January 2003
CDFA funds support SAREP organic, biologically integrated farming systems and farm-to-school work
BIFS dried plum (prune) management team will participate in CDFA project.
SAREP has received a $100,000 CDFA Buy California Initiative grant to support the expansion and redesign of the program's Web site for organic growers, and development of organic production manuals for several crops. A second $100,000 grant will help producers of dried plums, walnuts, citrus and forage crops implement biologically integrated farming systems.
When the Buy California Initiative grants were announced, CDFA Secretary William Lyons Jr. noted that sustainable agriculture efforts were an important focus of the program.
"The fertility of California's valleys and the productivity of its growers provide an unsurpassed 'field laboratory' for researchers at the University of California's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program," said Lyons. "With the support of California's agricultural community, this program seeks cost-effective ways for farmers to develop new market opportunities by using organic or other reduced input methods. Specialty crop growers reap the benefits of improved environmental stewardship while they identify new niche markets for these crops."
Lyons continued, "SAREP has developed partnerships with organic farming organizations and has earned the confidence of the industry as a source of reliable research and recommendations for growers, making it an ideal provider of the information."
A combination of federal and state money finance the Buy California funding. Congress defines specialty crops as any crop other than wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice, peanuts and tobacco.
"The funding to boost our organic resources information is particularly timely because the new federal organic standards were implemented October 21, 2002 and U.S. farmers and consumers are looking for clarification on what constitutes 'organic,'" said Sean L. Swezey, SAREP director. "Our program's Web site with its research and information databases can point them to specific resources."
The Organic Farming Information section of SAREP's Web site (http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/Organic/index.htm) provides links to the national rules for organic farming, allowed inputs, members of the UC Organic Farming Research Workgroup, and to SAREP-funded research projects (searchable by crop, topic and organic relevance).
Butte County organic rice grower Bryce Lundberg says the university's organic farming recommendations will help organic growers, processors and input suppliers meet the national standards. "I've used SAREP's Organic Soil Amendments and Fertilizers publication to help me select appropriate amendments, and determine quantity and timing of application," said Lundberg.
SAREP funds organic research, coordinates county-level extension programs, and collects information on organic farming inputs. The program has funded almost $2 million directly to research focused on organic practices, and more than $4 million to projects that indirectly support organic farming.
The SAREP-administered Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) extension program incorporates a team approach to project management with on-farm demonstrations, monitoring of key biological and economic variables, and farmer-to-farmer information exchange.
The Buy California grant will build on the successes of the BIFS program, funding farmer-to-farmer outreach that will share practices demonstrated in BIFS projects. Project cooperators will assist dried plum, walnut, citrus and forage crop growers in adopting economically and environmentally sound agricultural practices by sponsoring educational field days and by providing practical educational materials.
"We are very pleased with this new funding for the BIFS projects," said Janet C. "Jenny" Broome, SAREP associate director. "It will enable successful demonstration projects in several key commodities to increase their outreach to farmers throughout the state."
Fred Thomas of CERUS Consulting has been a participant in the management teams of both the dried plum and walnut BIFS projects since 1998.
"The Integrated Prune Farming Practices [dried plum BIFS] project has
been underway for more than five years," said Thomas. "The BIFS funding
and the support by the California Dried Plum Board and UC Cooperative Extension
have given us great results in reducing applications of dormant sprays, sulfur
and irrigations. The new Buy California program will go a long way toward promoting
the use of these integrated approaches by prune farmers."
For more information about SAREP's BIFS program, go to http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/bifs/. The site provides links to funded BIFS projects, a database of all SAREP funded projects, the BIFS Workgroup, collaborative research and extension activities, and BIFS-related Web sites and publications.
SAREP will also collaborate with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) on a project that will receive $100,000 from the Buy California Initiative-sponsored program. CAFF is the principal investigator for the project that is designed to help farmers use more effective produce distribution systems for farm-to-school programs. SAREP food systems analyst Gail Feenstra will be evaluating the effectiveness of the program, which will focus on farm-to-school programs in five California school districts/regions. In addition to helping CAFF personnel summarize best practices for farmers in a produce distribution manual, Feenstra will help document longer-term impacts of new distribution systems, including the economic potential for participating farmers.
Media Contacts:
Lyra Halprin, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu
