INTRODUCTION

On September 28, 1994 Governor Pete Wilson signed Assembly Bill 3383 (Bornstein, Brown, and Snyder). The bill requested the Regents of the University of California to establish a pilot 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. The goal of AB3383 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.

The Legislature requested that the University of California establish a program of pilot demonstration projects with the following features (Section 592 (b)):

1. The program should consist of up to five pilot demonstration projects, each project involving a different commodity or cropping system and each located in a different county.
2. The program should be designed to extend integrated farming systems through the proven technique of farmer-to-farmer communication, with technical support provided by farm advisors, scientists, and pest control advisers.
3. The structure of each pilot demonstration project should be patterned, to the degree feasible, after the successful Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems (BIOS) program coordinated by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers in Merced County.
4. Pilot demonstration projects should be selected through a competitive process that supports the goals specified in Section 591. The proposals for the projects selected should demonstrate the applicant’s experience in the farming systems described in subdivision (b) of Section 591, should contain documented financial and technical support, and should provide for a breadth of private sector cost sharing.
5. Funding for the program should consist of a combination of federal, state and private sector funds…

The bill appropriated $250,000 from the Food Safety Account to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for the purposes of this bill. Additional funds were provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) Region IX ($420,000). These funds were sufficient to support the first two pilot projects for three years. It was understood that additional pilot projects would be supported only if additional funds were made available. New funding from US-EPA ($195,000) and the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources ($100,000) now permits us to fund at least one additional project. The Request for Proposals has been prepared and is scheduled for distribution in January 1997.

The resulting program is known as Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS). This report describes the implementation of the BIFS program between January 1995 and December 1996.