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PROGRAM OVERVIEW


California growers continue to face major challenges on two fronts: declining profit margins and increased environmental regulations that threaten to reduce the number of chemical pest controls as well as restrict fertility and general crop management practices. These challenges threaten farm survival. While the farmgate prices have not kept pace with the rising costs of inputs, environmental regulations are requiring changes in management practices. Recent regulations that affect California agriculture include the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, which requires U.S. EPA to review agricultural commodity pesticide tolerances for all organophosphates, carbamates, and EPA category B2 carcinogens. In addition, regulations such as those proposed by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to begin in January 2004, create further restrictions on the use of pre-emergence herbicides as well as added expense in hiring specially trained and certified pest control advisors (PCAs). These regulations create new ground water protection areas and restrict the use of additional pesticides, requiring permits and users to adopt specific management practices to protect ground water.


The EPA is also revising the Clean Water Act permit requirements and effluent guidelines that will require most dairy farms in the state of California to prepare comprehensive nutrient management plans to document all nutrient application on fields. This will require improvements and changes in the way in which manure nutrients are managed as they are utilized by forage crops, and necessitate large reductions in commercial fertilizer use on these crops. The regulations will be finalized by December 2002 with all permits required by January 2006. In addition, the Clean Air Act and the Montreal Protocol call for the elimination of methyl bromide use by 2005, and the 1994 CALFED agreement to provide ecosystem protection for the Bay Delta estuary provides agricultural water users a guaranteed, if reduced, water supply (CALFED 1997). Alternative production practices that address these economic and environmental challenges have been developed in several crops and demonstrated by BIFS enrolled growers. Researchers and extensionists have shown these practices to be effective in agronomic, environmental and economic terms.


ENABLING LEGISLATION
In 1994, the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) was chosen by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources to implement AB 3383 in consultation with a Program Advisory Review Board. Assembly Bill 3383 and by extension, AB1998 (passed in 1998), request that the Regents of the University of California establish a demonstration program to provide extension services, training, and financial incentives for farmers who voluntarily participate in pilot projects to reduce their use of agricultural chemicals. This program is UC SAREP’s Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) program.
The goal of AB 3383 is “… to expand the use of integrated farming systems that have been proven to decrease the use of farm chemicals,” through integration of the following elements (Section 591):

(1) relying on biological and cultural control to protect crops from pest outbreaks
(2) creating on-farm habitats that harbor populations of beneficial insects and mites
(3) using cover crops to provide some or all of the nitrogen needed by the crop plants
(4) directing overall attention to soil building practices
(5) reducing reliance upon chemicals.


To implement these goals, Assembly Bills 3383 and 1998 specify that pilot demonstration projects be selected through a competitive grant process. The responsibilities of UC SAREP’s BIFS program include developing policies and procedures for implementing the pilot demonstration projects; developing and issuing requests for proposals for pilot demonstration projects in relation to monitoring; and summarizing pesticide and fertilizer use. The bills also outline the review and selection process to be followed in evaluating proposals and funded projects. (For the full legislation, see Attachments A and B).

BIFS PROGRAM ADVISORY REVIEW BOARD
AB 3383 outlines the appointment and role for a 13-member Program Advisory Review Board (Section 593(a)). Members of the board were originally appointed in February 1995 by the UC Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources. During the ensuing years, new members have been appointed to replace members who have stepped down (Table 1).

Table 1. Members of the BIFS program advisory review board in 2002.

Name and Affiliation Category Specified in AB3383, Section 593
William Horwath, Asst. Professor,
Land, Air & Water Resources, UC Davis		 University of California
Joe Grant, Farm Advisor,
UC Cooperative Extension, San Joaquin County		 University of California
Kathy Taylor, Associate Director for Agriculture
US-EPA Region 9		 Relevant Federal Agencies
Tish Espinoza, Agronomist & Plant Resource Specialist
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Relevant Federal Agencies
Sherman Boone, Almond Grower
Boone Enterprises, Stanislaus County		 Grower
Stephen Griffin, President
Misionero Vegetables, Monterey County		 Grower
Gregory T. Nelson, President & Manager
Nelson & Sons Ranch, Humboldt County		 Grower
John Carlon, President
Sacramento River Partners		 Nonprofit Organization
Dawit Zeleke, Agriculture and Restoration Manager
Sacramento River Project		 Nonprofit Organization
Patrick Weddle, President
Weddle, Hansen & Assoc.		 Pest Control Adviser
Paul Gosselin, Chief Deputy Director
Department of Pesticide Regulation		 Department of Pesticide Regulation
John Steggall, Senior Scientist
CDFA		 CA Department of Food and Agriculture
Matt Billings, President
Sterling Nursery & Insectary		 DPR Pest Management Advisory Committee

TOTAL FUNDING TO SAREP FOR THE BIFS PROGRAM
As of January 2003, a total of $3,079,272 has been obtained for the BIFS program, with $1,135,909 coming from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation ($245,000 from the Food Safety Account under AB3383 and $890,909 in general funds under AB 1998), $1,834,363 from the U.S. EPA Region 9 (through the EPA’s Pollution Prevention Incentives for States (PPIS), Regional initiative funds for the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), and Agricultural Initiative programs), and $109,000 from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. This has funded ten projects in nine different commodities around the state.


AB 1998 also provided $89,091 to SAREP to fund component research projects relevant to BIFS projects. Four research projects were funded; descriptions are included in the previous BIFS Biennial Report (January 2001).


PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
Funded Projects

During this reporting period, UC SAREP supported seven three-year BIFS projects around the state in apples, citrus, prunes, rice, strawberries, walnuts and dairy/forage crops (Table 2). Most of these projects have concluded during the current reporting period, or will conclude by March 2003. In 2001, U.S. EPA (Region 9) allocated additional funding to UC SAREP to support new BIFS projects. In July, the BIFS program released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for three-year projects to begin in 2002. The 2001 RFP added the requirement that applicants spell out a post-funding strategy to ensure the sustained impact of their project. It also included a new requirement to complete a logical framework—a tool for project participants to identify project goals and objectives, tasks required to meet those objectives, and the measurable outcomes expected from project activities.

BIFS staff organized a proposal development workshop for potential applicants. The primary goal was to explain the overall concepts of the BIFS program, provide descriptions of typical BIFS projects, and discuss the basic requirements for a successful BIFS project, including the concepts of partnerships and management teams, cooperating growers, and side-by-side plot comparisons. The proposal development workshop was held on August 15, 2001 and was attended by 31 prospective applicants from a variety of public and private groups and institutions, including governmental organizations, UC Extension, county Resource Conservation Districts and grower groups. Proposals submitted for this RFP round were of high quality and conformed closely to the concepts and requirements of the BIFS program.

The BIFS Program Advisory Review Board reviewed the submitted proposals and recommended funding two projects: a continuation of the Integrated Prune Farming Practices IPFP/BIFS project and a new Central Coast Vineyard Team (CCVT) Winegrape BIFS project, “Using the Positive Points System to Reduce Chemical Reliance in Vineyards.” The Central Coast Vineyard Team was awarded $99,969 to fund the first year of their three-year project and the IPFP/BIFS team was awarded $80,000 to continue its project. Funding for an additional two years is contingent upon progress as evidenced during the annual review. Each will use the BIFS extension model whose main components include a team approach to project management, on-farm demonstrations, monitoring of key biological and economic variables, and farmer-to-farmer information flow. The farming practices, fine-tuned and evaluated by a team of growers, UC scientists and consultants, are designed to reduce off-farm movement of pollutants and soil, while enhancing natural processes. Both of these BIFS projects will be using successful working vineyards or orchards to demonstrate agricultural operations that have reduced pesticide use in high-value crops. Other area growers have agreed to participate by adapting the methods demonstrated to sections of their own acreage and then monitoring and comparing results with their normal practices. Through their outreach, the two projects will promote practices that reduce environmental problems while maintaining profitability.

Table 2. BIFS projects active during the 2001-2002 funding period. (Funds provided by AB1998 and U.S. EPA Region 9 Agricultural Initiative, U.S. EPA Food Quality Protection Act Regional Funds, and U.S. EPA Pollution Prevention Incentives for States (PPIS) funds.)

Principal Investigator
Institution
Title
Years Funded
Total Amount Funded (through 2002)
Anticipated Funding (2003-2004)
Grant, Joseph UC Cooperative Extension, San Joaquin County Expansion of the Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems model to Northern San Joaquin Valley Walnut Orchards Jan 1999—Dec 2001 $173,642  
Mutters, Randall UC Davis, Department of Agronomy and Range Science; UC Cooperative Extension, Butte County Biologically Integrated Farming System in Rice Jan 1999—Dec 2001 $273,700  
Chao, C. Thomas UC Riverside, Dept. of Botany & Plant Sciences Citrus Orchard Management BIFS Project Oct 1998—June 2002 $233,423  
Bull, Carolee Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Salinas, Monterey County BASIS (Biological Agriculture Systems in Strawberries): A bio-intensive production methods innovators group in the Monterey Bay region Jan 1999—Mar 2002 $120,000*  
Pettygrove, Stu UC Davis, Dept. of Land, Air, & Water Resources Integrating Forage Production with Dairy Manure Management in California's Central Valley July 1999— Mar 2003 $331,484  
Caprile, Janet UC Cooperative Extension, Contra Costa County Integrated Pome Fruit Production in Contra Costa County Jan 2000— Mar 2003 $158,910  
Obenauf, Gary California Prune Board Integrated Prune Farming Practices IFPF/BIFS Jan 1999—Dec 2001
Jan 2002—Dec 2004		 $277,546
$80,000		 $100,000
O’Connor, Kris Central Coast Vineyard Team Using the Positive Points System to Reduce Chemical Reliance in Vineyards April 2002—Dec 2004 $99,969 $199,938
  TOTAL BIFS FUNDED PROJECTS
Oct. 1998—Dec. 2002		   $1,748,674  
TOTAL ADDITIONAL FUNDS COMMITTED (Prune and Winegrape projects 2003—2004)     $299,938

* Project also received an additional $183,500 from methyl bromide funds for a project total of $303,500 over 3 years.

UC SAREP Staff Support


UC SAREP staff provides important support work for the BIFS program using the ten percent program support funds. These funds principally support one Ph.D. level post-graduate researcher (the BIFS Coordinator) over three years (the life of each project). The BIFS Coordinator assists with program management and evaluation of the active projects. In addition, the ten percent program support funds cover expenses to run the BIFS Board meetings, office operating expenses, and transportation expenses related to the BIFS program.

The BIFS Coordinator provides technical support in the areas of natural and social science to management teams through partnership facilitation, management team meetings, information sharing, and attendance at grower field days. The Coordinator also provides or facilitates monitoring and evaluation work (helps to develop appropriate protocols, conducts grower surveys, analyzes data, etc.). The BIFS Coordinator oversees the reporting process for the projects, is the main interface for the BIFS Program Advisory Review Board and assists with documentation and evaluation of the overall BIFS program. In addition, administrative support is provided by the UC SAREP grants manager and accounting officer and additional technical support by the Director, Associate Director and other staff members. UC SAREP staff have conducted site visits, telephone and electronic mail consultations, and reviewed and provided feedback on project materials (e.g. monitoring protocols, data sheets, meeting agendas, etc.), on project reports and newsletters, and prepared the UC SAREP reports. The list below summarizes UC SAREP staff support for the BIFS projects from January 2001 through December 2002.


BIFS Project Support, Oversight, and Reporting

EPA Region 9 Agricultural Initiative for FQPA Implementation – funded for $200,000/yr for 3 years – total $600,000.

BIFS Program Advisory Review Board


BIFS Workgroup (Workgroups are funded by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural resources to facilitate coordination of geographically distant parties and improve campus and county cooperation on research and extension)


Program Impact Assessment – Surveys and Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR) Analysis


BIFS related presentations


Conferences, Meetings, Trainings, and Planning/Organizing


Agricultural Partnerships Conference, March 2001
On March 27-28, 2001, UC SAREP sponsored a conference on Partnerships for Sustaining California Agriculture: Profit, Environment and Community. UC SAREP’s partners for this conference were U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 9), California Department of Pesticide Regulation, California Department of Food and Agriculture, USDA Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, and the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation. The Almond Board of California, California Association of Winegrape Growers, California Integrated Waste Management Board, California Prune Board, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission, and the California Sustainable Agriculture Working Group were also participants.

The conference was attended by over 230 participants and highlighted innovations in agricultural production, research and extension activities that are profitable as well as environmentally friendly. BIFS projects were highlighted and profiled throughout the conference. Speakers, panel discussions, and workshops focused on efforts to implement "win-win" strategies for agricultural and environmental concerns.

Twenty percent of conference participants were farmers and ranchers, and participated as panelists in commodity-specific sessions. These included Rick Antle (Tanamura and Antle), Randy Lange (Lange Twins Inc.), Robert LaVine (Robert Mondavi Winery), Craig Weakley (Small Planet Foods), Ed Sills (Pleasant Grove Farms), Bryce Lundberg (Lundberg Family Farms), and Dan Benedetti (Clover Stornetta Farms). Over 40 farm advisors, specialists and other UC academics attended, and University of California panelists included advisors Walt Bentley and Carolyn Pickel from the UC Statewide IPM Project, vegetable crop specialist Jeff Mitchell from the Kearney Agricultural Center, Steve Temple, specialist in the UC Davis agronomy and range sciences department, Joy Mench, professor of animal science at UC Davis, and Neal Van Alfen, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis. Highlighting each day were keynotes by Paul Dolan, president of Fetzer Vineyards in Hopland, Calif., and John Ikerd, professor emeritus of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri.

The main goal of the conference was to increase adoption of sustainable agriculture principles and practices through cooperative partnerships. Conference co-sponsors see these partnerships and cooperation between growers, researchers, consultants and industry representatives, governmental agencies, and consumers as one of the most important building blocks of sustainable agriculture in California. A high percentage of farmers and agricultural professionals surveyed after the conference indicated that they were enthusiastic about interaction with other conference participants and that they would become involved in agricultural partnerships to either change farming practices or change recommendations to their clientele. See http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/events/ for more information.

BIFS Workgroup
UC SAREP together with other UC colleagues has created a BIFS Workgroup with funding from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources to support increased cross commodity cooperation on pressing research and educational needs of California agriculture. Workgroup support funds have enabled researchers, federal and state regulators, consultants, and commodity and nonprofit organizations to share resources and ideas about how to increase the adoption of environmentally sound farming in California. In addition, the BIFS Workgroup is supporting a social science research project to look at the role that partnerships and participation play in the ability of the BIFS and BIFS-like projects to accomplish their environmental and economic objectives. There are currently 155 members of the BIFS listserv. See our BIFS web site for more information, http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/BIFS/workgroup.htm.

 

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