Excellence in Agriculture Award: Ralph Sartori

The longtime fair board member helps young people learn about ag

April 5, 2006

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

When Ralph Sartori was accepting the Excel-lence in Agriculture award at last month's Com-munity Recognition Awards, he spoke about the hard-working folks in the local dairy industry.

"They're the ones that we should recognize and thank," he said.

Sartori is the director of manufacturing and regulatory affairs for the western area council of Dairy Farmers of America. He sat on the Sonoma-Marin Fair board of directors for 14 years, and currently serves on the agribusiness advisory board for Santa Rosa Junior College. He was president of the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce board from 1981 to 1982.

He said that he enjoyed serving on the fair board because the fair helps direct the energy of young people into positive areas.

"Kids have energy," he said. "It's going to go to a good use or it's going to go to a bad use."

In his role on the Santa Rosa Junior College agricultural advisors board, Sartori helps advice students in the ag business department on the rapid changes in the dairy industry.

"It's drastically changed from 10 years ago to where it is today, and it's continuing to change," he said. "A dairy farmer today not only has to take care of his cows and milk his cows, but he's got to worry about feed costs, he's got to worry about energy costs. He's got to worry about the environment, the perception of his business. He's under the microscope day in and day out, so he's got to be mindful of all these areas."

From his days as president of the Chamber of Commerce, Sartori remembers meetings during leaner times, when they fretted over how to cover the chamber's payroll.

"I think the Chamber has come a long way," he said.

Sartori said the keys to success in any group effort are communication and cooperation.

"That's a good thing about this community," he said. We have some frank communications," and yet find a way to work together for the common good.

The fair has changed from when he was growing up, he said, but he still chuckles when he sees a child "being dragged around by a cow or a heifer, holding onto a rope and getting pulled across the fairgrounds. I think you want to see it because it's part of growing up."

"And like I told people," he said. "Shame on you if you don't go to the fair."

When asked for words of advice for young Petalumans who are interested in working in the dairy business when they grow up, Sartori had a number of suggestions.

"Definitely go to college," he said, preferably somewhere with a dairy on campus, such as Cal Poly, Cornell or Utah State.

There, take accounting classes, as well as courses in marketing, government, public speaking and English.

"Get a well-rounded education because you're going to need it to physically run your dairy, and you're going to need it to communicate with people."

During college, Sartori recommends, find summer jobs on different types of dairies. Maybe work on a Petaluma dairy one summer, but during the next, work on one in the San Joaquin Valley, to get a well-rounded experience.

Also, he said, gain some experience in the outside world. Move somewhere for a year or two where the support of mom and dad is not so close at hand, to learn the value of both independence and family support.

And, he said, become well acquainted with the various environmental and regulatory issues that are relevant to the industry. This can be done through Farm Bureau and other resources.

But the hardest part for the aspiring young person, of course, is how to obtain a dairy. If one has a family farm or marries into one, Sartori said, it's do-able, "But otherwise this is a difficult area, because you're competing with land prices with developers, with the vineyard industry.

"You're dealing in a prime area for real estate," he said. "Unless there was a physical place, it's going to be very difficult to go out here and buy a spot, build a dairy, from an economic standpoint."

Even if you did already own a dairy, he said, it's likely that your spouse would have to supplement the family income by getting a job in town.

Sartori has a strong sense of community. His family's history stretches back to when his grandfather, Archangelo Sartori, came to Petaluma from Switzerland in 1881. Archangelo was one of the original producers who founded the creamery. Ralph Sartori's wife Teresa's grandfather Silvio Gambonini, was also a founding member and the first president of the cooperative.

In his current position, Ralph Sartori has bottom line responsibilities for a powder/butter plant in the San Joaquin Valley. He also does regulatory and environmental work for the company.

He said that community involvement is so important because, "I've always taken a view, because of agriculture, that you have to take care of things, whether that's your animals, or, if you're growing crops, your land. And I feel that we have to take care of our community."

"One of the biggest assets that we have are children," he said. "Because we're all going to get old, and when we're gone, what's going to be left?"

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)