Resources

New Report Highlights SAREP Work 1995-1997

UC SAREP, now in its eleventh year, highlights the last two years of program work in UC SAREP Biennial Report: 1995-1997. Since 1987, SAREP has awarded more than $3.5 million to approximately 260 basic and applied research projects, community development and public policy projects, seminars, field demonstrations and graduate student awards.

"The greatest successes in the first years of the program were in working with systems-based projects that helped identify how agricultural systems worked and showed how their component parts were connected. Our new Biennial Report shows that the most successful recent projects in both production agriculture and community and public policy areas have been community-based," says Bill Liebhardt, SAREP director.

Premier examples of collaborative work in production agriculture detailed in the Biennial Report are the Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems (BIOS) and Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) projects. These voluntary team-management approaches to helping farmers solve orchard and farming systems challenges include farmers, UC farm advisors and researchers, independent pest control advisors, and industry representatives.

SAREP projects aimed at community food systems, regional "food sheds" and similar concepts have brought momentum to economic and public policy issues affecting sustainable agriculture. Some of the pivotal projects in this area are also community-based and highly collaborative. An outstanding example included in the Biennial Report is the PlacerGROWN Agricultural Marketing project in Placer County.

The Biennial Report also includes summaries of SAREP-funded projects that are both production-oriented and intrinsically tied to community sustainability issues, including a project seeking to improve the health of the Tulelake ecosystem while maintaining viable agriculture critical to the region's economy.

A limited number of printed copies of UC SAREP Biennial Report: 1995- 1997 are available free from the SAREP office. Contact the office at SAREP, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616-8716; Tel: (530) 752-7556; email: sarep@ucdavis.edu The report will be available on SAREP's World Wide Web site at: http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/

Print Publications from SAREP

• Community Food Systems in California: Profiles of 13 Collaborations, edited by Gail Feenstra, UC SAREP, and David Campbell, California Communities Program, UC Davis, 45 pages, 1998. California is a leader in both large-scale agricultural interests which feature global marketing, and small-to-medium scale farms which rely on diversification and direct marketing and a reconnection of agriculture and community. This publication profiles 13 of the growing number of local community food system initiatives that have developed in California in the last few years. The publication aims to provide basic information that can assist individuals or groups interested in starting similar projects in their regions, including Cooperative Extension advisors, community development practitioners, nutrition, youth and public health professionals, economic development planners, church personnel, academics and others. The organizations profiled have well-developed roots in a geographically distinct community, a holistic and comprehensive approach to addressing goals, and the cooperation of multiple organizations and individuals. They address several of the following goals: community food security (access to a nutritious, affordable diet), sustaining family farms using production practices that are less chemical- and energy-intensive; promoting direct marketing; community economic development; farm labor equity; and farmland protection. Ordering information.

• How to Find Agricultural Information on the Internet, by Mark Campidonica, edited by Jill Shore Auburn, UC SAREP, published by UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Communication Services, Publication No. 3387, 100 pages, 1997. This useful manual is designed for farmers, ranchers, gardeners, extension agents, consultants, and scientists who want to get results using the Internet. Aimed at both Internet beginners and intermediate users, the publication explains how to: choose an Internet provider; send and receive electronic mail; get answers from email discussion groups; search the World Wide Web for practical information; and copy information from the Internet for individual use. It includes real-life examples of how farmers and marketers have used email and the Web to answer questions, do research and improve their bottom line. A graphic Web sampler and other illustrations provide links to useful sites. Ordering information.

• Community Food Systems: Sustaining Farms and People in the Emerging Economy, conference proceedings, edited by Gail Feenstra, UC SAREP, David Campbell, UC Davis California Communities Program, and David Chaney, UC SAREP, 120 pages, 1997. The Community Food Systems Conference at the University of California, Davis in October 1996 was an opportunity to bring together leaders from many innovative community food system projects around the state, including SAREP-funded projects. The conference provided the occasion to articulate the role community food systems have in the midst of the global economy. The proceedings include speeches by national speakers who attested to the wide variety of collaborative efforts underway to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies; panel discussions and workshops about California projects; and keynote presentations which explored how these local projects relate to the broader challenge of building healthy communities, a more vital democracy, and a civil society.Ordering information.

• Sustainable Farming Systems: A Guide to the Transition, by Ann D. Mayse, UC SAREP, 84 pages, 1997. Aimed at California farmers, this book on the transition to more sustainable farming systems presents ideas on subjects ranging from soil quality and pest management to farm design and the economic impacts of changing production practices. It focuses on the impact of management decisions at the farm level, and includes many references. Twelve California farmers representing a wide range of farming operations from throughout the state contributed ideas to the book in extensive interviews, and numerous other farmers, consultants, farm advisors and researchers supplied information. Ordering information.

Other Print Publications

Organic Citrus Studies
Production Practices and Sample Costs for Fresh Market Organic Valencia Oranges, South Coast 1997, 27 pages; Production Practices and Sample Costs for Fresh Market Organic Lemons, South Coast 1997, 27 pages, by Karen Klonsky and Laura Tourte (contributing authors: Nicholas Sakovich, Chuck Ingels, and Etaferahu Takele, UC Cooperative Extension, and Pete Livingston, UC Davis). These new organic cost-of-production studies are available from UC Cooperative Extension. They include information on production and processing practices, cover crop management, pest management, risk and marketing, state and federal regulations, sample cost and return estimates, and enterprise budgets. Other organic cost-of-production studies are available for cotton, apples, coastal vegetables, almonds, wine grapes, rice and walnuts. For copies of any of the cost studies, contact Laura Tourte, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; Tel: (530) 752-9376; Fax: (530 752-5614) or email: tourte@primal.ucdavis.edu. The publications are also available in selected UC Cooperative Extension offices.

Sustainable Ag Reference
Future Horizons: Recent Literature in Sustainable Agriculture [Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture: Volume 6], edited by Gabriel Hegyes and Charles Francis, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 222 pages, September 1997. This compilation of material is designed to fulfill three goals: be an anthology of reviews familiarizing the reader with some of the authors, topics and titles that make up the last ten years of sustainable agriculture literature; serve as an annotated bibliography supplemented with essays; and, primarily, serve as a language text, exposing the user to the semantics, symbols and syntax of sustainable agriculture. To order the $10 volume, contact Center for Sustainable Agricultural systems, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 225 Keim Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0949; Tel: (402) 472-2056; Fax: (402) 472-4104; email: csas003@unlvm.unl.edu

Small Farm Handbook
Rebirth of the Small Family Farm: A Handbook for Starting a Successful Organic Farm Based on the Community Supported Agriculture Concept, by Bob and Bonnie Gregson, published by IMF Associates, 64 pages, 1996. Washington State farmers Bob and Bonnie Gregson have written this book to inspire others to do what they've done: make a successful living on two acres on which they produce more than 60 crops organically integrated with livestock. They wrote their book "from the perspective of two people working together to make a reasonable, community-oriented living on a very small farm, in the fervent hopethat many thousands of these 2-10 acre farms will pop up and be successful all over the countrywith many fewer trials and errors than we experienced!" Available for $9.95 (plus $0.70 tax for Washington State residents) from IMF Associates, Box 2542, Vashon Island, WA 98070 (includes postage). Bulk discounts available.

Tools and Sustainability
Steel in the Field: A Farmer's Guide to Weed Management Tools, published by the USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), 128 pages, September 1997. This publication shows how today's implements and techniques can handle weeds while reducing or eliminating herbicides. It presents what farmers and researchers have learned in the last 20 years about cutting weed-control costs through improved cultivation tools, cover crops and new cropping rotations. It combines farmer accounts, university research and commercial agricultural engineering expertise on the topics of complying with erosion-prevention plans, remaining profitable, and managing residue and moisture loss. Twenty-two farmer interviews are included. To order the $18 book, send a check or purchase order to Sustainable Agriculture Publications, Hills Building, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405-0082, including mailing address, daytime phone number, and the reference number MP091197. For information on rush orders, international orders or bulk discounts, call (802) 656-0471.

Farmers' Market Sales
Dynamic Farmers' Marketing: A Guide to Selling Your Farmers' Market Products, by Jeff W. Ishee, Bittersweet Farmstead, 148 pages, 1997. One of the only books available dedicated to the sole topic of selling farm products via the local farmers' market. Includes information about vendors' successes and the efficient organization of a public farmers' market, interviews with sellers, an appendix of sample market rules and sample news releases from the Shenandoah Valley farmers' market. "I hope this effort can facilitate the survival of a few more small family farms by their becoming more profitable via the local farmers' market. That is really important to me," Ishee writes. To order a copy ($14.95 plus $2.50 shipping and handling), contact Bittersweet Farmstead, PO Box 52, Middlebrook, VA 24459; Tel: (540) 886-8477; email: ish-bittersweet@juno.com