Incubator Land Management and Teaching Ecological Land Use

1. Incubator Land Management and Teaching Ecological Land Use NIFTI Webinar Series June 2, 2015 **This presentation was made possible by generous support from a WSARE PDP grant**

2. Content • I. ALBA Overview • II. Organic Farm Incubator • III. Land Management Practices • IV. Teaching Approach • V. Lessons Learned/Best Practices

3. I. Overview • 501(c)3 non-profit incorporated in 2001 • Mission to “advance economic viability, social equity and ecological land management among limited-resource and aspiring farmers”

4. Overview • Programs target Latino farm worker community (“farmworker to farmer”)

5. Overview • Programs target Latino farm worker community (“farmworker to farmer”) • 3 key programs/services to help participants establish farm businesses: • PEPA: 9-month, 300-hour intensive course (classroom and field) • Organic Farm Incubator: Up to 5 years, and 5+ acres • ALBA Organics: marketing, aggregation and distribution of participants produce (food hub)

6. II. Organic Farm Incubator • Benefits 40-50 farmers per year: • Subsidized access to land and equipment • Umbrella certifications, permits, licenses before obtaining independently • Free direct assistance • Part of learning hub/community • Option to market produce through ALBA Organics

7. Organic Farm Incubator Rural Development CenterTriple M Ranch 90 Acres, south of Salinas 60 Acres in Las Lomas

8. III. Land Management Practices • Cover crop benefits: • Feed the soil • Improve soil structure • Legumes fix nitrogen • Break disease and pest cycle • Habitat

9. Land Management Practices • Cover crop benefits: • Feed the soil • Improve soil structure • Legumes fix nitrogen • Break disease and pest cycle • Habitat • Erosion • Water infiltration • Weed control • Trap nitrogen • Increase yield!!

10. Land Management Practices • Cover crops (specifics): • ALBA requirement -> half of land to be planted in winter cover crop (Nov.) • Currently, using 60% common vetch and 40% ‘merced’ rye at a rate of 180-200lbs/acre • Planting steps: Crop disked in, broadcast with “belly broadcaster”, then lightly disked in (<2”) with 12-ft offset disk • Kill: cover crop mowed (Feb.) then disked in • Decompose cover crop residue over 2-4 weeks

11. Land Management Practices • Cover crop challenges: • Drought conditions

12. Land Management Practices • Cover crop challenges: • Drought conditions • Beginner error • Equipment limitations • Small non-contiguous plots • Farmer reluctance • Birds

13. Incubator Land Management

15. Incubator Land Management

16. Land Management Practices • Compost benefits: • Feed the soil • Improve soil structure • - Provide plant nutrition • Break disease and pest cycle • Increase yield!!

17. Land Management Practices • Compost (specifics): • ALBA requires compost at a rate of 5 tons/acre for land that is not cover cropped • - Find a good source! • - Meets food safety and organic certification standards • - High quality, manure-based • - Reasonable prices • - Field trips/transparency • - Business development with est. of charge accounts • Why not create own compost?

18. Land Management Practices Not easy -- expensive specialized equipment; volume of feedstock needed; regulations; staff, technical expertise and resources to manage properly!

19. Land Management Practices • Crop rotation benefits: • Provides diverse food to the soil • Improve soil structure • Legumes fix nitrogen • Break disease and pest cycle • Habitat • Increase yield!!

20. Land Management Practices • Crop Rotation (specifics): • Required that farmers rotate crops • Challenges: • Difficult to have a strict sequential rotation: • - 2.5 crops cycles per year (avg.) • - Farmer average 5-10+ different crops per year (< 1/10 ac. to > 5 + ac.) • - Move farmers every year to allow for business expansion • Basic strategies: • - Do not repeat crop families • - Avoid pitfalls (solanaceae before strawberries) • - Encourage what we know to be good (broccoli before strawberries) . . .

21. Incubator Land Management • Crop Rotation • Farmer policies require that that farmers rotate crops • Difficult to have a detailed planned rotation: • - 2.5 crops cycles per year (avg.) • - Farmer average 5-10+ different crops per year (< 1/10 ac. to > 5 ac.) • - Lots of strawberries (limited to half of farmer’s acreage, none first year) • - Move farmers every year to allow for business expansion • Basic strategies: • - Do not repeat crop families • - Avoid pitfalls (solanaceae before strawberries) • - Encourage what we know to be good

22. Land Management Practices • STRAWBERRIES

23. Incubator Land Management • Challenges: • - Capital intensive ($5-10k/ac to start)

24. Land Management Practices • STRAWBERRIES • Challenges: • - Capital intensive ($5-10k/ac to start) • - Extremely soil disease sensitive & hard on the land • vs. • - Farmers eager to plant ->higher volume than most veg crops; also higher net profit

25. Land Management Practices • Farmer policies specific to strawberries (specifics): • No strawberries first year • No more than ½ acreage • Compost before planting and cover crop after

26. Land Management • Managing multiple beginning farmers: • Divide ranch into blocks and minimum size parcels

27. Land Management • Managing multiple beginning farmers: • Divide ranch into blocks and minimum size parcels • Maintain 1st-year farmer cohort together on one block • Consolidate operations as much as possible • Give farmer chance to stay on same ground • Most valuable/sensitive crops drive land move/rotation process

28. Land Management • Managing multiple beginning farmers: • Divide ranch into blocks and minimum size parcels • Maintain 1st-year farmer cohort together on one block • Consolidate operations as much as possible • Give farmer chance to stay on same ground • Most valuable/sensitive crops drive land move/rotation process • Create farmer milestones to gauge performance

29. Incubator Land Management (cont.)

30. IV. Teaching Approach Resources: • USDA-ARS Salinas Valley OrganicCroppingSystems - Eric Brennan, PhD (OrganicResearchHorticulturalist) Covercrops, compost, alyssuminterplanting https://www.youtube.com/user/EricBrennanOrganic • Universityof California, Santa Cruz - CASFS - AnaerobicSoilDisinfestation (ASD) - Biological control (lygus, cabbageaphid) • Natural ResourcesConservationService (NRCS) - Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

31. Teaching Approach • Connectfarmerswiththemostrelevantresources, demonstrate and trial latestmethods and incorporateinto training model!

32. Lessons Learned/Best Practices IncubatorLand Management: • Startwiththebasics and refine thespecificsover time • Incoroporatelandmanagementintofarmerpolicies/lease • Seek local professionals and farmersforguidance • Developsystemfor tracking keylandmanagementacitivities • Notalwaysclearanswersforwhatis “sustainable”

33. Lessons Learned/Best Practices TeachingApproach: • Classroomeducationalonewillnever be enough • Includeexperiencedfarmers and agprofessionals as educators • Demonstrationsites/farms are valuable

34. THE END

35. THE END Nathan Harkleroad Outreach and EducationProgram Manager Tel. (831) 758-1469, x.11 E-mail: nathan@albafarmers.org