http://www.sfc.ucdavis.edu/index4.cfm?blogrss=51570&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed Small Farm Blogs en-us UC ANR http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/ Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:48:08 PST Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:48:08 PST UC ANR ]]> Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:22:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8991&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8991 The California Small Farm Conference will grant nearly 100 scholarships to small scale farmers, agriculture students, family farmers, small farm employees and farmers’ market managers who may otherwise not have the finances to attend the California Small Farm Conference, March 10 to 12, 2013, in Fresno. Scholarships are awarded based on financial need. Depending on need, scholarships may include conference registration, conference-hosted meals, a ticket to attend the tasting reception,......
]]> Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:40:48 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8424&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8424 ]]> Tue, 02 Oct 2012 14:21:38 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8423&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8423 ]]> Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:57:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8248&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed paleff@ucdavis.edu(Penny Leff) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8248 Welcome to the newest edition of Small Farm News, the newsletter of the UC Small Farm Program.  With this issue, we have completed our transition from a traditional print newsletter to this new, online-only format. We hope you find this new edition just as interesting and useful as our classic newsletter — and easier to share. You can read it all now or bookmark Vol. 1 2012 for later. In this issue: Workshops to prepare growers for food safetyFor producers, food safety comes in many......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:40:32 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7093&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7093 For consumers, the effects of food safety practices can seem simple, though critically important: You’re either sick from the food you eat or you’re not. But for producers, food safety comes in many shades of risk at many critical points in their business operations: water testing, worker hygiene, harvest techniques, postharvest cooling and storage, previous land use, wildlife and more. To help small-scale farmers better plan for food safety concerns, several UC Cooperative Extension farm......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:40:02 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7154&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7154 At a recent statewide summit, California agritourism leaders overwhelmingly agreed that a statewide organization would be a major step toward improving agritourism support in the California. Agritourism is a completely new business for most farmers and ranchers, combining hospitality with agricultural production. Starting an agritourism enterprise requires learning new skills, complying with a multitude of new regulations, managing new risks, training new staff and collaborating with new......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:38:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7137&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7137 Though growers can earn retail prices at farmers markets, many farmers find their profits challenged by the additional marketing costs required, such as transportation and staff time. But one farmers market has developed a way that it can help farmers sell higher volumes to multiple buyers with just one trip — by serving as a venue for sales to restaurants and wholesale distributors, in addition to individual customers. The Santa Monica Farmers Market hosts 75-80 farmers every Wednesday and......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:36:35 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7104&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7104 California growers considering organic certification were able to hear about the value of doing so — and tips for getting started — from a farmer, buyer and agricultural economist at one of the California Small Farm Conference workshops. “I had about a thousand customers per week at the farmers market, pulling up my carrots and saying, ‘Are these organic?’ And I got tired of that question,” said farmer Phil McGrath, about one of the many reasons he chose to grow organically. McGrath and a......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:35:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7126&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7126 With the growing popularity of community supported agriculture has come a proliferation of CSA models, with a wide variety of structure, goals, customer interactions and food products. Two different CSAs offered tips to farmers and workshop participants at the California Small Farm Conference. On the panel were John Fonteyn and Elizabeth Del Negro, who operate Rio Gozo Farm in Ojai on 3.5 leased acres as the sole employees. Also on the panel was Sarah Nolan, the CSA coordinator for South......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:35:22 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7130&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7130 The presenter twisted his mustache before grabbing hold of the podium. "You will double your production! And you will have no pests, no diseases," he said, emphatically promoting an unnamed agricultural product to the audience gathered. "You ask me, how can you afford this product? I ask you, how can you not afford it?" he said. After his roaring introduction to participants at the California Small Farm Conference, the presenter Jim Downer, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Ventura County,......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:33:07 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7092&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7092 A farm advisor who has been instrumental in developing profitable niches for farmers was named "Outstanding Agricultural Educator" with a 2012 Pedro Ilic Award, for his dedication to small-scale farming. Paul Vossen, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Sonoma and Marin counties, accepted the award on March 5 at the California Small Farm Conference in Valencia. "Paul has contributed tremendously to the success of the growing California olive oil industry," said Shermain Hardesty, who presented......
]]> Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:27:24 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7144&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=7144 Calling all small-scale farmers and their supporters! Now is the season of awards and conferences in the agricultural world — and that goes for small-scale farmers too. At the moment, we are seeking nominations for the Pedro Ilic Awards, which honor dedication to small-scale farming. These awards are named for Pedro Ilic, Fresno County small-scale farm advisor, whose death in 1994 prompted the UC Small Farm Program to annually honor those who carry out his legacy of personal commitment to......
]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:12:07 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6644&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6644 Romanesco, rainbow carrots, party cauliflower and watermelon radishes — the vegetables of the Great Veggie Adventure — are just four of the many vegetables that farm advisors with the UC Small Farm Program have worked with recently. Richard Molinar, farm advisor with UC Cooperative Extension and the Small Farm Program, frequently finds himself on his own "vegetable adventures" when visiting Hmong and Lao farmers in Fresno county with Michael Yang, agricultural assistant. "One of the......
]]> Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:17:53 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6334&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6334   While growing vegetables for the Great Veggie Adventure, at least one California farm found a new product to sell at its farmers market booths. Valdivia Farms in Carlsbad normally grows heirloom tomatoes, baby squash and specialty bean varieties. But Ramiro Lobo, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor with San Diego County, asked them to try some colorful varieties of cauliflower, carrots and radishes as part of the Great Veggie Adventure. "We don't have a research station here in San......
]]> Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:48:59 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6209&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=6209 Woody Tasch, the founder of Slow Money, will speak on “Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Matter” Sept. 20 in Davis, at an event organized by the UC Small Farm Program. The talk, along with introductions, a Q&A session and light refreshments, will be 4-6 p.m. at the Rominger West Winery, 4602 Second St. in Davis. Tickets are $10, and reservations are available online at http://ucanr.org/slowmoney.Slow Money is a national network dedicated to investing in local food and agricultural......
]]> Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:34:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5668&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5668 “We really all wanted to be farmers, not truckers,” said farmer Dru Rivers, while discussing the motivations behind the 1981 founding of YoCal Produce Cooperative. Now as then, the logistics of moving farm-fresh products from fields to markets — not only transportation, but also cold storage, marketing, sales and food safety coordination — can present a challenge for many small-scale farmers. Collaboration as a way to meet these needs was the topic of the Collaborating to Access New Markets......
]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:49:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5884&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5884 There was a surprise waiting for the food safety auditor when he looked around for signs of wildlife, though the farmer had told him his farm didn’t have any rodent problems. Under a bin were some tunnels, one of which contained a dead mouse. “You don’t want an inspector to find a dead mouse 6 feet from your strawberries,” said Richard Molinar, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor, in recounting the story. “First you need to think about everything in the field, but then you also have to be......
]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:31:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5885&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5885 In case you missed it, here is our traditional PDF newsletter, also called Small Farm News. Why might you have missed it? Well, this newsletter started out as a print publication, mailed quarterly to several thousand subscribers. The newsletter is intended for farmers, ranchers, farm advisors, agricultural organizations and others interested in keeping up with information pertinent to California's small farms. For a few years, we encouraged subscribers to consider switching to an email......
]]> Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:30:30 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5670&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=5670 Before you can plant vegetables for a field experiment, you will need ... a field to plant them in. Sure, you'll also need a seed or a plant, some tools, some knowledge and a variety of other things. But definitely before you can plant anything, you need somewhere to plant it. Sometimes the "where" of planting is in a pot, in a greenhouse or in a garden. Many farm advisors — including some who work with the UC Small Farm Program — are able to plant experimental field plots at one of the......
]]> Thu, 02 Jun 2011 13:45:26 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4968&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4968 In case you missed it: A brand-new, revised edition of the Small Farm Handbook is now available from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. The 2011 edition is a collection of expertise from 31 University of California authors, including farm advisors and specialists. This 188-page book has 11 chapters covering both the business side and the farming side of operating a small-scale farm. "One thing that’s different about this edition is that we really tried to focus on......
]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:37:00 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4846&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4846 May 18 may be just another day, but it will be a busy one for the UC Small Farm Program.That's because on May 18, the Small Farm Program will be in two places at once — hosting two educational meetings in two different locations in the state.Before I go any further, here are the details in case you are interested in attending either one: Blackberry and blueberry field tour9 a.m. – 3 p.m., ParlierVisit grower fields and packinghouses, with discussions about field establishment, acidification,......
]]> Thu, 12 May 2011 13:32:08 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4804&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4804 For the Great Veggie Adventure, farm advisors with the University of California Small Farm Program will be field-testing varieties of rainbow-colored carrots, watermelon (or red meat) radishes, party (colored) cauliflower and Romanesco. But what do we mean by "field-testing"? In agricultural science, there are actually several different methods to test how well crops grow in the field. For this project, farm advisors are planting varieties of vegetables, monitoring the plants' growth and......
]]> Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:58:06 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4548&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4548 Quick quiz: What do you think makes a farmer "small"? acres: owning just a few ownership: no corporations, just a family or at least someone you know profit: can’t make enough to get bigger height: no taller than 5'2" Ha! Get that last one? A “small” farmer. That’s why we usually say “small-scale farmer.” But I digress. None of the options above officially make a small-scale farmer, though the first three are popular ways of thinking about the issue. The official answer: According......
]]> Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:17:03 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4222&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4222 This new blog is a round-up of news, research updates, tips and other tidbits that are potentially interesting or useful to California’s small-scale farmers.We may not have had a blog before, but the Small Farm Program owes its history in part to sharing information. In the 1970s when the University of California first started focusing efforts on small farms in particular, one of the earliest efforts was something called the "Information Access Council." For decades, the Small Farm Center......
]]> Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:37:21 PST http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4221&utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS%2BFeed bldawson@ucdavis.edu(Brenda Dawson) http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=4221