November 10, 2021
Sobering findings in reduced soil disturbance organic vegetable production farm evaluations
For the past three years, a group of experienced organic vegetable farmers along with several University and private sector partners has been evaluating a host of reduced tillage or soil disturbance approaches for the highly-prized crops that they grow at several California farm locations. To date, the group has come face-to-face with several sobering realizations about just how hard it is going to be for them to alter too much the tried-and-true tillage practices that they have come to rely upon over the years to produce their healthy vegetables.
In a recent project progress discussion get-together, the group gathered to hash out how things have been going and several sources of trouble were identified. Terminating winter cover crops using a roller-crimper and without herbicides, having seedlings devoured by a host of insect pests, uncertainties regarding whether nutrient (particularly nitrogen) availability needs are being met within reduced disturbance systems, and other as yet unspecified causes of yield drag were all identified as challenges that have not yet been overcome. The 'hits' that these farmers have had with respect to low yields have been considerable and are not seen as something that can be taken on as replacements of their traditional tillage approaches.
Farmers and partners in the group are now gathering their thoughts in preparation for a daylong pre-conference workshop as part of the 2022 ECOFARM event on Wednesday, January 19, in Asilomar, CA. Information about the pre-conference and registration materials are available at the ECOFARM website
https://eco-farm.org/conference/2022/session/till-or-not-till-question
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Posted on
Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at
8:21 AM
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture
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.
Posted on
Monday, September 28, 2020 at
7:09 AM
- Author:
Pam Kan-Rice
- Author:
Vickie Lowell
Focus Area Tags: Agriculture
University of California ANR (Cooperative Extension) scientists are looking for certified organic growers to participate in a multistate soil and food-safety study. The data they gather will help them develop national guidelines and best practices for using raw manure to improve soil health.
“The goal of our study is to provide organic farmers with science-based strategies that effectively limit food-safety risks when using raw manure-based soil amendments,” said Alda Pires, UC Cooperative Extension urban agriculture and food safety specialist in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis.
The study will run two years. In return for participating, growers will receive free test results for their farm, farm-specific feedback to help minimize contamination of fresh produce and $700 at the end of the study.
Researchers will visit participating farms eight times over the 2017-18 growing season. They will collect produce, soil and water samples.
“All of the samples will be tested for bacterial indicators such as nonpathogenic E. coli and pathogens. We will ask the farmers to complete a short survey,” said Michele Jay-Russell, a veterinary research microbiologist and manager at the Western Center for Food Safety at UC Davis. “The study is voluntary and all locations and names will be kept confidential.”
For more information or to enroll in the project, contact Pires at (530) 754-9855 or apires@ucdavis.edu, or Jay-Russell at (530) 219-4628 or mjay@ucdavis.edu.
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Posted on
Monday, December 19, 2016 at
4:29 PM