Ellie Andrews
Specialty Crops Advisor
Sonoma, Marin, and Napa Counties
University of California Cooperative Extension
Email: eandrews@ucanr.edu
Instagram: @specialtycrops
View more resources on the Specialty Crops program website
The UCCE North Bay Specialty Crops Extension and research program serves a diverse community of 200+ specialty crop growers of orchard crops, vegetables, berries, and other high-value and niche crops. (Vineyards are served by the UCCE Viticulture Advisors, Chris Chen who covers Sonoma County and Monica Cooper who covers Napa County.) Most specialty crop growers are small to mid-scale in size and use organic, regenerative, and/or agroecological practices. Local partners include technical service providers, grower-focused organizations, processors, and marketers. This UCCE program promotes commercial specialty crop production and the expansion of growers’ contributions as foundational members of our local food system.
This program directly addresses high-priority sustainable production needs through diverse outreach and advising methods, robust science-based educational programming, and applied research focused on key needs. This work advances climate-adaptive production strategies, sustainable management of plant health and water and soil resources, and ecologically oriented Integrated Pest Management (IPM). This program advances UC ANR's goals to increase the ecological sustainability of agriculture, agricultural efficiency and profitability, and preparedness and resilience to extreme weather and climate change.