Organic Farmer - December/January 2020

December/January 2020 The Science Behind Regenerative Farming Boron for Growing Organic Crops Transitioning to Certified Organic Production Pests in Hemp

Volume 3: Issue 6

(Photo courtesy R. Dufour, NCAT.)

Dear Reader, I am grateful for another successful year of reporting tree nut news to you. For nearly a decade, West Coast Nut magazine has been sent to your farm. With a humble beginning of 3,500 subscribers, West Coast Nut magazine has become the thought leader in connecting news, research, and innovative articles to help tree nut growers farm more effectively. Thank you for allowing West Coast Nut to take part in making a difference in our industry.

Over the last decade West Coast Nut has anchored and paved the way for many other ag-related ventures. JCS Marketing offers two other publications, Organic Farmer and Progressive Crop Consultant Magazines, as well as monthly newsletters, virtual events, live events, podcasts, videos, and more.

Today, JCS Marketing reaches over 38,000 subscribers.

It is truly a privilege to help so many farmers throughout the West Coast. If you have not had the opportunity to read about innovations in the industry that we are covering, I would encourage you to visit our website at wcngg.com to learn more about the great information you are currently missing out on. And update your subscriber information including an email so can provide you with all the important news we send out.

JCS Marketing’s future is bright as we continue to innovate and lead the pack with new opportunities year in and year out. We continue to expand our digital footprint, events, and offer endless opportunities to expand your knowledge about farming in California. Our publications offer the biggest variety of content that is relevant to growing your crops. JCS Marketing assists thousands of agribusinesses grow in revenue and sales with more effective farming practices. Thank you for being part of the growth.

The holidays are a time to reflect on all the great things that have happened to us throughout the year.

This year I would like to extend my gratitude to my family, my work family, and our industry. Though this year has been a tough and trying year with the pandemic, political, and economic challenges, I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of agriculture and what we do for the world. Like many of you, I look forward to life returning to a sense of normalcy. But in the meantime, I continue to reflect on the things in life that I have taken for granted and miss so much, like a good old-fashioned live ag trade show.

I personally would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I look forward to a brighter 2021.

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PUBLISHER: Jason Scott Email: jason@jcsmarketinginc.com EDITOR: Marni Katz ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Cecilia Parsons Email: article@jcsmarketinginc.com PRODUCTION: design@jcsmarketinginc.com Phone: 559.352.4456 Fax: 559.472.3113 Web: www.organicfarmingmag.com

IN THIS ISSUE 4

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & INDUSTRY SUPPORT

The Science Behind Regenerative Farming

4 10

Boron for Growing Organic Crops

Taylor Chalstrom

Editorial Assistant Intern

Danita Cahill

Contributing Writer

Rex Dufour

NCAT/ATTRA

18

Considerations When Thinking About Transitioning to Certified Organic Production

Neal Kinsey

Kinsey Agricultural Services

Sarah Light

24

UCCE Agronomy Advisor, Sutter, Yuba, and Colusa Counties

Pests in Hemp

Steve Elliott UC ANR

28

32

36

Creating the Optimum Compost

24

UC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION ADVISORY BOARD Surendra Dara UCCE Entomology and Biologicals Advisor, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties

Growing Organic Vegetables with Dry-Farming Practices

Kevin Day County Director/UCCE Pomology Farm Advisor, Tulare/Kings Counties Elizabeth Fichtner UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County

Putting the Winter Back in Winter Squash

Katherine Jarvis-Shean UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Kern County

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Organics Continue to Make Gains in California

28 December/January 2020

Steven Koike Tri-Cal Diagnostics Jhalendra Rijal UCCE Integrated Pest Management Advisor, Stanislaus County Kris Tollerup UCCE Integrated Pest Management Advisor, Parlier Mohammad Yaghmour UCCE Area Orchard Systems Advisor, Kern County

The articles, research, industry updates, company profiles, and advertisements in this publication are the professional opinions of writers and advertisers. Organic Farmer does not assume any responsibility for the opinions given in the publication.

www.organicfarmermag.com

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The Science Behind Regenerative Farming Soil Health and Biodiversity Come First, Yield and Profit Will Follow

BY DANITA CAHILL, Contributing Writer

I

t’s cutting-edge science although “The problem was they were trying so climate-smart, regenerative agrihard to isolate particular components cultural practices on farms and in that it was misrepresenting what was orchards are not new. Community really going on,” Lundgren said. “When Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) the farmers changed one aspect of the has been working with regenerative orsystem, they’d have to alter everything chards since the 1990s. But now farmers else in their system. You lose what is aren’t the only ones paying attention to special about a farm. So, this whole idea the regenerative ag movement – scienof how to study regenerative agricultists are also taking notice and diving ture presented unique challenges from in, including researchers at the Ecdysis a scientific perspective.”

Foundation (EF).

The researchers realized they needed “Regenerative agriculture farmers are to consider all the aspects working toway ahead of the science,” said Dr. gether to create a functional farm. That Jonathan Lundgren of the EF. “So the meant looking at everything from soil science is trying to catch up.” chemistry and soil/water relationships to nutrient density and the economics The EF is based out of South Dakota, of the system. It also meant looking at but has projects from Saskatchewan to life on the farms – from the microbial Kansas, into the southeastern U.S. and communities within the soil to the down into California. Besides orchards, insects and plants. The experiments the foundation focuses on food sysalso needed to be done at scale. Plots of tems such as pastured dairy, perennial three feet by ten feet on a research farm and annual crops, rangeland and honey didn’t react the same way as acreage did bees. on a full-scale working farm. Experiential knowledge was also something that Research Challenges couldn’t be duplicated by researchers The EF started working in regenerative new to the field. ag with corn crops in the upper Midwest. The farmers and ranchers were “A scientist can step in and say, ‘do this, happy to cooperate with the researchthis and this, and then you’re going to ers, but ultimately that initial study was be a regenerative farmer.’ But knitting a failure. all those aspects together into a regenerative farm requires farming experience,” said Lundgren.

Studying regenerative farming and encouraging the practice is important for our future. “We’re talking about offsetting carbon emissions with our food system,” Lundgren said. “Regenerative farming practices hold tremendous potential for solving so many of these planetary-scale problems that we’re facing as a society. These include reducing water stress on landscapes and promoting biodiversity conservation during one of the worst mass extinction events the planet has ever faced.” He added that regenerative ag also increases farm resilience and produces healthier food, which in turn produces healthier people.

Regenerative vs Conventional

To succeed as a regenerative farmer takes a paradigm shift. Instead of focusing first on yield and profit, regenerative farmers shift their focus to soil health and biodiversity. The yield and profits follow.

There are many ways to create a regenerative farm instead of a conventional farm, but most, if not all, regenerative farms practice the following four methods: No tillage. Stop tilling completely, or reduce it to maintain living roots.

Continued on Page 6 Continued on Page 4

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Continued from Page 4 Never leave bare soil. Plant cover crops, or depend on native or resident plants to act as natural cover crops.

Plant diversity. Some is better than none; more is better than less.

Integrate crops and livestock. Carefully introduce and manage livestock such as sheep, cattle or chickens onto cropland or into orchards at specific times of the season, but not within 120 days of harvest.

Research assistant Ali Mohammedsabri uses an aspirator and a quadrat to sample for invertebrates (all photos by T. Fenster.)

Research assistant Hilary Vanderheiden takes a bulk density sample.

While all of the above practices have proved helpful to regenerative farmers, “Until we apply science, though, these become very anecdotal,” Lundgren said. “Well, this works for this farm, but it might not work for this one sort of thing.”

That’s where researcher Tommy Fenster of the EF and the Departments of Biology and Earth and Environmental Science at CSU East Bay come in. Fenster did a comparison between regenerative and conventional almond orchards. His study looked at everything from farmer design systems, to soil nutrients and microbial communities, up through yield and profitability of the farm to see how all the pieces connected.

Questions that Fenster wanted answered included: Are regenerative farms increasing biodiversity? Are these practices providing pest control? Are they creating real profitable and successful business models? Do regenerative management practices reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides while adding value to an orchard?

To start the study, the researchers found regenerative farmers growing almonds, and did field assessments of their practices. They scored the orchards on the practices they used, things such as introducing livestock and using propane flamers to control the vegetation strip between trees.

Fenster settled on eight regenerative almond orchards and eight conven-

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tional almond orchards, pairing one of At harvest time, researchers assessed aleach within a 10-mile radius in similar monds for pest damage. Damage from soil type and growing the same almond navel orangeworm was the same. variety. The farms were located north of Chico down through Merced Coun“Both the regenerative and conventional ty. The average age of the regenerative farmers did a pretty good job of conorchards was 17 years. Average age of trolling pest damage,” Fenster said. conventional orchards was 13 years.

Fenster found that regenerative farms were more likely to have 12 centimeters of ground cover compared to 2 cm on conventional farms.

The Profit Factor

Researchers also looked at the nutrient density of nuts, yield per acre and profitability. They found little or no difference in yield between both of the farming systems. Profitability was about twice as high for regenerative growers.

“That ground cover helps protect the soil even during dry summers,” he said.

“Water doesn’t penetrate as well into the soil without ground cover or mulch.”

“There’s really no difference in operating costs. There’s actually potential for Some of the things the study compared the regenerative orchards to decrease were soil nutrients, soil carbon and operating costs,” Fenster noted. “Innitrogen, soil organic matter, water creased revenue came from a higher infiltration and bulk density, microbial value placed upon the almonds.” diversity and biomass, ground-level invertebrate biomass, diversity and pest management services.

Regenerative farms scored significantly higher soil health index scores. Those farms had higher amounts of organic matter, organic nitrogen, carbon, calcium and total phosphorus. Conventional farm soil had a slightly higher aluminum content.

Getting the key nutrients to the trees without the use of synthetics proved doable. “And in some cases these key nutrients were actually higher,” Fenster said.

There was easier root penetration on the regenerative farms and better water infiltration, 10 minutes for infiltration compared to 64 minutes in one test after a heavy rain event. Bulk density is lower in conventional orchards; conventional orchards had 41 metric tons of total soil carbon per hectare, compared to 54 metric tons per hectare in regenerative.

Continued on Page 8

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Continued from Page 7

"

The difference in the carbon amount was in the very top layers of soil.

“It shows the fragility of where this carbon is at,” Fenster said.

"

—Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, Ecdysis Foundation

Microbial biomass was higher in regenerative farms, including mycorrhizal fungi mass.

“These are really key for getting nutrients to trees,” he added.

Regenerative orchards showed six times the biomass of ground-level invertebrates and higher biodiversity.

“Regenerative orchards are supporting a more robust and diverse invertebrate community.”

Regenerative Farming Key Takeaways

Maintaining ground cover on orchard floors is the most important practice for building soil carbon, but only functions within a complete regenerative system.

Regenerative orchards slowly gain total soil carbon (TSC). Conventional orchards slowly lose it.

There’s a significant correlation between increasing invertebrate and arthropod biodiversity and TSC in top soil layers. A robust and diverse population of the little creatures plays an important role in breaking down the plant matter into soil carbon.

Increasing invertebrate biodiversity correlated to reduced pest damage.

There was a definite link between TSC and invertebrate diversity with profitability.

Research assistants Chris Bradley, Ali Mohammedsabri and Hilary Vanderheiden prepare to sample for ground-level invertebrates.

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Boron for

GROWING Organic Crops Both Soils and Crops Need Adequate Boron to Balance Nutrient Utilization

BY NEAL KINSEY, Kinsey Agricultural Services

T

he previous article provided the first in a series to be published in Organic Farmer on both soil needs and plant response for trace elements or micronutrients.

More often than not, the soils we receive to be analyzed for growing all types of crops are deficient in several micronutrients, but the one that requires constant vigilance to assure the greatest success is boron. Like nitrogen and sulfur, boron can be leached from the soil. So, just as is true concerning sulfur, farmers and growers should test for boron content in the soil and generally expect it to be required to correct soil needs accordingly from year to year.

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Although it should be, boron is not usually considered as a necessary addition for growing most crops including corn, soybeans, wheat, vegetables and even pastures. Without adequate boron, more nitrogen is needed in order to produce the same amount of growth.

Consequently, it needs to be present in sufficient amounts as plants begin to grow and throughout the growing season. Still, it is always best to apply boron to the land based on actual needs as established by a reliable soil test, not by guessing whether it is or is not needed.

Calcium and Boron

Based on the test we use, the minimum boron level in any soil should be no

December/January 2020

lower than 0.8 ppm. But because it can be easily leached with rainfall or irrigation water, enough material should be applied to build for a higher level, and 1.5 to 2.0 ppm is considered ideal.

Excellent boron levels are only most effective when there is sufficient calcium and phosphorous. Though it can still be helpful, there is no need to expect the best response from boron under circumstances where either one of these elements is not at sufficient levels.

In fact, calcium and boron work together in the soil as plants need sufficient calcium to take up adequate boron, and enough boron is needed in the soil to assure that calcium is taken up by the

Continued on Page 12

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All crops and pastures need adequate boron for maximum nitrogen response (photo by Linda Kinsey.)

Continued from Page 10 plants. Also, if phosphate is deficient in the soil, boron will not fill the seed or grain to the same extent as would normally be the case.

Though some in plant genetics may disagree, once all the other needed nutrient levels are completely met for producing a desired corn yield, if boron is not kept above 0.80 ppm, the kernels will not fill out all the way to the tip of the cob. It is not plant genetics that cause this problem. In every case, once the nutrients that are lacking have been supplied, even the most “susceptible” varieties fill out completely. How many bushels of corn grain are lost due to that lack, even at ¼-inch of grain loss per cob per acre?

As an all-too-common example, one corn farmer, new to the program, always had problems getting his corn to

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fill all the way to the tip of the cob. This farmer had low phosphate and deficient boron levels in his fields. We recommended both the needed phosphate and the boron. However, the farmer was convinced by his fertilizer dealer that his soils had adequate P levels and only needed a little starter P. This was also advocated to farmers in the area by the land grant university in the state.

Though sufficient boron was supplied, the kernels at the tips of the cobs still did not fill out completely to the end because the soil lacked sufficient phosphate. When both are deficient, a primary element such as phosphate or potassium should be given the highest priority over any trace element, including boron.

That same farm still uses our program.

Once the needed P was supplied and the boron level continued to be maintained, the cobs began filling plump

December/January 2020

kernels of grain completely to the tip of each ear, and the yield increase from that extra grain is now an annual 30 to 40 more bushels of corn per acre.

Nutrient Balance

Soils need boron to maximize the size of fruit and seed crops. But this will not happen without adequate calcium.

Calcium is necessary to get starch into crop leaves. Boron is needed to get the starch from the leaves to the fruit or the grain. If either is lacking, seed and fruit size will also be lacking.

Consider again: this response will not happen without the proper minimum amount of calcium in the soil. And just having a “good soil pH” does not assure that calcium is adequate enough for the best crop response to boron. It is the soil saturation of calcium that determines how boron will help plants to respond in any soil. When the available

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Continued from Page 12 calcium saturation is 60 to 70% in a soil, again, a balance between all the soil the crop response from using adequate nutrients is needed for best results boron is excellent. But on that same because each nutrient must sufficiently soil, if the saturation of calcium is in be supplied to do its job in order to help the 40 to 50% range, the same amount the other nutrients to properly do their of boron can be toxic to the very same job. crop. This is why growers should not rely on soil pH as being indicative of Once there is adequate calcium to enough calcium for the safe use of ensure a safe response from boron, the boron. minimum level in the soil should be 0.80 ppm for general cropping purposA lack of response from boron can es. But once the levels of other nutrients also be caused by excessive amounts are built up, boron should be built up of potassium in the soil. This situation to between 1.5 to 2.0 ppm. This is the can cause boron to be tied up and recommended level for alfalfa, but unavailable to the crop from the soil. for maximum response from boron More specifically, when potassium is on other crops, that same level, when over 7.5% of total soil saturation, even safely achievable, should be considered if the level of boron has been mainas ideal. tained as needed, such high potassium ties up what would have been normally Clay soils can be built up to the point plant-available boron. In such cases, that boron is sufficient for a crop or the crop will suffer from boron defieven several cropping seasons. Sandy ciency. soils are much harder to build, and at times may not even be safe to supply Still, the more deficient the calcium the amount needed to produce the best saturation is in any soil, the more likely results. Again, only a reliable soil test boron toxicity problems will occur. So can safely provide that critical infor-

mation. Just guessing can be extremely expensive and very dangerous to the growing crop in such cases!

Too much boron can be toxic to growing plants, so be careful not to apply more than each particular crop can stand at any one time. This is true even when more is shown to be needed for obtaining excellent results.

Using legumes, plants that are very sensitive to boron in the seedling stage of growth, as an example, more than two pounds per acre of actual boron can be toxic, even if calcium is excellent. This is true from the time of emergence up to setting the first tri-foliate leaf, so at least one good soaking rain should occur between such an application and planting.

A citrus grower using our program initially had severely deficient boron levels in his soils. The recommendations made were to correct the needed calcium, which, with ordinary agricultural limestone, will generally take three

Boron is necessary for efficient nitrogen utilization. It also takes the starch from the leaf and puts it in the fruit which gives larger sized tomatoes (photo by N. Kinsey.)

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December/January 2020

years to see the full effects for building up calcium levels. Because the calcium was so low and citrus is one of the most sensitive and adversely affected crops to excessive boron, the minimum boron application was recommended to be made with another minimum application six months later.

The grower was warned that in his very sandy soils the boron might never reach ideal. Due to unexpected circumstances, the first application went on in late fall instead of late summer. But the response was so positive that a second application was used in late winter instead of six months later. Where this was done, the fruit was the size of half dollars when the part that did not receive the boron was the size of quarters.

So, in spite of these two applications so close together, the results were so good that the decision was made by the grower without asking anyone to apply a third application in the spring. This time, the trees showed the classic boron toxicity with many brown pustules on the underside of the leaves and began to rapidly defoliate. This would likely have been a big disaster, but an unexpected five inches of rain came in the next two days and washed enough of the boron out to allow the trees to grow another flush of leaves. Though these were mature trees, the grower said it was the best crop he had ever produced there.

Had it not rained, it would have likely been the worst.

An example of boron use on grass may be helpful in several ways as well.

Samples had been analyzed for the same golf course for a number of years, and the golf course superintendent had been applying everything but the recommended boron. Because of its reported effect on grass by other golf courses, he had been afraid to do so.

But after attending one of our courses and hearing why boron, due to the circumstances involved, can cause problems in one place while working well under different conditions in another, the boron was now going to be

applied. Recommendations were made for using a soil application of boron in a dry fertilizer mix.

In about a week, he called to say how much better the grass was already growing than ever before. Due to improved nitrogen utilization, the same thing will happen on pastures when boron is properly used. But before talking about the grass growth, he explained how they could not get dry boron for spreading in the dry mix, but could get Solubor. I cautioned him not to use the full rate if the Solubor was used as a foliar liquid application because it could damage the grass. He immediately replied, “No it won’t!” As a test, we have already applied it to the grass at the nursery; half of one of the greens and half of one of the fairways, and in each case, the grass is just growing greener and taller than ever before.

It then was suggested that he just count his blessings under the circumstances and switch to applying the recommended amount in 12 equal applications over the entire growing season, which he agreed to do.

The next day he called back and exclaimed, “You just saved my job!” Because overnight all the grass they had treated was now “dead” and, thankfully, no more had been applied that way. Foliar boron is fine to use, but it must be applied at a safe rate as a foliar which is much less than that can be done as a normal soil application.

Soil v. Tissue Testing

Certified organic growers can apply boron based upon proper testing to show there is a need. Borax (11% B) and Solubor (21% B) have always been al-

Continued on Page 16

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In citrus, boron increases nitrogen efficiency, bloom size with thicker petals and larger fruit size (photo by John Fair Photos. Used by permission.)

Continued from Page 15 lowed. Other products may be allowed depending on the material and the rules used for certification.

There are some soils with a pH below 6.0 that still have a sufficient level of calcium to justify a safe and effective boron application. But there are also soils with a pH of 8.0 that have such a low base saturation of calcium that even half the normally safe rate for that soil with a pH below 6.0 could be toxic even with the same crop growing there.

There may be several reasons why, and this is in no way meant to imply anyone is trying to deceive the growers. First of all, too many assume that soil pH is all you need to determine whether boron will be a problem in plants. This is a false assumption. It is not soil pH that accurately determines boron toxicity. It is whether each soil has enough available calcium or not.

We recommend and use plant tissue testing for evaluating nutrient levels in plants. However, in certain cases where micronutrient levels are in question, the plant analysis will come back showing a sufficient level when the soil test shows there is still a need for more to achieve the best results. When it comes to the use of micronutrients, we follow

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and trust the guidance of the soil tests we use over that of plant analysis.

For example, leaf testing for boron content will tell growers they have enough when soil tests will show boron as still not being there in sufficient amounts for the crop in question.

Growers should be cautious when considering whether their soils need boron or not. There is a great disparity between plant testing and soil testing to show when more boron is needed. For example, when sufficient boron is applied to the soil to reach the ideal level for the best response and growth for citrus, leaf tests from this same grove may report toxic levels in the leaf. This type of warning has been given even when there is no sign of toxicity in the leaves or other plant parts, and, in fact, those who know citrus best would actually choose those trees as the best of the best based on looks, plant response and fruit production.

Boron is an anion, which means it can be leached out of the soil because it is not attracted and held by the clay colloids in the soil. Humus is able to attract and hold some, but generally far too little to keep sufficient boron levels for the crops to be grown there from

December/January 2020

year to year. Like nitrogen and sulfur, boron can be easily leached from the soil. Consequently, though in some heavier clay soils it is possible to build boron sufficiently enough that, for a year or two, adding more is not necessary, most soils need at least some build up every year.

Although needed in very small amounts, boron enables plants to utilize needed nitrogen, helps increase size in fruit, grain or seed production, and at excellent levels along with adequate copper, helps in preventing and controlling rust and fungus diseases.

Apply boron based on actual need as determined by soil tests. Using too little or too much can be extremely costly.

Do not guess. You cannot manage what you do not correctly measure.

Neal Kinsey is owner and President of Kinsey Agricultural Services, a consulting firm that specializes in restoring and maintaining balanced soil fertility. For more information please call (573) 6833880 or see www.kinseyag.com.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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Considerations Organic Production

When Thinking About Transitioning to Certified

BY REX DUFOUR, NCAT/ATTRA

F

arming is a difficult business.

Farming organically is a bit more complicated than farming conventionally because it requires a different knowledge base and a different approach “between the ears” than conventional farming. Here are some thoughts about transitioning to certified organic production.

First of all, you should know that I’m biased toward many of the production practices that support organic production (cover cropping, use of compost, avoiding synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, diverse crop rotations), because I’ve seen what good soil management, and plant diversity above the soil line can do.

There are some basic considerations that farmers need to think about prior to transitioning to organic: • Market and market demand • Paperwork • Biological transition • Certified organic processing facilities (for meat, fruits, nuts or veggies) • Equipment • Commitment • Mindset 18

Organic Farmer

What’s Your Market?

There are a lot of conventional growers that have adopted some or all of the practices typically considered “organic” because these practices support nutrient and water cycling. So, if conventional growers are doing this, then the first question you should ask yourself is, “Why transition to certified organic production?”

If your market demands certified organic product, or if the most likely sector for growth in your market is certified organic, then you better start climbing that organic learning curve (attra.ncat.org is a good resource.)

However, if you’re just wanting to “do the right thing” and aren’t necessarily interested in the organic price premiums, then perhaps certified organic isn’t the appropriate path for you and your farm.

You can experiment with planting cover crops or use of compost on a small block and observe the results. I would remind readers that most of our soils are in a degraded condition from years of tillage, compaction, chemical impacts and lack of organic matter, so it’s likely going to take at least a few years

December/January 2020

of managing your soils with respect, and as a complex ecology, to begin to bring the life back to them so they’re functioning properly.

“Paperwork” Transition

Certified organic production requires a three-year transition from the last application of a prohibited substance to the date of harvest of a certified organic product. Generally speaking, transitional product (i.e. not certified organic) doesn’t command any price premium. Plus, there’s the paperwork—each certifying agency has something called the Organic System Plan (OSP) that you need to fill out—it’s a record of all your inputs and many of your production practices.

You should also be prepared if you’re an organic grower in California to register with the State of California as an organic grower (and depending on the size of your farm’s gross sales, you’ll be able to pay for this privilege. To see how much, visit organic.cdfa.ca.gov/OrganicReg/Registration_Fee_2017.aspx.)

Organic farming requires a different approach to nutrient and pest management.

Most importantly, it requires a different approach “between the ears” (photo by Rex Dufour, NCAT.)

Annual inspections of your farm operation are also required by the certifying agency. And each certifying agency has a slightly different fee rate. For the last several years, USDA has provided each state’s department of agriculture some funds to defray the cost of organic certification to the grower. This is usually 75% of the cost of certification up to $750. These funds may or may not be available in the next growing season. Check with your state’s department of agriculture.

And on a slightly different note, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has a practice under their Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) called Conservation Activity Plan Supporting Organic Transition (CAPSOT 138), which will pay for a qualified consultant (known in NRCS-ese as a Technical Service Provider or TSP) to develop an organic conservation plan for your transitioning farm— nearly identical to an organic system plan. If you’re interested, ask your local NRCS Service Center about CAPSOT 138, and if they can recommend it.

Continued on Page 20

December/January 2020

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'

Continued from Page 19

Transportation costs can quickly devour any organic price premiums that might accompany a product, so make sure you understand what certified organic processing facilities are available for your farm products and what the transport costs are.

'

Biological Transition

The biological transition of your ground generally takes a bit longer than three years. Certainly, your farm’s ecology will continue to evolve and revive as your expertise in organic practices evolves, but it also depends on how creative you are in your use of cover crops, compost and general management of the soil ecology and the above-ground ecology.

You can learn a lot from talking with experienced organic growers. You can speed up this biological transition by implementing the “five principles” of healthy soil management (see ATTRA’s publication on this at attra.ncat.org/ product/manage-soil-for-water.)

Equipment

There’s the “equipment curve” as well.

You need to figure out what equipment you should have, but don’t have right now, to be an effective organic farmer; again, talking with an experienced organic farmer will help you avoid some of the larger mistakes transitioning growers might make. For example, cover crops are an increasingly popular way to improve soil health. One-hopper grain drills can be effective, but if you’re interested in planting a more diverse mix and different seeding rates, multi-hopper, no-till drills are available.

Do you have equipment to manage a cover crop? Many farmers like flail mowers to handle heavy cover crops, but make sure you have an appropriate-sized tractor which has sufficient power to handle the flail mower.

Continued on Page 22

Transitioning to organic production requires a change in thinking about your soils, especially maintaining soil quality and fertility. This farmer has planted a vetch cover crop, brought up by winter rains. The vetch will protect the soil from rainfall impacts, as well as providing "free" nitrogen (photo by R. Dufour, NCAT.)

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Organic Farmer

December/January 2020

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Continued from Page 20

Processing Facilities

A very important consideration is the location of processing facilities in relation to your farm’s location. Many certified organic products require certified organic processing facilities—this is especially important for nut crops, processing tomatoes, vegetables and leafy greens, and any meat or dairy products.

Transportation costs can quickly devour any organic price premiums that might accompany a product, so make sure you understand what certified organic processing facilities are available for your farm products and what the transport costs are.

Commitment

The grey matter between your ears is perhaps the most important consideration. If you’ve been farming conventionally and relying on chemical fertilizers and pesticides for managing fertility and pests, be warned that organic farming is a different animal, and really a different way of farming.

Over-reliance on synthetic chemicals has allowed some farmers to mask a lot of unsustainable soil and pest management practices with increasing amounts of chemical inputs, but even that approach eventually becomes too costly and less and less effective.

Making a commitment to investing in your soils, just as you would invest in maintaining farm machinery or farm buildings, or training your farm’s staff, is an important commitment to make.

But to invest in your soils, you need to understand what investments in your soil will provide the best return. You can begin by learning the basics of soil ecology and applying those aforementioned five principles whenever and wherever you can on your farm.

to organic production from conventional practices, it may be tempting to simply substitute organic inputs for conventional inputs. This can be done, but you’ll likely go broke doing it, since organic inputs, including everything from organically acceptable commercial fertilizers to pesticides, can be pretty pricey. It’s much more practical to grow at least part of your nitrogen-using cover crops and to rely mostly on diverse rotations and creating beneficial habitats for pest control.

Changing approaches from reacting to problems by applying chemicals to a mindset of proactive ecosystem management is a radical shift in how to approach problems on your farm. It can be a steep learning curve as well.

But many farmers I’ve spoken with about this claim that adopting a more ecologically based approach to farming makes growing crops and livestock fun again and more interesting. The bottom line is: whether you decide to farm organically or not, all of us, including non-farmers, need to become better stewards of this planet, which, as far as we know, is the only place in the whole galaxy with life on it.

Rex Dufour has been working in sustainable and organic agriculture for over 40 years. He has completed the International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA) training for organic inspectors, has a MSc in IPM from UC Riverside and is registered as a Technical Service Provider (TSP) with NRCS in CA and NV.

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Organic Farmer

To choose a USDA-accredited certification agency (ACA), look through the list of options on the National Organic Program (NOP) website: www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop “The Organic Certification Process” found within the Program Handbook, and in the ATTRA publication: Organic Certification Process: attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary. php?pub=163 How growers overcome the challenges of transitioning to organic: freshfruitportal.com/news/2020/09/21/ how-growers-overcome-the-challenges-of-transitioning-to-organic/ Transitioning to Organic Production, ATTRA News 2006: attra.ncat.org/newsletter/attranews_1106.html 10 myths about transitioning to organic: duckduckgo.com/?q=10+myths+organic+transition+attra&t=ffab&atb=v225-1&ia=web Organic Certification of Farms and Businesses Producing Agricultural Products: attra.ncat.org/attra-pub-summaries/?pub=152 Non-GMO Dairy Transition Guide: attra.ncat.org/product/non-gmo-dairy-transition-guide/ Organic Transition Training: attra.ncat.org/event-calendar/organic-transition-training-2/ Thinking about transitioning to organic production: agupdate.com/minnesotafarmguide/news/ crop/thinking-about-transitioning-to-organic-production/article_06cced82-03b0-11e9b116-a7399763cc99.html Do the Numbers: Organic Grain Transition: anchor.fm/moses-podcast/episodes/Do-theNumbers-Organic-Grain-Transition-eg7mqs

Mindset and Input Substitution

A word about input substitution, since you can make a small fortune with this approach, but you have to start with a large fortune. For growers transitioning

Additional Resources For Making the Organic Transition

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23

PESTS IN

HEMP Crop and Yield Loss Still Being Assessed in this New Commodity

BY SARAH LIGHT, UCCE Agronomy Advisor, Sutter, Yuba, and Colusa Counties

H

emp (Cannabis sativa) is an emerging crop in California, with cultivars of industrial hemp legalized for production in the 2018 Farm Bill. By definition, industrial hemp may not contain more than 0.3% of the psychoactive compound THC in the parts of the plants sampled and regulated by the state. Hemp has various end uses ranging from fiber to flower buds to grain seed, however most growers in California are growing hemp for the cannabinoid CBD. Hemp cultivars can be dioecious or monoecious, but hemp cultivars grown for CBD have primarily been dioecious types (male and female flowers on separate plants,) with female plants grown for CBD production.

Pests in Hemp

Since hemp is a new commodity, pest challenges are still being observed and monitored. Certain agricultural pests have been observed on industrial hemp in California, but it is not yet known which cause significant crop damage or yield loss.

We know that tobacco budworm and corn earworm can cause severe flower damage. Webworms appear to cause damage to young stands when plants are small, but it is not clear whether hemp plants can grow out of it. Some other known agricultural insect pests have been observed on hemp, including leaf miners, spotted cucumber beetle,

Beet curly top virus (left) and Botrytis blight (right) can be very problematic in industrial hemp (photos courtesy Bob Hutmacher, UC ANR and Annemiek Schilde, UC ANR.)

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Organic Farmer

December/January 2020

Powdery mildew has been observed in hemp, but disease pressure was mild and did not require treatment (photo courtesy DeAnna Vega, UCCE.)

adult whitefly, lygus and mites. However, crop loss has not been confirmed for any of these species. While some of these pests can cause visible but minor damage to hemp plants (e.g. leaf miners), it is not clear if the damage is ever severe enough to affect crop yields.

Many beneficial insects like dragonflies, native bees and honeybees have also been seen in these hemp fields.

Some diseases have also been observed on industrial hemp. Some, like beet curly top virus and Botrytis blight, appear to be problematic. Others like powdery mildew have been observed, but disease pressure was very mild and did not require treatment. Gopher damage to root systems has also been observed in drip-irrigated fields. More research is needed to identify important pests of hemp, determine which pests require management and develop IPM practices. In addition, it is unknown what pest pressure may build up in the landscape in the future as more and more acres of hemp are planted in the state.

Continued on Page 26

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Examples of common Agricultural pests that have been observed in hemp. (photos courtesy Ian Grettenberger, UC Davis.)

Continued from Page 24

Managing Pests in Hemp

Hemp is a highly regulated commodity, and regulations are changing to meet industry and environmental safety needs. Talk to your Agricultural Commissioner if you are interested in growing hemp. Pesticides that can be used in hemp are currently limited.

Spotted Cucumber Beetle

Tobacco Budworm

Webworm

Leafminer

What determines if a pesticide can be used on hemp? The product must meet three requirements in order to be legal for application on hemp: • Exempt residue tolerance requirements.

• Exempt from registration.

• Use of the product would not be legally considered a use in conflict with the registered label.

What does this mean? Basically, a product that is labeled broadly enough to not be excluded from application to hemp can be applied. Generally, these tend to be “softer” chemicals; however, these products still come with risks, so care should be taken to follow the label and make safe and effective sprays.

Bee Safety

Although most industrial hemp plants are female, the seed feminization process is never 100% true, and males will be present in the field. Male hemp plants shed a lot of pollen, making them attractive to native bees and honeybees. Bee Safe practices should be followed when managing pests in hemp.

See a previous article in the August/ September issue of Organic Farmer on Protecting Bees in Hemp Production for more information.

Corn earworm can cause severe flower damage (photos by S. Light.)

Beneficial insects like dragonflies have also been seen in these hemp fields (photo by S. Light.)

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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Organic Farmer

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Creating the

Optimum Compost

Proper Feedstocks and Treatment Are Essential for a Beneficial Blend

BY TAYLOR CHALSTROM, Editorial Assistant Intern

C

ompost offers a wide range of benefits to soils depending on the blend, providing soils with biomass, carbon and nitrogen sources.

our feedstocks well, and that means knowing the specific components of each.

(45% moisture, 450 lbs/cu yd., C:N ratio of 40) and separated solids from the on-campus dairy operation (85% moisture, 1,400 lbs/cu yd., C:N ratio of 18.)

“Texture is a good thing to incorporate, In order for compost to work in a soil, it and normally you’re going to get that “Once we’ve blended our recipe, we needs to have the proper blend of feedwith your carbon source,” he continued. want our ideal component ranges to be stocks and be tested/treated to ensure “This could be anything from fine sawa bulk density of 800 to 1,000 lbs/cu yd., proper nutrient levels and microbial ac- dust all the way up to rough woodchips. 40 to 60% moisture and a C:N ratio of tivity are present. This article provides You want to find a happy medium; if 30,” Piper said. insight into the large-scale compost you have too much fine texture, you’ll operation at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, end up with a light mix that has a hard Best Practices for Compost and how this compost provides benefits time holding temperatures, and if you Creating a compost blend can be a to a nearby vineyard. have too much rough texture, you’ll complicated and drawn-out process end up with a density issue.” and there are several safety/sanitation Finding the Right Mix measures to keep in mind. If a compost Kevin Piper, Director of AgriculturThe Organic Compost page on Cal producer’s operation is as large as Cal al Operations at Cal Poly, San Luis Poly’s website (cafes.calpoly.edu/cal-po- Poly’s, which Piper said produces 7 to Obispo, said in recent video interview ly-compost) says that the school’s 8 million pounds of manure annually that the school’s own operation takes operation removes solid manure from that is then turned into about 3,000 to four key components into account its dairy, beef, equine and poultry units 3,500 cubic yards of finished compost, when building the feedstocks that go and incorporates it with green waste vigorous sanitation steps and testing into their compost: carbon to nitrogen from campus landscaping to create its are necessary to retain organic certifi(C:N) ratio, percent moisture, bulk unique blend. The specific feedstock cation. density (measured in cubic yards) and breakdown for the operation, according texture. to Piper, is green waste (55% moisture, “Compost producers have to consider 610 lbs/cu yd., C:N ratio of 150,) waste California’s regulatory environment,” “Good composting practices are imfeed/silage (75% moisture, 1,300 lbs/ Piper said. “In this state, we deal with portant,” Piper said. “We want to know cu yd., C:N ratio of 12,) horse manure CalRecycle and the Regional Water 28

Organic Farmer

December/January 2020

Quality Control Board, both of which have regulatory requirements for composting facilities. One of the main things to keep in mind when setting up an operation or composting in general is not to do it next to a wellhead or within a couple hundred feet of a live stream. This can pose issues of runoff.

“Another good [sanitation] practice is preventing cross contamination by cleaning machinery between handling raw feedstock and ongoing/finished compost,” Piper continued.

Maintaining certain levels of microbial activity and nutrients within compost can also make or break an operation.

Testing of temperatures and the product itself needs to be conducted before anything is sold. If a compost blend is not ready for use, according to Piper, it can be dangerous to incorporate into plants because of the potential for nutrient stealing.

“We have a pathogen reduction phase (PRP) in our windrow process,” Piper said. “We use short and long temperature gauges to get an idea of what is happening on the interior and exterior level of the compost pile. Once we’ve reached a temperature of 131 degrees F during the PRP, we have to maintain that temperature for 15 days and turn that windrow a minimum of five times.

When there is a 20-degree differential between the interior and exterior gauges, we know it’s time to turn.”

Piper said that interior temperatures cannot exceed 150 to 160 degrees F in order for microbial activity to remain undisturbed. If they do, internal moisture conditions can become altered.

“When pulling back some of the compost after checking the gauges, we want to see a layer of white mycelium growing as it shows we have the right moisture conditions and a happy environment for beneficial organisms,” Piper said.

Before sending off finished compost samples to a certified laboratory, operators have the ability to conduct one last test to ensure for a stable product.

“We use a Solvita test,” Piper said. “It allows to test what we consider a finished product for ammonia and CO2 levels.

If the test shows reassuring results, we can send it off to a certified lab that is tied with the U.S. Composting Council’s Seal of Testing Assurance (STA).”

According to the U.S. Composting Council’s website, the STA program is a “compost testing, labeling and information disclosure program designed to give you the information you need to get the maximum benefit from the use of compost.” Any grower looking to purchase compost for use in their own farming operation should look for the STA on a finished product.

Continued on Page 30

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Interior temperatures for compost cannot exceed 150 to 160 degrees F in order for microbial activity to remain undisturbed (photos by K. Piper.)

Continued from Page 29

Grower Usage

Jean-Pierre Wolff, principal owner of “Years ago, I used dairy farm compost Wolff Vineyards in San Luis Obispo, from the Central Valley,” Wolff said.

Calif., explained in a phone interview “Because of the transportation costs, I his own usage of compost in his soils switched to green compost from Santa and the benefits it has provided him.

“I’ve been applying compost postharvest Barbara county. Now, I use Cal Poly’s. I for 20 years and apply 1.5 tons per acre,” switched to them because they’ve gone Wolff said. “It takes several years for through a lot of upgrades on their comcompost effects to take place in terms post equipment and they also offered of mineralization. In my case, in the training classes. Close proximity was a first 10 years, I was mixing compost big part of the decision.” with gypsum. Now, I’ve switched to 100% compost to give priority to the Even though the use of compost has carbon content. The benefit of the nibeen working out for Wolff’s vineyard trogen content is a slow leaching, which over the years, he made it a point to has been a good approach for us in the note a couple of major tips when using vineyard to have a slow and steady feed and buying compost. of nutrients. It also increases microbial activity due to the higher quality of “One area which I think can be probcompost.” lematic because of climate change is that it [compost] only works well with Wolff switched to using Cal Poly’s com- areas of normal rainfall,” Wolff said. “I post mix in recent years for multiple proved this during the latest drought. reasons including its close proximity to Utilizing drip irrigation just does his vineyard. not have the same flushing affect for 30

Organic Farmer

December/January 2020

nutrients into the soil as rain does. The microbe activity of freshly applied compost diminishes if this is the case.

“Not all composts are created equal,” he continued. “The whole business of it starts with the quality you get.

It sounds fundamental, but it’s key.

Always get compost from a reliable source.”

Producing and using compost is a complex process for both sides, and patience is required. Producers have to ensure that their final product is up to par (i.e. good feedstock sources, properly heat-treated, adequate nutrient levels and absence of any harmful compounds) and growers need to ensure that they are buying from the right source and utilizing good compost practices themselves.

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31

GROWING

Organic Vegetables

with Dry-Farming Practices

BY DANITA CAHILL, Contributing Writer

A

s climate change warms our planet, the ability to farm with less water is becoming increasingly imperative. Reduction of available summer water because of reduced snowmelt and drought is affecting food security.

Farmers and researchers are working together to gain knowledge and come up with strategies for growing food with little or no irrigation.

The idea for dry-farming is simple: hold the water that falls during the rainy season in the soil so it’s available for plants that grow primarily during the dry summer. Dry-farming can be successful in areas that receive at least 20 inches of annual rainfall, such as the Pacific Northwest.

“There is a suite of practices to conserve water for our summer crop growth,” said Amy Garrett, Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Associate Professor of Practice, Small Farms Program.

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Organic Farmer

The three main strategies for dry faming are: 1) Using a tillage system; 2) Protecting the soil surface; and 3) Choosing drought-resistant plant varieties.

These strategies work on land that has deep soil with good water retention.

If soil is lacking such qualities, be it rocky or sandy, it can be amended with the addition of organic matter such as compost, growing cover crops and/ or carefully managed livestock grazing, which recycles the cover crop into manure. The roots of dry-farmed vegetables seek moisture and grow deeper than irrigated crops. To look at the soil texture and moisture content at root level, take a 5- or 6-foot core sample.

Time the Tillage

Use careful timing. When you work the soil, do so in the early morning hours before the area is hit with direct sunlight and while there is still dew on the ground.

December/January 2020

As far as seasonal timing of tillage, Garrett said, “We are starting as early as possible. We will typically flail mow our cover crop much earlier than irrigated farmers because as rain starts to slow down, the soils start to dry. We mow the cover crops in March or April when they are about knee high. We usually get a dry window sometime in the spring – as early as April, depending on soil type and microclimate, sometimes as late as the second week of May. We typically plant in May when there is still moisture in the soil. It’s important to put that seed in contact with moist soil.”

Cultivate the Soil Surface

Keep soil surfaces loose. It conserves moisture down at the root zone. Uncultivated soil tends to dry out and crack.

Cracks in the soil open up and start drying out the deeper soil.

“Organic farmers are cultivating to manage their weeds,” Garrett said.

“Some farmers in California cultivate

five to six inches deep. It prevents this crusting and cracking from happening.”

As with any farming practice, improving the soil is key. “Anything we can do to improve soil quality is very important for dry-farming,” Garrett said.

Growers can also use organic mulches such as leaves, wood chips or straw.

There are two drawbacks to these deep mulches: They cool the soil temperature. This could inhibit the germination of some direct-seeded crops such as melons and squash, in which case a transplant might work better. And the mulch may attract pests such as slugs, snails, mice and voles.

“We are looking into the benefits of deep mulch. A lot of people are experimenting,” Garrett said. “We’re just starting to analyze the data for leaf mulch.”

Growers and researchers look at a soil core sample (all photos by Amy Garrett, OSU.)

Plant Varieties

Some of the plants which have been grown successfully with dry-farming methods include drought-tolerant varieties of dry beans, melons, potatoes, squash – including winter squash and zucchini – flour corn and tomatoes.

A good source for dry farm seed is Seed rEvolution Now. Sundial Seed Company is another source. Both companies are located in California.

Garrett and others involved in Pacific NW growing trials have shown success with watermelon variety Christmas.

“It’s one of our favorites,” Garrett said, adding that although some dry-farmed watermelons tend to get mealy or pithy, she’s never heard negative feedback about Christmas, at least not as far as taste. Oregon Coastal dry farm collaborators didn’t have enough hot, sunny summer days for Christmas to ripen in the Astoria, Ore. area. Other dry farm varieties that have proved themselves worthy in taste and performance are Dark Star zucchini and Stella Blue winter squash.

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Continued from Page 33 Early Girl tomato is grown with success by dry-farmers in Coastal Northern California. In the Oregon Willamette Valley, the summer humidity is too low, and Early Girl tends to get blossom end rot. Next summer, a dry-farm trial will happen in Oregon with 200 different varieties of tomatoes.

Since 2015, growers and researchers have been conducting variety trials. Included in the trials are a number of potatoes, several varieties of delicata winter squash, and maxima squash, which is a Hubbard type. Before COVID-19, the Dry-farming Collaborative (DFC) hosted farm tours along with taste tests with tomatoes and melons from both dry-farms and irrigated farms set out side by side. This year, the DFC hosted nine virtual farm tours.

Dry-Farm History and Research

Dry-farming is not a new way of farming, but rather a return to an old way that has been passed down from one farmer to the next. Only a small

number of farmers experiment with dry-farming. Even fewer have extensive experience at it.

The farmers and researchers behind the DFC, OSU Extension Dry-Farm Project and Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) have expanded that knowledge. Their studies, led by Garrett, started in 2013 on Western Oregon and Northern California farms.

“We started out with case studies with farmers who had been doing this for a long time,” Garrett said. When she began her research into dry-farming, there wasn’t any information available through OSU, and no extension publications. “I’ve been kind of on a mission to raise awareness of the practices.”

Organic Farmer

The major downside to dry-farming is decreased yields. In some cases, yield reduction can be 25% to 50% lower when compared to irrigated crops.

During the drought of 2015, there were about 100 people who attended the dryfarm summer demonstration. “Many people had their wells run dry that year. “The best way to begin dry-farming is There was a real concern with people to start small, Garrett suggests. “Maybe about water,” Garrett said. just two or three rows.”

Soil is cultivated around a dry-farm crop.

34

Getting Started

Dry-farming has definite benefits. Winter squash from dry-farming will store longer than its irrigated counterparts.

Dry-farmed produce also has more flavor. Besides producing more flavorful produce, which could command a higher price, dry-farming works in harmony with nature by growing food in a more sustainable way than conventional, irrigated farming. In addition to using less water, dry-farming also uses less fertilizer and labor. There are fewer problems with annual weeds and, although tough perennials such as bindweed and Canadian thistle may persist. Dry-farming practices also protect carbon reserves in the soil.

December/January 2020

During the DFC winter meeting, “We all come together and talk about what worked and what didn’t,” Garrett said.

The meeting will be virtual this year.

“Opportunities are coming up. We’d like to find farmers who would like to join us, gather some ideas of things they’d like to try.”

The DFC also has a Facebook group.

“We’re specific northwest centric,” Garrett said, “but we have people from all over who are interested in dry-farming.”

Check out the OSU Small Farms, Dry-farming website at: smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/smallfarms/dry-farming.

Organic vegetables growing with dry-farm practices.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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Putting the Winter

Back in Winter Squash

Popular Commodity Looks to Make a Comeback on the Vegetable Market

BY STEVE ELLIOTT, Western SARE

F

or growers, it doesn’t matter how much you harvest. What matters is what you sell!

A good example of that came out of Oregon recently, but applies broadly.

Growers were having trouble producing and storing a crop for sale in the winter into the early spring.

us grew up eating unripe acorn squash and they just don’t taste very good. We wanted to see if we could change that.

We wanted people to eat more squash because it is delicious and good for them and the environment.”

them out – through April. And we went through that same process again the next year, and then again the next year.

We stored them in both controlled environment (temperature and humidity) and barn (maintained above freezing) conditions, and most stored longer in the barn.”

To accomplish that, Stone, with Lane Selman of the Culinary Breeding Network and others in her team of One collaborator Stone had brought “We heard from farmers that they researchers, chefs and grower collabointo the project was Chef Timothy weren’t making money on winter rators had several challenges: Wastell, who tasted each variety as they squash as so much of it rotted in stor• Identify squash varieties that ripened in storage. age in early fall,” explained Dr. Alex yielded well in western Oregon and Stone, the extension vegetable crop spestored well under barn conditions “Winter squash are meaty and can be cialist at Oregon State University. “We (western Oregon has mild, wet eaten as main courses instead of meat, investigated and found that in western winters.) or blended with meat in main courses,” Oregon we have some particularly • Identify squash varieties that taste Wastell explained. “They can also be aggressive fungi that rot squash.” good. eaten raw in salads or cooked as side • Show people how to prepare squash dishes or even desserts. Squash diversiBut storage rot wasn’t the only problem. in new and interesting ways. ty – in texture, flavor, size and culinary Consumer behavior played a big role as use – lets us come up with a diversity of well.

Stone got a grant from the Western strategies for incorporating squash into Sustainable Agriculture Research and meals.”

“Winter squash is nutritious and deliEducation program, which is funded by cious, but most people don’t eat very USDA, and began planting squash.

After three seasons of growing, storing, much of it,” Stone said. “One reason is testing and tasting, the project team that we can’t think of new ways to cook “We grew lots of winter squash varietlaunched a consumer-focused website it, and you can only eat so much squash ies,” she said. “We harvested them in at eatwintersquash.com. soup. Another reason is that many of September and stored them – or threw 36

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December/January 2020

“The squash featured on this website are the ones that were productive in the field, long storing under barn conditions, and delicious every year,” Stone said. “Taste is critical because if they don’t taste good, people won’t buy them.

The ones we feature on the website taste good and are profitable for farmers to grow because they store so well that growers can sell them throughout the winter when there isn’t very much local produce available.”

and it is always delicious.”

In all, five chefs contributed a total of 20 recipes to the website, ranging from squash fries to Winter Squash with Louisiana Rémoulade to Sunshine Panna Cotta to Roasted Winter Squash and Leek Bread Pudding.

“Another important benefit of winter squash is that they can be grown in an environmentally responsible manner,” Stone said. “Winter squash can The website breaks down squash variet- be grown successfully on organic or ies into four types: simple squash, saucy conventional farms with relatively few squash, sweet squash and salad squash. inputs of nutrients, water and energy, In each type, it identifies flavorful, and stored successfully in a low-input long-storing varieties. storage environment.”

“Winter Sweet and Gill’s Golden Pippin show up in a few different categories because they’re very versatile,” Stone said. “But the star of this project is the delicious and extremely long-storing and reliable Tetsukabuto. Growers are planting more of it because they can sell it reliably with no storage losses from October through May (or longer),

To get recipes or learn more about the squash varieties, visit eatwintersquash.com. To find information on the group’s subsequent project, visit eatwintervegetables.com.

To find information on the group’s subsequent project, visit eatwintervegetables. com.

December/January 2020

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

Candysick Dessert delicata is very long storing and delicious. Most delicatas are not long-storing (all photos by Shawn Linehan Photography.)

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Organics Continue to Make Gains in

CALIFORNIA

Farm Gate Sales and Acreage Continue to Increase According to Recent Analysis BY TAYLOR CHALSTROM, Editorial Assistant Intern

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arm gate sales of California organic agriculture more than doubled in a three year period from 2013 to 2016 as the California organic farming industry saw increases in both acreage and the number of organic growers, according to the UC Agricultural Issue Center’s recently released “Statistical Review of California Organic Agriculture." The report, which covers the period from 2013 to 2016 shows the total number of organic growers in California grew by 1,020 and the total number of organic acres farmed grew by 927,924, while farm gate sales nearly doubled during the four year period from $1.54 billion in 2013 to $3.12 billion in 2016.

By the Numbers

Acreage The total number of organic acres farmed in California grew by nearly a million acres from 2013 to 2016.

Pasture and rangeland produced the most organic acreage each year, but the review shows that there were large up-and-down fluctuations across those years. Overall, pasture and rangeland experienced the highest net gain with 556,947 new organic acres from 2013 to 2016.

Up-and-down fluctuations can also be seen by region for organic acreage. The San Joaquin Valley region experienced this especially, but still saw an overall net gain of 436,198 new organic acres from 2013 to 2016.

The total number of organic growers in California grew by 1,020 from 2013 to 2016, and the review noted that some growers produce commodities in more than one group. Fruit and nut crop growers led that growth each year, gaining 545 new growers from 2013 to 2016, while pasture and rangeland growers were the least abundant, gaining four new growers.

Farm Gate Sales According to the review, California organics produced over $10 billion in total revenue from 2013 to 2016.

Vegetable crops produced the most revenue each year with $3.77 billion in total revenue from 2013 to 2016, while pasture and rangeland produced the least amount with $9.07 million in total revenue.

The Central Coast region, which includes Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma and Napa counties, had the most organic growers in each year of the review.

The San Joaquin Valley region, which includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern counties, produced the most revenue in each year of the review

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December/January 2020

with $3.22 billion in total revenue from 2013 to 2016. The Cascade-Sierra region, which includes Trinity, Siskiyou, Modoc, Shasta, Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine, Amador and Calaveras counties, produced the least revenue in each year of the review with $140 million in total revenue from 2013 to 2016.

What Does It All Mean?

The statistical trends in the review show large increases in organic growers, acres and farm gate sales. Even though these trends are from 2013 to 2016, Muramoto says he’s still seeing similar trends today in the organic farming industry.

In a recent press release from the Organic Trade Association , the organization stated that organic sales across all states, not just California, were up by 4.6% in 2019 from the previous year.

Statistics like these and the ones found in the review made my Muramoto and his team show that consumers are seeking out the Organic label more than ever, and future statistical reviews will be able to provide even more insight into the sector’s growth.

Significance of the Review

The late Karen Klonsky, a UCCE specialist who passed away in 2018, spearheaded the initial publications for

statistical reviews of California organic agriculture in 1998, six years after the data became available as a result of the California Organic Food Act. Klonsky saw the need for a display of this data for the industry and published reviews that contained statistics all the way through 2012. All previous organic agriculture statistics reviews can be accessed at aic.ucdavis.edu/research1/ organic.html.

The review summarized by Muramoto and his colleagues aims to continue Klonsky’s work. “This is the most comprehensive statistical review of California organic agriculture at the state and county levels,” Muramoto said.

“Because we use her [Klonsky’s] format, we are able to compare this data to her past reviews.”

The statistics review provides several functions: it helps project future trends of organic crops by commodity groups;

influence strategy and policy for organic sectors in each county; and improve researchers’ understanding of specific needs and dynamics of particular organic sectors.

“Accurate data on past trends and the current status [of organic farming] is crucial to develop an effective strategy for the future,” Muramoto said. “For example, the number of organic farms [by county] is highest in San Diego and is still increasing. They don’t necessarily produce the highest revenue per grower because they are mostly small farms; yet they play important roles in local food systems now and probably will in the future.”

As for publications made more recently and future ones, there will be more published by CDFA, according to Muramoto, but there are some continuity issues due to the way data is being collected.

December/January 2020

“More recent years are not included [in our report] because the data collected

by CDFA changed the crop category in 2017 and again in 2019, so they are not comparable to the data in this report,” Muramoto said. “They did this to reduce the burden of growers in reporting, but it made a data gap consequently. Now, CDFA is trying to match the categories with the Ag census.”

The most recent CDFA reviews of organic statistics are the “California Agricultural Organic Report, 20182019” by CDFA and the “2019 Organic Survey” by USDA-NASS.

Comments about this article? We want to hear from you. Feel free to email us at article@jcsmarketinginc.com

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