New online training is designed for beginning farmers and those or transitioning to organic practices. Photo courtesy of UC SAREP

Farmers who want to learn organic production practices for California specialty crops can now get training at their convenience on their own computers. The organic farming training is designed by the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, Organic Farming Research Foundation and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

“This course includes information from the latest scientific research conducted by our University of California colleagues across the state, and boils it down into practical information for beginning or transitioning organic farmers of fruit, nuts, vegetables and other specialty crops,” said Sonja Brodt, UC SAREP academic coordinator for agriculture and environment.

The training program contains six learning modules: soil health, weed management, irrigation and water management, insect and mite pest management, disease management, and business management and marketing.

The training covers soil health, weed management, irrigation and water management, insect and mite pest management, disease management, and business management and marketing.

“We were able to draw on the expertise of 22 technical advisors, the majority of them from UC Cooperative Extension, UC campuses and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, to ensure the scientific accuracy of the information provided,” Brodt said.

The program provides a combination of written content, videos and do-it-yourself exercises that allow students to follow along at their own pace and test their grasp of the knowledge. Farmers may read or view any parts of the course they choose, in any sequence. No certificate or credit is given at completion.

“While it was developed for California specialty crop farmers, the content is based on foundational principles that are relevant to all organic farmers and our hope is that growers across the U.S. find it to be a useful resource,” said Lauren Snyder, OFRF education & research program manager.

UC Davis Student Farm coordinator Raoul Adamchak discusses irrigation. To ensure the scientific accuracy of the information provided, the training draws on the expertise of 22 technical advisors, the majority of them from UC Cooperative Extension, UC campuses and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The organic farming training is free. To obtain a link to the training, submit a request at https://ofrf.org/beginning-farmer-training-program.

Funding for this online training program was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through grant AM170100XXXXG011. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.