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  The Farmers Guild

​California Farmers Sign Pledge Calling for International Climate Action

6/13/2017

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All across California, farmers and ranchers are signing on to the Farmers Climate Pledge, a new public statement acknowledging the consequences that climate change is having on our farms and food system, while defending global efforts such as the Paris Agreement to curb these dangerous trends. Like similar pledges by city mayors, businesses and citizens across America, these family farmers are vowing to do their part to conserve energy and sequester carbon on the local and individual level, but also recognize that to truly confront our climate crisis, worldwide collective action is key. Read the full pledge here below.

Spread the word, check out who's signed on so far, and add your name here.

 
Evan Wiig,
CAFF / The Farmers Guild
CALIFORNIA FARMERS CLIMATE PLEDGE
 
As California farmers and ranchers, our livelihoods as well as the ability to feed America entirely depends on the climate. Working close to Nature, we are the first to notice shifts in weather. On our land and in our harvests, we bear the brunt of floods, drought and rising temperatures.
 
We are soil stewards who belong to a community beyond our own fields; we don’t plant for seasons but for generations. It’s with this legacy in mind that we pledge our support for the science, commitment and goals outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement.
 
We vow to continually improve our own on-farm practices to conserve energy and sequester carbon, but we also believe in the dire importance of a collective, worldwide commitment by all nations—including our own—to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target stated in the Paris Climate Agreement, all while building a cleaner, 21st century economy.
 
As members of the agricultural community, we are concerned by our president’s decision to pull America out of this agreement. We disagree with the current administration that this international accord will harm our economy without mitigating the climate crisis.
 
We ask that our leaders return America to its role as a collaborative, global leader in combating Climate Change. And in the meantime, we support state-based initiatives as well as citizen-funded programs—unbeholden to federal policy shifts—that recognize not only the dire consequences that inaction will have on our farms, ranches and food supply, but also the regenerative role that we farmers and ranchers can play in reversing these dangerous trends and restoring a healthy carbon cycle.
 
America depends on farmers. And farmers depend on the climate. Now is the time to act.
 
LEARN MORE OR SIGN THE PLEDGE HERE: www.farmersguild.org/climate-pledge
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CAFF & Farmers Guild Policy Update: April 25, 2017

4/26/2017

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In 2017 CAFF & The Farmers Guild is working with state agencies to make sure important recently-enacted laws, including the Healthy Soils Act and laws to promote compost, are effectively implemented. But the annual legislative process is inexorable, and it is now in full swing.  Here are some of the recently introduced bills we are working on this year on behalf of our members and broader community:


Water
 
SB 252 (Dodd) – CAFF was the first agricultural organization to support the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which gave local agencies up to seven years to prepare groundwater management plans that will prevent continued overdraft.   In the interim, there has been a rush of applications for new deep wells, often opening up new lands to groundwater irrigation and exacerbating overdraft problems.  SB 252 requires applicants for new wells in the 21 groundwater basins found by the Department of Water Resources to be “critically overdrafted” to make public key information about the well, such as its location, depth, and extraction rate.  CAFF Supports
 
AB 1420 (Aguiar-Curry) – CAFF has worked with North Coast farmers and water agencies to make it easier for farmers to store water in small ponds during high river flows in order to reduce dependence on streams during the dry summer months.  AB 1420 seeks to implement this concept statewide, by allowing increased water diversion during high stream flows for small domestic, irrigation and stock pond use, in exchange for reduced diversions during low stream flows.  CAFF Supports
 
AB 277 (Mathis) – California helps fund drinking water infrastructure improvements by offering grants and low-interest loans to local governments and water agencies, usually through state clean drinking water bonds.  But those programs do not include privately owned residences and small water systems with deficient wells, which is a growing problem, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley.  AB 277 would expand the State Drinking Water Revolving Fund to include grants and low-interest loans to improve water delivery systems for households and small water systems with less than 15 service connections.  AB 277 received bi-partisan support in policy committee but now faces fiscal scrutiny in the Appropriations Committee.  CAFF Supports   
 
Food
 
AB 822 (Caballero) – This Buy California-grown proposal would require all state-owned and state-run institutions, except public school districts, colleges and universities, to accept a bid for a food product when it is grown in California and does not exceed the lowest bid by an out-of-state producer by more than 5%.  When out-of-state bids are chosen, the 5% preference also applies to food products packed or processed in-state.  CAFF Supports
 
SB 782 (Skinner) – CAFF has been a state leader in creating Farm to School programs for two decades.  SB 782 would significantly expand the state’s support for Farm to School by requiring CDFA, with the Departments of Education and Public Health, to create a program to provide direct grants to school districts for the purchase of California-grown food products. CAFF strongly supports the concept, but seeks amendments to ensure the funds are most effectively used and locally-produced foods are emphasized.  CAFF Supports if Amended
 
AB 1219 (Eggman) – Food donations to the needy are undeniably worthwhile, and state law encourages donations by giving limited immunity from liability for organizations that make or receive such donations.  AB 1219 expands this concept by extending liability immunity to individuals who donate food and applying the immunity for businesses and organizations that donate directly to individual end-users.  CAFF Supports
 
Farmland and farmers
 
AB 18 (E. Garcia) and SB 5 (De Leon) – These bills are very similar and would place a $3 billion ($3.1 billion in AB 18) bond measure on the June 2018 ballot to improve drinking water, protect natural resources and habitat, fight drought and climate change, and ensure public access to parks and public lands.  Prior natural resources bond measures have included funding for the state Farmland Conservancy Program.  CAFF and its coalition partner CalCAN are seeking an amendment to include FCP funding.  CAFF Supports if Amended
 
AB 472 (Frazier) – In recent years the state has taken small steps to encourage farmers, when they fallow land as a result of a water transfer, to voluntarily retain a cover crop or leave natural cover for waterfowl and game bird nesting purposes.   But farmers still fear they will be penalized by the Dept. of Water Resources if they fail to remove vegetative cover.  AB 472 will require DWR to allow vegetative cover to remain on idled land unless it finds that other water users would be harmed; the bill also requires DWR to establish a financial incentive program to encourage landowners to voluntarily manage such lands for bird and wildlife habitat.
CAFF Supports
 
AB 1433 (Wood) – The state’s cap and trade program generates $1-$2 billion annually to fund the state’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. AB 1433 would create a new account in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, to protect and improve the resilience of natural and working lands, including farmland and rangeland, and to enhance habitat while reducing GHG emissions and increasing carbon sequestration.  AB 1433 is consistent with CAFF’s support for the Healthy Soils Initiative and other efforts to reduce climate change impacts through agricultural practices. CAFF Supports
 
AB 1348 (Aguiar-Curry) – Seeks to address the historical barriers faced by socially disadvantaged farmers in California, including ethnic minorities and women, by requiring CDFA to include socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers when the state develops, implements and enforces its food and agriculture laws.  Also requires the Secretary of Agriculture to create a position in the department’s executive office to support socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.  CAFF Supports 

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Connecting the Garden, Cafeteria and Classroom... What's next?

4/19/2017

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Two weeks ago, 340 California Farm to School and Garden practitioners gathered in Modesto for three days of field trips, workshops, inspiring keynotes, networking and food. Attendees represented all areas of farm to school, ranging from farmers, to food service professionals, garden educators, government employees, nonprofits and more.

Leading up to the conference, I was fortunate enough to have the job of connecting with so many of those involved. Whether I was reviewing workshop proposals, connecting with partners on social media or coordinating with the amazing CFSN regional leads, it was such a pleasure to get to connect with farm to school innovators from all around the state.

First up at the conference, I had the opportunity to attend the Elementary School Gardens Tour on Monday. Visiting Ceres Elementary was one of the highlights of the conference. Ms. Purdy, a 4th grade teacher and all around garden champion, left us with a renewed sense of excitement for the amazing impact that garden education could have on kids. Confident and inquisitive, Ms. Purdy's 4th graders made us green smoothies, performed a song about compost and presented their EcoExpert projects.

Another highlight was Helen Dombalis' opening keynote. It was exciting to hear first hand, how the National Farm to School Network is blazing the trail for statewide networks. Her discussion of national policy provided the perfect segue for Tracey Patterson and Amy Gilroy to discuss state and local policy.

And of course, I can't talk about the Farm to School & Garden Conference without mentioning the food. Thanks to local growers from the Central Valley, Turlock Unified Food Service Director, Scott Soiseth and staff, the Center for Ecoliteracy California Thursday's crew and Ag Link, each meal was a delicious example of how great school food can be! Another meal highlight was attending the dine-around Modesto regional dinners. In addition to the meal proving delicious, we were excited to support the local economy in Modesto while simultaneously getting to connect with peers and CFSN regional leads.

There is so much more to mention about the conference, including the fabulous workshops (which will be archived on the web
), but above all, I hope that you were able to form lasting connections with folks from your region and around the state. My biggest takeaway is how much opportunity we have to support one another's work through collaboration. As we transition CFSN to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Office of Farm to Fork, we anticipate that opportunities to collaborate and communicate will continue to grow. If you were able to attend the conference, I hope that you left with the same renewed sense of excitement as I did and have opportunities to carry this work forward.

- By Allie Hoffman, Program Manager at the Farmers Guild / CAFF
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2017 FARMERS GUILD / CAFF AWARDS: A YEAR OF RESILIENCE IN AG

3/31/2017

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After years of crippling drought, family farms throughout California withstood one of the wettest winters on record—storms, floods, an environment torn between extremes. Together with the scourges of an evermore globalized food system and the ever-rising cost of doing business as a small farm, to succeed today our food producers require above all one universal quality: resilience. And this year’s recipients of the Farmers Guild’s annual awards reveal beautifully the many diverse faces of resilience in pursuit of a more sustainable food system. Please welcome us in congratulating those who set an example for farmers and agricultural advocates alike:
NEW FARMER OF THE YEAR: Hunter Flynn & Isa Quiroz, Tequio Family Farm
 
“Tequio” is a Mexican concept which refers to collective work done by a community to benefit the place in which they live. From their start in 2015, Isa and Hunter of Tequio Community Farm in Willits, CA have stayed true to this. In just two years, they used their training in the Bio-Intensive method to establish a local business, moving beyond gardening to provide food for Mendocino County. On less than an acre, they supply year-round, fresh, seasonal produce using a method of farming that is human powered, sequesters carbon and engages neighbors in the art and science of small-scale, intensive food production. This past winter, a vicious storm destroyed their brand-new greenhouses, testing their resolve. But when the community they’d cultivated over the years came together in that aftermath to help Isa and Hunter rebuild, Tequio found a second wind. Today, their third season is off to an abundant start.

FOOD BUSINESS OF THE YEAR: FEED Sonoma, Tim Page
 
Perhaps no business of late has done more to sustain and invigorate the North Bay’s small-farm economy than FEED Sonoma. In a truly unique coupling of efficiency and cooperation, FEED Sonoma serves as the real-world conduit between nearly 60 family farms and dozens of restaurants, retailers and other food businesses throughout the Bay Area. The “wheels-on-the-ground”, Tim Page and his team of truck drivers and warehouse staff support farmers directly by offering a consistent market for their crops, capturing the surplus and communicating real value. FEED Sonoma focuses on the technical details of distribution so farmers can focus on farming. By collaborating with chefs, other food buyers and a community of North Bay growers, FEED plays a vital role in building a vibrant, sustainable and fair food system for all.

LEGACY FARMER OF THE YEAR: Maria Catalán, Catalan Family Farm
 
Maria came to America as a child from Guerrero, Mexico in the 1960s with her father and grandfather, working the fields. A lifetime in agriculture and a commitment to providing healthy food for her children and neighbors gave Maria the skills and motivation to become a true pioneer among Latina farmers, establishing the first CSA in Hollister, CA. Calatan Family Farms has since found success growing and selling organic produce throughout the Bay Area, including establishing a family restaurant that uses its kitchen to prepare farm-fresh salsas. Despite setbacks and the ongoing challenges of farming amid an erratic climate, Maria believes that with her five children—from 38 to 5 years old—and her 11 grandchildren, their farm will prosper. Today she works with a dozen small farms run by other Latinos, assisting with organic certification to promote farmworker health and financial sustainability.

FARM ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR: Suzi Grady, Petaluma Bounty
 
Suzi Grady rarely bothers with easy questions. Instead, you’ll find her at countless community meetings steering the conversation away from safe territory and towards uncertainty where the real challenges and the real opportunities await. Suzi takes two oftentimes disparate questions--how do we support small, ecologically-minded family farms and how do we create access to healthy, local food for all—and forces us to ask them in the same breath. For Suzy, sustainability requires inclusion. As Program Director of Petaluma Bounty, Suzi oversees an urban farm while organizing gleanings, affordable food incentive programs like Farmers’ Market LIFE, a sliding scale farm stand, food and farm literacy, and advocacy for policies and governmental services that promote community food security.

FARMERS GUILD LEADER OF THE YEAR: Laurel Greyson, San Diego Farmers Guild
 
With determination and an unstoppable drive for community, Laurel has taken the Farmers Guild phenomenon of Northern California and single-handedly rooted it into the soils down South. In less than a year, Laurel has galvanized her friends and local colleagues to form the San Diego Farmers Guild, a thriving hub promoting a new generation of agrarians. With creative meet-ups and new bridges between farmers young and old, urban and rural, eaters and growers alike, her energy has brought renewed life to an agricultural community facing urban development, rising land prices and a fast-aging population of farmers. Laurel and our newest outpost bring hope. We not only look forward to the addition of avocados and lemons to the Farmers Guild table, but also to a burgeoning new crop of innovative farmers representing our state’s southern reaches. 


​Every February, at the annual Farmers Guild-Raising & Agrarian Lovers Ball, our community recognizes Californians contributing to a stronger local food economy, promoting food justice and empowering a new generation of agrarians. Recipients are selected from countless nominations by people like you.
​
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CAFF and Farmers Guild Merge for United Voice for Family Farms

1/12/2017

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Big news! Today we’re excited to announce the merger of Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and the Farmers Guild. This merger allows us to combine efforts, membership and strengths to create one robust organization that provides a stronger, more united voice for family farms and sustainable agriculture throughout California. The youthful energy and grassroots organizing that has made the Farmers Guild a success enables CAFF to build bridges between an established generation of agriculture and a newer crop of farmers.

CAFF has been working with and advocating for California family farmers and sustainable agriculture for nearly 40 years. Through our initiatives, we provide increased access to and awareness around eating healthy and local while also strengthening family farms — the cornerstone of healthy and economically viable communities.

The Farmers Guild was founded five years ago and has seen dramatic community growth, particularly with new farmers. By encouraging, inspiring and celebrating the resilience of local agriculture, the Farmers Guild has quickly built a network of community alliances across Northern California. Now with 11 local guild chapters, including the recent addition of the first Southern California chapter in San Diego, the Farmers Guild has connected a large group of crop growers and ranchers through its events, social media and sharing of practical resources, from farmer to farmer and guild to guild. These local Guilds will continue after the merger with even more resources at their disposal.

The Farmers Guild-Raising event on February 18, will serve as the official public celebration of this merger. The event brings together farmers, ranchers and local food advocates who collectively share skills, explore hot topics in sustainable agriculture, and work to build a united voice on behalf of family farms. This year’s “Intergenerational Exchange” theme will showcase the cross-generational benefit of this collaboration, and the event will conclude with awards, presentations and a public commemoration at the Agrarian Lovers Ball. We hope you’ll join us there.
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Who Will Grow Our Munchies? Food Farming & Cannabis Legalization

12/8/2016

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The below column originally appeared in Sonoma West Times. While specific to Sonoma County, the questions and themes explored here are relevant to agricultural communities across California.

Quaint as our rural countryside may seem, the history of Sonoma County agriculture is that of constant and dynamic change.

Last week, local archaeologist Dr. Mara Vejby recounted our ever-shifting agrarian past to a full house at the Laguna Foundation—from General Vallejo’s first grape vines to the wine industry’s collapse under Prohibition to its resurgence in the past few decades. And of course the famed Gravenstein apple was nearly lost to history when global shipping rendered this more delicate, early harvest crop uncompetitive. Post-gold rush wheat fields lost out to Midwestern imports, once ubiquitous hops perished in a plague of downy mildew and Petaluma’s claim as the “Egg Basket of World” faltered when indoor factory farms rendered our poultry-perfect climate obsolete.

Some things we have little control over—disease, global markets, mechanization. But to say we are helpless in the face of forces larger than ourselves is to discount our community’s resilience and power to shape a landscape and economy that fits our values. The recently voter-renewed community separators, for instance, protects from the suburban sprawl now swallowing up much of the state’s countryside. Local regulations promote farmers’ markets, farm stands and other services that help smaller food producers stay viable, preventing the mono-cropping we see in our neighbor to the east. And grassroots campaigns by groups like Slow Food and Farm Trails have helped keep the Gravenstein apple, our local heirloom, from disappearing altogether.

So what’s next for Sonoma County agriculture? The answer is no secret. Because although it was absent from Dr. Vejby’s history lesson, the next big shift has been underway for quite some time. And now, with the passage of California’s Proposition 64 legalizing recreational cannabis, cultivators of this newest crop will finally emerge from the shadows to take their place alongside Sonoma County’s viticulturists, dairymen and orchardists as part of a long agricultural legacy.

The question now is not only what impact this new breed of farmer will have on our landscape and local economy, but also on the rest of agriculture.

Because while last year’s Crop Report lists $24,000 revenue per acre for vegetable production—high by state and national averages, this newer crop is estimated to pull in $8,500,000 per acre. Now, with cannabis legalization underway, no one believes that lofty number will remain so high. But even if prices plummet to a tenth of that, cannabis will still bring in nearly 35 times more than broccoli or arugula or even pinot noir.

Terry Garret, co-founder of the Go Local cooperative, has been following these numbers closely as well as any proposed regulations at the county level, asking what impact they’ll have on the local economy, in particular on farmers growing food. “If you want to grow 500 square feet of cannabis outdoors,” he points out, “you’ll need a minimum of two acres.” These proposed regulations, similar to those being explored in other counties, are meant to prevent overconcentration and oversized grows. Good intentioned, but that also means that inevitable “green-rush” growers will soon be competing for the same parcels of farmland sought after by food producers—while being forced to leave the majority of that land uncultivated. With the numbers as they are, even the most productive vegetable farmers will likely get outpriced.

But in the face of change, Garret, like creative solution-seekers before him, is seeking to enable the new industry without compromising others. This Friday, together with local food advocates and county planners, Garret will join a conversation to explore ideas such as incentivizing partnerships between cannabis and food farmers, allowing cannabis farmers to meet the proposed cultivation-to-land ratio requirements by sub-leasing the remaining land to food farmers—in other words, assuring we’re not forced to import our munchies because of local cannabis.

Will it work? Will those proposed regulations even be enacted? And will the local cannabis industry compete with other counties? Other states? Corporate producers? No one knows.

But whichever way the wind blows—and it will change direction, again and again—so long as we remain proactive, flexible and confident in our ability to shape the place we call home, I truly believe that Sonoma County can uphold what we hold dear. For me, that includes viable family farms growing healthy food for our community.

To learn more about this event, visit www.farmersguild.org/dec-9-cannabis-impact-on-food-farming

Evan Wiig is the Director of the Farmers Guild, a statewide organization promoting the next generation of sustainable agriculture headquartered in Sonoma County. Learn more at www.farmersguild.org
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Food, Farming & Your Vote

10/10/2016

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Amid this year’s peculiar political season, one critical topic has tragically evaded the national discourse: food and agriculture. But while absent from presidential debates, the topic of how and who sustains us has been the top priority for us at the Farmers Guild. That’s why last week we hosted a gathering to explore the policies and the politics shaping our food system, asking what impact they’ll have on local farmers and on our collective vision of a more just and sustainable way to feed our communities.
 
With the help of policy experts from the National Farmers Union (NFU), Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), California Climate Agriculture Network (CalCAN) and more, we took a look at policies both recently passed as well as those up for a vote next month. Below you’ll find brief overviews of these important issues. Notice anything missing? Want to share issues from your own local community? Let us know! Or post in the comments below.

Overall, the big takeaway from our gathering was this: if small-scale farmers, local food advocates and grassroots champions for sustainability don’t mobilize to help determine the laws that shape how our food system functions, then high-paid lobbyists of international food monopolies will be happy to do so on our behalf. And unsurprisingly, the results will favor corporate profits over the viability of family farms, the rights of farmworkers or the health of the average consumer.

NATIONAL:

Country of Origin Labeling (COOL)

Earlier this year, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the USDA will no longer enforce the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for beef and pork products after congress repealed COOL. That decision came as part of a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled Canada and Mexico could begin imposing more than $1 billion in tariffs on U.S. products to punish it for the harm the labeling requirements were doing to them. This means an end to the January 2009 and May 2013 country of origin labeling requirements on meat products, though the USDA will continue to subject all imported and domestic meat to rigorous food safety inspections, according to the Secretary. After fighting to keep the labeling requirement, Roger Johnson, president, National Farmers Union wrote, “Our producers have always known that they raise the best beef and pork in the world, and they believe consumers should be able to know where the meat at the grocery store came from. Last week, this decades-old policy fight may have come to an end.” LEARN MORE HERE.
Organic Check-Off Program
 
In May, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) submitted a revised proposal to the USDA to impose a special tax on organic farming. Called a “checkoff,” this tax would apply to all organic farmers, handlers of organic goods, and food processors with sales over a certain threshold. According to the proposal, money collected through the tax would be used for the promotion of organic products.
 
The OTA calls this program “a groundbreaking move for the nation’s organic sector… promoting the organic brand and organic production practices… designed to reflect the diverse needs of our organic community, from the smallest organic farmer to the largest organic farmer and all of the organic handlers, processors, and businesses in the chain.” But not all organic farmers are happy with the idea. A new coalition of farmer organizations has gathered to oppose the tax. Some farmers are concerned that the new tax will repeat a pattern seen in other commodity checkoff programs, in which funds intended for marketing and research are instead used largely or mainly to support the interest of large corporate producers. LEARN MORE HERE.

CALIFORNIA

​CA SEED EXCHANGE DEMOCRACY ACT
           
Last month, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the California Seed Exchange Democracy Act, an amendment to the California Seed Law. AB 1810, which was introduced by Assemblymember Marc Levine, exempts non-commercial seed sharing activities from industrial labeling, testing, and permitting requirements. This means that local seed libraries and seed sharing activities aren’t held to the same cost-prohibitive testing required of big, commercial seed enterprises. The law allows seed sharing and saving to continue on a local level. LEARN MORE HERE.
DAIRY METHANE REDUCTION

In August 2016, the legislature committed a total of $50 million dollars during FY 2016-17 for dairy methane reduction activities. SB 859 was passed and includes language stating that a diversity of dairy methane management practices can effectively reduce GHG emissions, including anaerobic digesters and non-digester strategies (e.g., pasture-based management, open solar drying and composting of manure, and solid separation technologies). LEARN MORE HERE.
FARMERS MARKET
 
AB 2324 would have let farmers keep the data on their sales at farmers markets rather than requiring farmers market operators to collect these data every day, however southern California Agricultural Commissioners wanted the markets to hold these data for enforcement purposes, and so this provision was amended out of the bill. The only signficant surviving part of the bill was the inclusion of raw sheared wool in the list of products that can be sold in the certified section of a farmers market.  As a result, the regulations associated with AB 1871 will force market operators to collect sales lists at the end of every market or face fines from CDFA. Farmers and farmers market operators will need to pay careful attention to the new AB 1871 regulations, as fines and enforcement will increase with the additional funds being provided to CDFA and the Agricultural Commissioners. LEARN MORE HERE.
FARMWORKER OVERTIME PAY
 
In September, CA Gov. Jerry Brown signed the new California overtime law, allowing farmworkers eventually to receive overtime pay after working an eight-hour day, or 40 hours in a week. Prior to the law being signed, farmworkers only made overtime when they worked more than 10 hours a day or 60 hours a week. The law will allow a phased transition to the new overtime hours up to 2022  (or 2025 for employers of fewer than 25 workers) when the eight-hour overtime threshold will be in effect. The first phase of the transition begins in 2019, when the daily threshold for overtime pay will drop to 9.5 hours. Each year, the daily threshold will drop by a half-hour until 2022. The weekly threshold will drop five hours every year from 2019 to 2022, at which point it will be 40 hours. The law institutes other requirements from which agriculture was exempt, such as the requirement that workers take a day off every week. LEARN MORE HERE.
HEALTHY SOILS INITIATIVE
 
At the end of the legislative session in August 2016, the legislature approved a cap-and-trade budget that included first-time funding to launch the Healthy Soils Initiative. This program will provide resources for farmers and ranchers to increase carbon stores in agricultural soils and reduce greenhouse gas emissions overall. In addition to the funding allocations, the Legislature passed SB 859, which includes key policy provisions for a number of new climate change programs, including the Healthy Soils Program. Language in SB 859 builds upon two prior bills SB 1350 and SB 367. LEARN MORE HERE
SWEEP: STATE WATER EFFICIENCY & ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM
 
In 2014, under an emergency drought declaration, Governor Brown authorized a new program called the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program(SWEEP). The money comes from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, raised from cap-and-trade allowance revenue. SWEEP is run by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to provide financial assistance to growers for on-farm improvements that both reduce GHG emissions and save water. LEARN MORE HERE.

LOCAL

SONOMA COUNTY:
 
MEASURE K: Community Separators Protection Ordinance
 
In order to preserve rural open space and agricultural land, maintain community identities, and prevent sprawl, the "Community Separators Protection Ordinance" would amend the Sonoma County General Plan to require voter approval of changes to the General Plan that increase the allowed density or intensity of development within Community Separators until December 31, 2036, and to repeal Ordinance 5145R.
 
 
MEASURE M: Sonoma County Transgenic Contamination Prevention Ordinance
 
The "Sonoma County Transgenic Contamination Prevention Ordinance" would 1) prohibit the propagation, cultivation, raising, or growing of genetically engineered organisms in the unincorporated County, as defined in the ordinance and excluding for use in medicine and controlled research; 2) require the Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner to enforce the ordinance by assessing a civil monetary penalty or pursuing an injunction against violators; and 3) provide for fines and fees for each violation.
 
 
VESCO: Grading, Drainage, Vineyard & Orchard Site Development
 
This department administers the Sonoma County Grading, Drainage, & Vineyard & Orchard Site Development Ordinance, also known as VESCO. Growers planting new vineyards, orchards or replanting existing vineyards or orchards are required to meet standards within the Sonoma County Code and comply with requirements including best management practices (BMPs) as established in the Agricultural Commissioner's BMP guidelines.
NAPA COUNTY:

Measure Z: Water, Parks and Open Space, Restoration and Prevention Measure

Water, Parks and Open Space, Restoration and Preservation Measure. To protect drinking water by preserving and restoring watersheds, rivers, creeks; protect natural open spaces and wildlife habitat; reduce wildfire risk; and maintain parks and trails; shall Napa County enact a 1/4 percent sales tax for the Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District raising an estimated eight million dollars annually for fourteen years with citizen oversight, annual audits, and funds that cannot be taken by the State? LEARN MORE HERE.

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Reflections on this Year's Farmers Olympics from AgShift

9/21/2016

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A convergence of farmers and food lovers brought us to the Farmer Olympics at the Petaluma Fairgrounds Last Saturday.  Amidst the buzz of excitement from the games like hale bale toss, vegetable relays, and T-post pounding, we chatted with attendees about the AgShift app and herbs (our game was having people guess with their nose what 6 different herbs were). For a food literate crowd, participants in our herb guessing game were surprised that they did not know some of the herbs we had to smell (rosemary, sage, oregano, marjoram, catnip,  and lemon verbena).

AgShift is a software platform designed to improve diversified farms’ profits and simplify compliance.  It’s hard to keep track of everything that happens on a diversified farm like, how much time it takes to do a certain task, how much money is being spent on supplies and labor, when you plant a crop, harvest it, etc. Notes about all these things often end up on soil-stained paper on a clipboard for me and sometimes, if I’m really on top of it, make their way into Excel spreadsheets and Quickbooks.

I’ve been helping the AgShift team over the last year hone in on what software solutions could help diversified farmers save time and money but also quantitatively analyze and understand what cropping sequence gives you the most bang for your buck.  The Agshift app features help farmers track farm expenses and income that then become data points that yield helpful insights into the true cost of production that in turn, help guide better decision-making that can help boost farm profits. 

Chatting with farmers and farmer support organizations about AgShift at this event was encouraging.  The farmers we chatted with could see value in using the AgShift app to help with improving farm profits and simplifying recordkeeping for tracking income and expenses but also aiding in compliance for organic certification and food safety. We had some good conversations with people at the Ecological Farming Conference table about how this app could be useful to growers as well as Sierra Harvest, an organization that trains beginning farmers on the efficacy of getting new farmers set up with business systems that can bolster financial success.  Several farms with produce stands at the Farmer Olympics are excited to give the app a try and are relieved to know that it can be used even without wireless connectivity.

The AgShift app will be ready for trials on September 26th.  If you are interested in trialing this free app, please get in touch.
 
Amy  Ridout

[email protected]

Photos from the Press Democrat's Sept 18 Article, 2016 Farmer Olympics
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Willing to Pay for Our Values? Overtime Pay and the Global Market

6/9/2016

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Of all the reasons we buy local food—from freshness to reduced greenhouse gas emission to preferring taste over shelf life—the most important may be this: the further our food travels, the less say we have in how it’s grown.

In our democracy, voters and those we elect decide what values to uphold in the production of goods, banning the contamination of rivers or requiring workplace safety. These standards reflect the will of the people. But our influence — our will — shrinks as we move beyond our own county’s borders, diminished further as we leave California.

And by the time melons have arrived from halfway around the world, only a trace of our values remain; you’ll not taste in that fruit the will of the people but rather the compromise of the global consumer.
​
When the values we express with our vote don’t match those we express with our dollar, the will of the people becomes untethered and our values hazy.

That was the argument last week, when a law to give California farmworkers the overtime pay provided to all other occupations was rejected by the state Assembly, opposed even by local democrats Marc Levine, Bill Dodd and Jim Wood. Led by the California Farm Bureau and other industry groups, the opposition argued that the law would hinder our state’s competitiveness in the global market of cheap food. The financial pinch, they said, would force large farmers to rely on part-time employees and small farmers to lay off workers or refrain from hiring altogether.

“We’re not price setters,” said Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Nicolaus), who comes from a farm family in Sutter County and voted against the bill. It’s an old saying among farmers, a resignation that food prices — like the weather — are simply beyond their control. We’re a nation of bargain hunters and there’s always someone willing to cut more corners, to pay less.

In last week’s impassioned Sacramento hearing, both opponents and proponents of the overtime bill recited bible verses aloud, each side recounting tragic stories of sympathetic characters: the farmworker sweating for 10 hours in 100-degree heat or the fifth generation family farmer who fears having to sell his land because he can’t compete with imports picked by workers who make in one day what he pays workers for one hour. In today’s free market economy, both stories are not only true but they are the very fuel of our current system: endless growth and a race to the bottom.

The will of the people exists to keep that system in check. Or at least it should. But when our melons come from Mexico and our shoes from Indonesia, what occurs is a bifurcation of ourselves as consumers on one side and citizens on the other. We in might feel virtuous by enacting local laws improving the livelihoods of textile workers, but that industry left long ago. Escaping the will of citizens, textile mills sought out third world countries with fewer wage requirements, environmental protections and other such burdens. But they did so not out of malice, but simply to appease the will of consumers.

So if we can feel righteous in a voting booth sporting foreign sweatshop fashion, can we also pat ourselves on the back for supporting farmworker rights while savoring a melon that we bought out of season for half the price at the convenience of a grocery store that’s open 24 hours a day?

Given our current system, questions like this make policymakers like Levine, Wood and Dodd feel as if they must choose between farmworker rights and the agricultural industry at large, all while pitting unions against California farm owners.

Buying local disables this vicious cycle of hypocrisy to a certain degree by letting us purchase within the values determined by the will of citizens. Buying from farms you know allows you to purchase within your own personal values. But for everything else, from shoes to bananas to your cellphone, we need wholesale system reform so that the false choice between the businesses we rely on and the workers on which they rely no longer exists. From international trade agreements to the deregulation of the past several decades, politics as usual will only continue to produce more and more false choices.

But while we fight for that wider reform, we should also set for it an example: a local economy willing to pay for its own virtues. Put your money where your vote is. Support the standards you set for your farmer. Eat local.


Evan Wiig is the Executive Director of the Farmers Guild. 


This column originally appeared in Sonoma West Times & News

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Cultivating Successful Farmers: Journey Maps for New Farmers

5/31/2016

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There's a laundry list of statistics coming out of the USDA that sow the seeds of a rotten future for small farmers in the United States. 2 statistics in particular -- 1) the average age of a farmer in 2007 was 57; and 2) 50% of small farmers fail within the first 5 years of business --  critically threaten the future of our food system. As the “average” farmer begins to looks towards retirement, we risk losing generations of agricultural production knowledge and with that, the potential to build off of the successes that they have cultivated and continue working towards a sustainable food system. We need to support beginning farmers by increasing the success rate of their business and help them realize their vision of building a more sustainable food system.
 
The FEED Collaborative, which sits between the Stanford University’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences and the Institute of Design (commonly known as the d.School) is trying to understand how to better understand what factors might lead farmers (especially smaller, sustainable, diversified ones) to be successful.  Early last year, FEED partnered with Kitchen Table Advisors (KTA), to create a tool we call “Journey Maps”, which capture inflection points and key stories that define “successful” farmers’ careers in the Bay Area. KTA has found these maps to be incredibly useful, showing them as examples of possible farm goals, guides for thinking about goal-making and decision-making and benchmarking among other things. Throughout the process of interviewing these farmers and capturing their stories, we’ve noticed that there seems to be a barrier of information exchange between new and established farmers.  As seen by the low success rate, the lack of information sharing between these two populations is critically threatening not only the livelihood of individuals, but of the small, organic agricultural food system at large.
 
When we discovered that beginning farmers were not asking for advice from more experienced farmers, we wanted to know why. We uncovered a significant tension: despite the many overlaps in operation/production methods and challenges between farms, beginning farmers feel their situation is “too unique” to take advice from experienced farmers. Their values and the motivations—rather than location and production methods -- seem to be the primary way that beginning farmers determine whether or not advice is relevant to them. This is particularly interesting despite the fact that academic literature shows that getting advice from a community network (mostly other experienced farmers) is a major indicator of a small farm being able to survive in the long term, and that collaboration between farms increases overall farm success in a given geography. So - how might we overcome this perception barrier between beginning and established farmers to help beginning farmers stay in business? The urgency of the situation is amplified when you consider one of the solutions could lie in another question: how might we capture the knowledge and experience of established farmers so it doesn’t age-out of the system and get lost?

Drawing on data from the literature and our own experiences in the field, we developed 10 different priorities that represent motivations and mindsets of small, organic, and diversified farmers. We thought that if farmers had a way to talk about what they valued, then stories to help improve production and product could be more readily shared.

At the Farmer’s Guild we asked each farmer to rank how critical different factors were to the success of their farm (see attached PDF). We then had each farmer walk to a part of the room that had a banner headlining each priority or factor (attached PDF). When the 40+ participants -- ranging in age and kinds of operation -- shuffled to their respective corners, interesting patterns emerged. 
Starting with participant’s top-ranked priority, the majority of young farmers congregated around “quality of lifestyle” and “land stewardship” (land stewardship was also most popular with non-farmer participants, like those from non-profit food related organizations) and the small pocket of more experienced farmers gathered around priorities like “operation production and efficiency” and “quality of product.”
 
One farmer told us that to her, lifestyle means being emotionally and physically fulfilled by her job. Another young woman that we spoke with remarked that she was training to be a farmer because she wanted to work outdoors and didn’t want to “deal with people”. Of the 23 respondents, there was only one farmer who described the priority “quality of life” to mean creating a sustainable and economically viable business. Experienced farmers, on the other hand, shared conversations around production strategies and new techniques that they were going to employ to their operation this year. One farmer even shared with us his surprise that despite his family farm operating for 116 years, he had yet to be approached for advice by a beginning farmer.
 
The demographic divide illustrated a salient point: beginning farmers are conflating their personal and professional goals, while successful farmers have clearly defined that their success depends on the viability of their business. While it is not altogether surprising that different demographics have different visions of success, our interviews with “successful” farmers helped us understand the reality of the paradigm that these beginning farmers are operating within and why it’s critical to change beginning farmers mindsets to value business as a critical component of their success. Jim Cochran of Swanton Berry Farms, for example, has been in business for over 20 years. When we interviewed him he reflected on his career from the standpoint of his financial history and decisions. To him, developing financial acumen was the key to help him create the change that he wanted to see in the world. Without developing financial and business acumen, he admittedly would not have been able to realize his greater vision of being the first organic farm to give his employees the opportunity to unionize.
 
What we gleaned from these interviews, the literature, and the data collected from the Farmers Guild is just how critical it is complement beginning farmers passion for sustainable living with a robust suite of professional skills, that those skills are as important a tool as a functional tractor or a strong back to realizing success of any kind. Though it is important to recognize why you go into farming -- lifestyle, quality of product, working outside-- it is equally, if not more important to be willing to develop all the skills needed to help you create a thriving and successful farm business.
 
We are working to understand how a collaborative farming network can help to build those skills and so, it would be really helpful if you, dear farmer, took our survey -- the more information that we have, the more that we can continue building towards a food system that we believe in.
 

Sarah McCurdy
FEED Collaborative
​

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