LaMalfa is candidate for Senate

FARMER: Doug LaMalfa bales his rice straw for use in the construction industry and containing silt erosion.

Fourth-generation rice farmer Doug LaMalfa, 49, of Richvale is facing off against Chico attorney Rick Keene, 52, in a Republic Party primary election this June to replace Sam Aanestad of Grass Valley, who is being termed out of State Senate District 4.

Aanestad has announced his candidacy for the position of lieutenant governor in the same primary.

Until they were each termed out of their respective State Assembly seats, LaMalfa represented Assembly District 2 and Keene spoke for Assembly District 3, each of which is contained in the larger Senate District 4 territory.

On the surface, LaMalfa and Keene might seem to carry identical credentials as pro-Second Amendment, pro-life, pro-family, anti-tax conservative Republicans interested in water issues, natural resources, property rights and down-sizing government.

The Valley Post published last week a one-on-one conversation with Keene. This week, we introduce LaMalfa in greater depth to readers.

Actually, for the past seven years, LaMalfa has been busy introducing himself to people in the South County. His presence in the district throughout his six years in office has proven nearly ubiquitous. Few events worth attending miss the notice of his very busy personal appearance calendar.

That might prove to be one of the biggest differences between LaMalfa and his primary opponent, LaMalfa said.

"I embrace the importance and enjoy the personal contract with people in my district. When I do that, I win their trust. They open up to me on how I can best help them," LaMalfa explained.

"What that results in is an increased level of trust and a lot of our legislation flows from local needs. It might be legislation on a local issue, helping a person who is having trouble dealing with a state agency or even helping someone obtain a local permit," he added.

Among the numerous pieces of legislation LaMalfa either sponsored, co-authored, supported or successfully defeated, some of those he takes the greatest pride in are the pieces regulating timber harvests and timber use, levee repair, gun ownership rights following natural disasters and the definition of "scientific collectors" engaged in endangered or threatened species studies.

In 2004, LaMalfa also worked relentlessly to help pass Senate Bill 899, authored by Charles S. "Chuck" Poochigian, which significantly altered workers compensation rates and regulations.

"If the legislature had not passed that bill, we were prepared to take it to the electorate as a ballot initiative," LaMalfa noted.

When on the topic of legislation with LaMalfa, it is very easy to forget that he went into the political arena only recently, in 2002, to protect his family's rice growing business and the livelihoods of many other farmers throughout California.

"I didn't prepare myself for a career in politics. It was by necessity that I became a citizen legislator. I worked at a local level with various grower cooperatives on farm issues such as rice straw burning, land practices and water rights. It didn't take me very long to figure out that people who had no idea what it takes to make a farm operate successfully were making the decisions for me, so I had to wake up and pay attention," LaMalfa said.

Doug LaMalfa first learned about the business of farming by helping out with chores and listening to stories while sitting at the knees of his grandfather, Tony LaMalfa, and father Milton LaMalfa.

Milton LaMalfa, who died in October 2008, would have turned 74 next Monday, Feb. 22. Milton was raised by his parents, Tony and Marge LaMalfa, on the farm that his Italian grandfather, Giuseppe LaMalfa, purchased in 1931.

Named by the USA Rice Federation as the 2008 Rice Farmer of the Year, Milton LaMalfa custom farmed 1,800 acres of rice and seed rice, growing three or four different premium varieties of rice each year depending upon market factors and what consumers wanted. Over the years, often with the help of the University of California's rice research program, the LaMalfa Rice Farms grew as many as 28 different varieties of rice, Doug LaMalfa said.

Operating as three primary entities — LaMalfa Farms, LaMalfa Farms Dryer and LaMalfa Seed — Doug LaMalfa said the vertically integrated farming operation can provide services in rice harvesting and hauling, laser leveling of land and custom harvest drying.

"As a farmer, I don't get paid to talk. I get paid to produce," LaMalfa said, taking a slight jab at his opponent, Keene, an attorney. "I get paid for what actually gets out of the fields and into the grain trailer, not for my billable hours."

Whether on the floor of the commodities market or the State Senate floor, LaMalfa claims he can continue to produce results that will keep his clients and constituents happy.

LaMalfa and his wife, Jill, have four children. "We are raising the fifth generation of rice farmers," LaMalfa joked.