On February 22^nd, community members, local farmers and ranchers, professionals, high school students, non-profit groups, and regional leaders in the ag industry will be gathering in Browns Valley for a forum on The Future of Farming and Ranching in the Sierra Foothills. This event has been in the making since summer when committee members helped lay the foundation for a useful and exciting day about the opportunities and challenges of agriculture in this region.

Speakers will be sharing their personal experiences and knowledge about getting started in agriculture and reaching goals. Topics about resources needed, tools available, and strategies to stay in business will be discussed. High school ag students will present information learned from visits with local farms/ranches and other important areas researched. Multiple non-profit groups will be displaying information and resources as well. There will be a delicious lunch, sourced from local farmers and ranchers (some of which will be present). The cost to attend is $10 per family. Register through our website at http://sfrec.ucanr.edu/

Follow these links for the AGENDA and FLYER. Contact Maddison Easley - mleasley@ucanr.edu or Jeremy James – jjjames@ucanr.edu for more information.

Recognizing the overwhelming need for extending drought mitigation information to ranchers across the state and the practical constraints many producers face in trying to travel for a day-long workshop the California Institute for Water Resources in cooperation with the Department of Water Resources has provided support to help extend information generated in the UC SFREC Drought workshop across the state. This includes local support for 7 UCCE satellite workshops that bring workshop information to other regional meetings across the state as well as support for a few “train the trainer” programs where UCCE academics, California Cattlemen, and Farm Bureau representatives can get support to learn about the UC SFREC workshop material and extend this information to regional partners. Given the immediacy of this drought and the need to quickly pull programs together, this sponsorship represents an effective opportunity to extend information.

For ranchers in most parts of the state the 2013-2014 drought is shaping up to be one of the most serious forage situation in memory. As an example, forage data at UC SFREC showed that dryland range at the Center only produced about 40 pounds per acre through fall and the end of December.

In response to these serious forage conditions, the University of California Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center, in cooperation with UCCE Advisors, UC Davis faculty and industry partners, are putting the final touches on the January 29th meeting that will discuss practical tools and strategies for reducing drought impacts on ranching enterprises.

Drought management and mitigation is a complex topic and this day-long event takes a comprehensive look at a range of linked issues including making the most of what you have on dryland and irrigated pasture, the economics and nutritional aspects of supplementation, animal health and making culling decisions, tax, NAP and insurance. Registration is close to capacity but will remain open until capacity is reached. For those that cannot attend in person, the program will be broadcast on the web.  You can register to attend (here) and see the updated agenda (here).