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 and AB 1998 in consultation with a program advisory review board.

PROGRAM ADVISORY REVIEW BOARD

AB 3383 (and by extension AB1998) 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 (Table 1). During the ensuing years, new members have been appointed to replace some members who left the board.

Table 1. Members of the program advisory review board in 2000.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

AB 3383 (and by extension AB1998) states that pilot demonstration projects should be selected through a competitive grant process (Section 592. (b) (4)) and lists the duties expected of UC SAREP (Section 594):

UC SAREP developed specific policies and procedures to guide the implementation of the demonstration projects in consultation with the program advisory review board as part of crafting the first Request for Proposals (RFP). These policies and procedures remained in effect as described in the spring 1998 BIFS RFP.

Table 2. Corresponding sections of AB 3383 and the UC SAREP Fall 1998 BIFS Request for Proposals for demonstration projects.

UC SAREP staff provides important support work for the BIFS Program using the 10 percent program support funds. These funds principally support one Ph.D. level postgraduate researcher (the BIFS Coordinator) over three years (the life of each project). The BIFS Coordinator provides natural and social science technical support to project management teams in implementation (team facilitation, group meetings, information sharing, etc.), and provides or facilitates monitoring and evaluation work (develop appropriate protocols, analyze data, etc.). The BIFS Coordinator also 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, the 10 percent program support funds covers expenses to run the BIFS Board meetings, office operating expenses, and transportation expenses related to the BIFS program. Administrative support is provided by the UC SAREP grants manager and accounting officer and additional technical support by the Director and other staff members. The list below summarizes SAREP staff support for the BIFS projects.

Summary of SAREP staff support from January 1999 to December 2000

BIFS Project Support, Oversight, and Reporting

• Developed more explicit reporting requirements in checklist format
• Solicited and summarized all project target pesticides, site codes, and counties for PUR analysis
  
• Multiple site visits completed to all seven projects
  
• Critically reviewed and summarized all project original proposals and subsequent reports
  
• Provided survey data analysis recommendations for projects (social science technical support)
  
• Provided survey development assistance (strawberries, rice, walnuts)
  
• Provided recommendations on economic analysis (rice)
  
• Provided guidance with data management (strawberries, dairies, citrus, walnuts)
  
• Facilitated budget and contract communications between SAREP and the BIFS projects
  
• Provided input to projects on meetings, newsletters, and other aspects of outreach
  
• Summarized project annual reports and wrote Biennial Report to the Legislature
  
• Prepared funding scenarios for discussion and evaluated BIFS projects for report to the BIFS Board
  

• Planned and organized the first BIFS Workgroup plenary meeting Feb 17, 2000
  
• Provided assistance in preparing the newest Workgroup proposal to UC DANR
  
• Summarized and delivered meeting notes to all Workgroup members
  
• Represented the BIFS Workgroup at Water Quality Workgroup meetings

BIFS-related presentations

• BIFS overview for UC Davis sustainable agriculture class (January 31, 2000)
  
• BIFS overview UC Davis Ag Systems and Environment class (November 23, 1999)
  
• N-budget Workshop at the Nut Grower Trade Show in Turlock (March 15, 2000)
  
• N-budget Workshop at a BIOS Field Day in Colusa (November 30, 1999)
  
• BIFS impact on pesticide use at the DPR Pesticide Use Conference in Sacramento (May 8, 2000)
  
• BIFS, IPM, and cover crops at the CAFF Farm Tour (May 5, 2000)
  
• Session moderation at Western SARE 2000, Portland OR (May 6-8, 2000)
  
• BIFS overview in the DANR Building seminar series at UC Davis (December 12, 2000)
  
• N-budget workshop at a BIOS field day in Woodland (December 13, 2000)
  
  

Conferences, Meetings, and Trainings, Planning/Organizing

• Planned BIFS Workgroup Meeting (Feb. 17, 2000)
  
• Planned BIFS Program Advisory Review Board meetings (October 26, 1999, June 12 and November 29, 2000)
  
• Planning Access database training for BIFS projects staff and Workgroup (training date Jan 9, 2001)
  
• Planning for the Ag Partnership Conference to be held March 27-28, 2001

Funding History of Current BIFS Projects

In June 1998 two new proposals were selected for a full three years of funding: Biologically Integrated Farming System for Rice submitted by Randall Mutters, UCCE Butte County Farm Advisor, and Biologically Integrated Production System for Prunes submitted by Gary Obenauf, California Prune Board project manager. Additionally, a first year of funding for the Expansion of the Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems Model to Northern San Joaquin Valley Walnut Orchards, submitted by Joe Grant, UCCE San Joaquin County farm advisor, was awarded.

With the passage of Assembly Bill 1998 in September 1998, additional funds were made available for the BIFS program. Two additional projects were offered BIFS funding: Citrus Orchard Management - Economic, Environmental, and "Knowledge Access" Considerations submitted by Mark Freeman, UCCE Fresno County farm advisor, and, BASIS (Biological Agriculture Systems in Strawberries): Bio-Intensive Pest Management in the Monterey Bay Region submitted by Sean Swezey of UC Santa Cruz and Carolee Bull of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Salinas. At the same time, funding was offered for the second and third years of the walnut project in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1999, two additional projects were chosen for funding, Integrated Pome Fruit Production in Contra Costa County (Apple BIFS) submitted by Janet Caprile, farm advisor in Contra Costa County and Integrating Forage Production with Dairy Manure Management in California's Central Valley (Dairy BIFS), submitted by Stu Pettygrove, extension specialist from UC Davis.

Funding is available for all seven current BIFS projects to complete the full three years of each project, however, no new state funding has been identified to extend any current BIFS projects or to fund new BIFS projects. However, U.S. EPA Region IX is expected to continue its current support (approximately $200,000 for 2001) and we are attempting to find matching funds to allow funding for new BIFS projects.

Table 3. Timing and funding of existing BIFS projects, 2000. Funds provided by AB1998 and US-EPA Region 9 Agricultural Initiative, US-EPA Food Quality Protection Act Regional Funds, and US-EPA Pollution Prevention Incentives for States (PPIS) funds.

BIFS Component Research Activities

As described in section 592E of AB 1998, UC SAREP used 10% of the funds to support component investigations on BIFS farming systems that still need to be developed or refined. Four projects have been funded.

Table 4. Summary of funding for BIFS component research.

Thomas Harter's project is linked with the Dairy BIFS Project. This project focuses on understanding the link between dairy waste management and shallow groundwater quality, and on developing dairy waste management methods that will ensure impacts on groundwater quality are minimized.

Chuck Ingel's project has direct application to the previous Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape BIFS Project. This project focuses on comparing the effects of different cover crops on vine vigor and grape quality.

Marsha Campbell Mathews project is linked to the Dairy BIFS project. This project implemented management practices aimed at improving groundwater quality by 1) minimizing excess dairy manure pond water nitrogen applications to corn forage fields, and 2) eliminating the use of commercial nitrogen fertilizer by substituting similar amounts of pond water nitrogen.

Jeff Mitchell's project is a follow-up to the previous West Side BIFS (cotton and row crops) project. This project compares conservation tillage and conventional tillage practices in crop rotations common to the West Side for productivity, key soil properties, pest and crop management requirements, and production costs.

More details on these and all SAREP funded projects can be found at http://sarepdevel.ucdavis.edu/grants/database.