CLEMENTS — Brad Goehring was just trying to support this family and keep employees working.

The now 44-year-old farmer was plowing his land in the rolling countryside outside of Clements made famous by the mythical Barker family of “The Big Valley” TV show when the federal government ordered him to stop.

The Army Corps of Engineers had determined he was distributing protected wetlands even though the land had been farmed for years.

They ordered him to cease and desist – essentially stop farming – or he’d be slapped with fines up to $100,000 a day.

Goehring was stunned. For him, it was easy to see that the Army Corps of Engineers weren’t using common sense in their one-size-fits-all-approach to environmental regulations. The Army Crops – with the full backing of the federal government – seemed poised to crush Goehring and his vineyard operation.

Goehring elected not to roll over and become another statistic of victims caught up wrongly in federal red tape. He immersed himself in the Clean Water Act that he felt had been misconstrued by bureaucrats and applied wrongly against farmers.

“Farmers are some of the best stewards of the land,” Goehring said. “We have to be because if we aren’t we wouldn’t be making a living. We have producing vines that are over 100 years old. You can’t do that if you destroy the environment.”

Ultimately Goehring became a frequent visitor to Washington, D.C., testifying to overhaul parts of the Clean Water Act that he perceived as overkill in how it was being applied. That was in 2004.

Today, Goehring wants to visit D.C. again as the 11th District representative to Congress. He is running as a Republican to challenge incumbent Jerry McNerney, a Democrat who hails from west of the Altamont Pass.

Goehring noted that the 11th District was created by gerrymandering that put two distinct regions into one district making it tough to represent since major issues such as water have entirely different ramification depending upon which side of the pass you live.

The fourth-generation farmer has already lined up a long list of endorsements in San Joaquin County. He understands fully, though, that the 11th District is more than just San Joaquin County.

He believes that because he farms and is now recognized as an authority nationally on the Clean Water Act that he is well-positioned to represent the diverse water needs of the 11th District.

The San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta where almost 80 percent of all water used in California flows through is within the district.

He is an advocate for more above and below ground storage.

“We can’t conserve our way out of this,” Goehring said of the supply squeeze that has occurred as the dual state and federal water systems serving California where completed when the state had 18 million residents. They are now 38 million and climbing.

“Farmers have to conserve water,” Goehring noted due to cost and supply.

The advent of aggressive conservation measures including drip irrigation had an unexpected impact on the valley. Since farmers who don’t flood irrigate give crops, orchards, and vineyards with just enough water to take care of the root zone the replenishment of underwater aquifers has slowed down.

Goehring views himself as a “constitutionalist.”

“The founding fathers are my heroes,” Goehring said.

He believes in order to serve effectively a congressman has to listen to people “they don’t agree with” so a solution can be pursued that is effective.

“I’m a conservative first and a Republican second,” he added.

Goehring believes immigration reform is needed that addresses the need for guest workers. With that said, he noted they must have jobs and if they want to become citizens must learn English.

Goehring said immigrants today should have the same opportunities – and obligations – that his ancestors did when they immigrated to America from Germany over 100 years ago.

As far as how he views government economic policies, Goehring refers to a disaster that struck his operations in the third week of April last year when he was away in Placerville. A rare frost struck the vineyards in the rolling countryside causing him to lose 80 percent of his crop overnight.

Goehring noted a farmer’s pay day essentially comes once a year.

“That afternoon my wife and I sat down at our kitchen table and went over every bill, obligation, and money that we had,” Goehring said.

The deep-sixed vacation plans, eliminated any plans to buy clothes for themselves or family members in the coming year, and stopped eating out.

“We figured we could make it for seven months with what we had saved,” Goehring noted.

That would take them to harvest and with a little luck they’d be able to bounce back.

“We conserved our way through our budget crisis” Goehring said. “There is no way you can spend yourself out of it as you just keep getting in deeper.”

After attending San Joaquin Delta College, Goehring majored in Business Administration at CSU-Chico, all while learning the value of hard work as a farm laborer in his family’s orchards and vineyards from the age of 11. He has owned and operated Goehring Vineyards, Inc. since returning from school in 1989.

At CSU-Chico Goehring distinguished himself as a member of their nationally ranked water ski team and still continues to water ski. He was named All-American in 1996 and 1997, being ranked as high as 7th nationally.  

Goehring and his wife Kristin were married in 1997 and they have three children, Lexus, Bryson, and Brielle.  

He currently serves on the board of the Lodi Woodbridge Winegrape Commission and the California Association of Winegrape Growers.  Goehring serves as Director at Large for the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, Chairman of the California Farm Bureau LFB Alumni Council and as national spokesman for the California Farm Bureau’s work on the Clean Water Act.

For more information: www.goehringforcongress.com