Dec 22, 2020

Richard Rominger, former USDA deputy secretary, dies at 93

Praising Richard Rominger for his devotion to California agriculture, California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson expressed sadness at Rominger’s passing. Rominger, a longtime Yolo County farmer and agricultural official, died Sunday at 93.

“It’s hard to think of a person who gave more of himself to California agriculture than Richard Rominger,” Johansson said. “He devoted his life to the land and to those who care for it: the farmers, ranchers and farm employees of California and the United States. He focused his public service on benefiting agriculture and all those who enjoy its products.”

Rominger served as director of the California Department of Food and Agriculture from 1977-82, and as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1993-2001. He was also active in Farm Bureau, serving as Yolo County Farm Bureau president from 1971-73 and, before that, as chair of the California Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. Rominger received the California Farm Bureau Distinguished Service Award in 1991.

“Richard Rominger’s legacy lives on through the multigenerational family farm operated by his sons, and through the example he set as a farmer who took an active, effective leadership role in public policy,” Johansson said.

The Rominger Brothers Farm, now run by Rominger’s sons Bruce and Rick, earned the California Leopold Conservation Award for voluntary stewardship by private landowners, given last year at the California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.

Rominger Brothers Farms is a progressive, diversified family farm and ranch located north of Winters, California.

Brothers Rick and Bruce Rominger are fifth-generation Yolo County farmers. They produce many different crops including processing tomatoes, almonds, walnuts, rice, wheat, corn, safflower, sunflower and winegrape rootstock.

As stewards of the land, Bruce and Rick are committed to growing crops in ways that protect the environment, such as minimizing the use of crop protection materials and using drip irrigation to conserve water.

In the last 20 years, they installed more than 7 miles of field-border  hedgerows and riparian corridor enhancements with native plants. Due to their conservation efforts, Rominger Brothers Farms recently received the prestigious Hugh Hammond Bennett Conservation Excellence Award from the National Conservation Planning Partnership and the 2019 Leopold Conservation Award from the Sand County Foundation.

Rominger Brothers Farms is located 40 miles west of Sacramento and 60 miles northeast of San Francisco.