From the Director

Partnerships and Sustainability: Models for the Future

These are not easy times for agriculture in California. We are confronting continued falling prices (in some cases, record 30-year lows) for many of our mainstay field and orchard commodities, increased global competition and dumping of agricultural commodities, and ever-increasing demands on agricultural resources by a growing urban population. In these difficult times, the concept of sustainable agriculture, in the broadest sense, asks important questions: What is agriculture’s role in our economy and society, and how should it function in shaping the future of our state? What human partnerships will be required to shape a sustainable future for California agriculture? Why is the success of California agriculture one of the most important environmental issues of the 21st century?

These questions and potential answers were discussed for two days this spring in Woodland by over 230 participants at the SAREP co-sponsored conference: “Partnerships for Sustaining California Agriculture: Profit, Environment, and Community.” The proceedings of this conference will be available in early December. Conference sponsors included: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (Region 9), California Department of Pesticide Regulation, California Department of Food and Agriculture, USDA Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, 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.

The conference program highlighted innovations in agricultural production, research and extension activities involving practices that are profitable as well as environmentally friendly. Speakers, panel discussions, and workshops focused on efforts to implement “win-win” strategies that merge agricultural and environmental concerns. Twenty percent of conference participants were farmers and ranchers, and panelists in commodity-specific sessions 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 Neil 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. Audio files of the keynote speeches are now available at the SAREP Web site (www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/events/).

The main goal of the conference was to increase support for 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.

One farmer wrote in an evaluation: “The conference helped me see that you can reduce pesticides and other ag chemicals and still make a profit; that by building local relationships in my community I can market locally; and that by getting together with other people, I can take heart in the possibilities for the future.”

I cannot provide a more clear statement of the goals of sustainable agriculture emerging from the partnership model, and I wish to again thank all the conference partners and participants.

Workgroups funded

SAREP-supported proposals for two UC DANR issue-oriented workgroups have received additional funds or been funded for planning efforts. The Biologically Integrated Farming Systems Workgroup has received additional funding from the UC DANR Program Council, according to Lanny Lund, DANR assistant vice president-programs. The Organic Farming Research Workgroup was not ratified at this time, but was allocated funds to begin planning. More than 94 UC farm advisors, specialists and departmental faculty, in addition to government and public representatives joined with me and SAREP associate director Jenny Broome in writing these proposals to secure funding for the workgroups for the next two years. The BIFS Workgroup met Aug. 16 and will be facilitating the development of Access databases for project management, a statistics workshop for non-traditional experimental designs, and project impact assessment activities. The Organic Farming Research Workgroup planning meeting is scheduled Nov. 1 in Davis, where new research information, funding initiatives, upcoming conferences, and potential partnerships will be featured. DANR workgroups are an important forum for interaction and creation of new, issue-oriented projects and partnerships. Please contact us via email if you would like to be added to the workgroup listserves.— Sean L. Swezey, director, University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.