtu.be/mnqXqRldL_Y