- Author: Jeffrey P Mitchell
April 6, 2021
Four California organic farmers, Phil Foster of Hollister, Paul Muller of Guinda, Scott Park of Meridian, and Tom Willey of Madera, will participate in an hour-and-a half online workshop session on April 6, 2021 from 12:00 PM through 1:30 PM about the reduced disturbance work that they are conducting as part of an NRCS CIG project aimed at investigating and refining organic reduced disturbance techniques in California. The workshop will feature a Q & A session that follows a panel presentation that the four farmers made as part of the 2021 ECOFARM Conference in January. The workshop will be moderated by CASI Workgroup member, Dr. Cindy Daley of Chico State. An audio summary introduction to the workshop that ran on Don York's "Ag Report" radio program on KMJ580 on April 6th is linked below.
JEFF MITCHELL on KMJ 4-6-21
- Author: Jeffrey P Mitchell
- Author: Jeffrey P Mitchell
September 23, 2020
A video transcript of the Healthy Soils Healthy Profits - How do we get to $2.50/lb cotton in the SJV? webinar that was held on September 17, 2020 is now available at You Tube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEm8pjbbnaE&feature=youtu.be
More activities and information related to soil health in cotton production systems are now being planned. Stay tuned!
- Author: Jeffrey P Mitchell
September 12, 2010
Dairy silage fields under no-till and strip-till are some of the only annual cropping systems in California that address the important soil health principle of generating and preserving surface residues. While most annual crop fields are without residues due to intensive tillage practices that essentially make them disappear completely, no-till and strip-till silage farmers are achieving this key soil care practice that is otherwise ignored in most fields in the state.
- Author: Jeffrey P Mitchell
Getting ahead of marketplace demands – What farmers can do -
August 31, 2020 https://youtu.be/Ot1KSrfsfLA
“Last fall, I participated in the National Sustainable Agriculture Summit in Indianapolis, IN,” says Jeff Mitchell, Cropping Systems Cooperative Extension Specialist with the University of California, Davis.
This was a very large gathering of over 650 people representing various sectors of the food system.
One of the main messages in the keynote address of this meeting that was delivered by Patricia Stroup, Vice President of Nestle, - the largest buyer and seller of food in the world was that “if you want to sell your food to us, you'll meet our specifications.”
A rather blunt warning to farmers about how they do things.
“And I don't know how far along it's gotten,” Mitchell adds, “but there are now apparently efforts under way in Europe mandating an increase in organic agriculture to 20%, along with a 50% reduction in pesticide use and 20% less fertilizer use by 2030.”
“I know a farmer though, who is quite fond of saying that he doesn't want to be told how he should farm.”
He is quite literally way out ahead of these sorts of supply chain, or for that matter, government pressured that are now beginning to be seen.
It is not at all exaggerating to say that buyers are ‘beating a pathway to his farm' because they want to buy what he grows.
He is beyond being pressured.
The question of what farmers may start to do to be ahead of marketplace demands is what will be discussed in a public webinar that will be held on September 17th from 9 AM to noon.
A $10 registration fee to offset meeting coordination expenses and to support the long-term research work in Five Points may be paid by registering early at https://ucanr.edu/sjvcottonwebinar
Cotton growing following soil health management practices of reduced disturbance and surface residue preservation, Five Points, CA
