Regional Conference Proceedings | UC Organic Agriculture Institute

2026 Central Coast Organic Agriculture Conference

This page provides presentations and resources shared during the 2026 Central Coast Organic Agriculture Conference in San Luis Obispo on 9/16/26.

Presentations:

Regional Support Provider Introductions
- Click on the organization names below to learn more about the programs and people available to support farmers and ranchers in the Central Coast:
Beyond Practice Checklists: What Soil Health Testing Reveals about Regenerative Vineyard Management in California: Results from on-farm research in the Central Coast assessing how to improve vineyard soil health and if measuring soil health is useful for informing management decisions by Charlotte Decock, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Sustainability and Food Safety Co-management
- Co-management: Food Safety & Sustainability Vegetated Treatment Practices: Results from California State University, Monterey Bay Risk Assessment Studies of rodent presence and movement in agricultural ditches by Taylor van Rossum, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation
- Management options for burrowing rodents in organic production: Overview of organic control options for pocket gophers, voles, and ground squirrels by Roger Baldwin, University of California, Davis and University of California Cooperative Extension
- Organic Principles and Compliance: Communicating your practices: Best practices to integrate sustainability goals and food safety on-farm and how to communicate your plan to auditors and buyers by John McKeon, Pelican LLC
Exploring Farm to School as a Wholesale Channel for your Farm
- Farm to School as a Wholesale Channel: A Statewide Perspective: A high level overview of what to expect, how schools are a unique market channel, and best practices for accessing the school market by Claire Tauber, Community Alliance with Family Farmers.
- Farm to School: Central Coast: An overview of the CDFA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program in the Central Coast by Chris Massa, CDFA Office of Farm to Fork

Resources:

USDA Farm Service Agency Organic Cost Share: flyer with information on how to apply for organic cost share to offset organic certification costs through USDA Farm Service Agency
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP): flyer with information on how to apply for funding through the CSP program to build upon your on farm conservation practices
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): flyer with information on how to apply for technical assistance and funding through the EQIP program for conservation practices that address resource concerns on your farm, such as soil quality, rangeland health, irrigation efficiency, nutrient management, and forest quality on working lands
CCOF Application Fee Waiver: Letter for NRCS staff to sign to waive the CCOF $350 new application fee for operations referred to CCOF for organic certification by NRCS
"Monitoring and Building Soil Health in California Vineyards": January/February 2025 Progressive Crop Consultant article on research on measuring soil health to inform management decisions in vineyards. Article authors: Charlotte Decock, Lauren Picone, Priya Verma, Matt Grishop, Cristina Lazcano.
"On-Farm Assessment of Long-Term Impacts of Regenerative Management on Vineyard Soil Health": European Journal of Soil Science paper by Picone et al. (2025) on soil health indicators in regeneratively managed vineyards in the Central Coast California (https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.70207)
California Cafeteria Database: a map created by CDFA Office of Farm to Fork that shows locations and contact information for CA public school districts and food hubs that deliver to schools.
Selling to Schools Checklist: a basic checklist of necessary documents for school sales, and email template for outreach developed by Community Alliance with Family Farmers, SupplyChange, and Fresh Approach
Lista de verificación para vender a escuelas: una lista general de la documentación que debes reunir para estar listo para vender a una escuela y ejemplos de correos electrónicos que puedes aprovechar para tu acercamiento a los distritos escolares desarrollado por Community Alliance with Family Farmers, SupplyChange, and Fresh Approach
The Farm to Market Handbook: Quick Tip Guides for Accessing Five Major Marketing Channels: This Farm to Market Handbook is designed by Community Alliance with Family Farmers to help the family access markets. It provides information, selling tips and internet links to top informational sites for the five major marketing channels.
De la granja al mercado: Guía rápida para acceder a cinco canales principales de venta: Este Manual de la Granja al Mercado está diseñado por Community Alliance with Family Farmers para ayudar a la granja familiar a acceder a los mercados. Ofrece información, consejos de venta y enlaces de Internet a los principales sitios informativos de los cinco canales de comercialización más importantes.

Thank you to all the presenters and farm tour hosts, below, that made this event possible! Thank you to CDFA State Organic Program (Award #22-0028), CDFA Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (Award #KL24F79), and USDA AMS West/Southwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program (Award #Y23-6525) for funding the Conference.