The San Diego County Farm Bureau Thursday named Mary Matava of Oceanside as its Farmer of the Year, an award which honors an active or retired farmer who has had a positive impact on the local agricultural industry.
Matava is an agronomist and the owner of Agri Service, which operates compost facilities in Southern California. She has more than 40 years’ experience “assessing the agronomic suitability of Southern California soils” and more than 25 years’ experience “manufacturing organic soil amendments used by farmers throughout Southern California,” a statement from the farm bureau reads.
Matava is preceded in the title by Neil Nagata, also a farmer from Oceanside. San Diego County has more than 5,000 farmers.
“Matava’s professional experiences have contributed to her success in farming and the large impact she has had volunteering with a wide range of nonprofit organizations in agriculture,” the statement reads.
Since its beginning, Agri Service has process more than 2 million tons of green waste
The Farmer of the Year celebration will take place on Sept. 7 at Bernardo Winery.
The San Diego County Farm Bureau is a nonprofit organization supporting the thousands of farms within the county.
–City News Service
