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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong><br />
The Science Behind Regenerative Farming<br />
Boron for Growing Organic Crops<br />
Transitioning to Certified Organic Production<br />
Pests in Hemp<br />
Volume 3: Issue 6<br />
(Photo courtesy R. Dufour, NCAT.)
Dear Reader,<br />
I am grateful for another successful year of reporting tree nut news to you. For nearly a decade,<br />
West Coast Nut magazine has been sent to your farm. With a humble beginning of 3,500 subscribers,<br />
West Coast Nut magazine has become the thought leader in connecting news, research, and<br />
innovative articles to help tree nut growers farm more effectively. Thank you for allowing West Coast<br />
Nut to take part in making a difference in our industry.<br />
Over the last decade West Coast Nut has anchored and paved the way for many other ag-related ventures.<br />
JCS Marketing offers two other publications, Organic Farmer and Progressive Crop Consultant<br />
Magazines, as well as monthly newsletters, virtual events, live events, podcasts, videos, and more.<br />
Today, JCS Marketing reaches over 38,000 subscribers.<br />
It is truly a privilege to help so many farmers throughout the West Coast. If you have not had the opportunity<br />
to read about innovations in the industry that we are covering, I would encourage you to<br />
visit our website at wcngg.com to learn more about the great information you are currently missing<br />
out on. And update your subscriber information including an email so can provide you with all the<br />
important news we send out.<br />
JCS Marketing’s future is bright as we continue to innovate and lead the pack with new opportunities<br />
year in and year out. We continue to expand our digital footprint, events, and offer endless opportunities<br />
to expand your knowledge about farming in California. Our publications offer the biggest<br />
variety of content that is relevant to growing your crops. JCS Marketing assists thousands of agribusinesses<br />
grow in revenue and sales with more effective farming practices. Thank you for being part of<br />
the growth.<br />
The holidays are a time to reflect on all the great things that have happened to us throughout the year.<br />
This year I would like to extend my gratitude to my family, my work family, and our industry. Though<br />
this year has been a tough and trying year with the pandemic, political, and economic challenges, I<br />
am grateful for the opportunity to be part of agriculture and what we do for the world. Like many of<br />
you, I look forward to life returning to a sense of normalcy. But in the meantime, I continue to reflect<br />
on the things in life that I have taken for granted and miss so much, like a good old-fashioned live ag<br />
trade show.<br />
I personally would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I look forward to a<br />
brighter 2021.<br />
2 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
IN THIS ISSUE<br />
PUBLISHER: Jason Scott<br />
Email: jason@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
EDITOR: Marni Katz<br />
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Cecilia Parsons<br />
Email: article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
PRODUCTION: design@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
Phone: 559.352.4456<br />
Fax: 559.472.3113<br />
Web: www.organicfarmingmag.com<br />
4<br />
The Science Behind Regenerative<br />
Farming<br />
4<br />
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS<br />
& INDUSTRY SUPPORT<br />
Taylor Chalstrom<br />
Editorial Assistant Intern<br />
10<br />
Boron for Growing Organic<br />
Crops<br />
Danita Cahill<br />
Contributing Writer<br />
18<br />
Considerations When Thinking<br />
About Transitioning to Certified<br />
Organic Production<br />
Rex Dufour<br />
NCAT/ATTRA<br />
Neal Kinsey<br />
Kinsey Agricultural<br />
Services<br />
24<br />
Pests in Hemp<br />
Sarah Light<br />
UCCE Agronomy Advisor,<br />
Sutter, Yuba, and Colusa<br />
Counties<br />
28<br />
32<br />
36<br />
Creating the Optimum<br />
Compost<br />
Growing Organic Vegetables<br />
with Dry-Farming Practices<br />
Putting the Winter Back in<br />
Winter Squash<br />
Steve Elliott<br />
UC ANR<br />
24 UC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION<br />
ADVISORY BOARD<br />
Surendra Dara<br />
UCCE Entomology and<br />
Biologicals Advisor, San Luis<br />
Obispo and Santa Barbara<br />
Counties<br />
Kevin Day<br />
County Director/UCCE<br />
Pomology Farm Advisor,<br />
Tulare/Kings Counties<br />
Elizabeth Fichtner<br />
UCCE Farm Advisor,<br />
Tulare County<br />
Katherine Jarvis-Shean<br />
UCCE Area Orchard Systems<br />
Advisor, Kern County<br />
Steven Koike<br />
Tri-Cal Diagnostics<br />
Jhalendra Rijal<br />
UCCE Integrated Pest<br />
Management Advisor,<br />
Stanislaus County<br />
Kris Tollerup<br />
UCCE Integrated Pest<br />
Management Advisor,<br />
Parlier<br />
Mohammad Yaghmour<br />
UCCE Area Orchard Systems<br />
Advisor, Kern County<br />
38<br />
Organics Continue to Make<br />
Gains in California<br />
28<br />
The articles, research, industry updates,<br />
company profiles, and advertisements in this<br />
publication are the professional opinions of<br />
writers and advertisers. Organic Farmer does<br />
not assume any responsibility for the opinions<br />
given in the publication.<br />
<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 3
The Science Behind<br />
Regenerative Farming<br />
Soil Health and Biodiversity Come First, Yield and Profit Will Follow<br />
BY DANITA CAHILL, Contributing Writer<br />
It’s cutting-edge science although<br />
climate-smart, regenerative agricultural<br />
practices on farms and in<br />
orchards are not new. Community<br />
Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)<br />
has been working with regenerative orchards<br />
since the 1990s. But now farmers<br />
aren’t the only ones paying attention to<br />
the regenerative ag movement – scientists<br />
are also taking notice and diving<br />
in, including researchers at the Ecdysis<br />
Foundation (EF).<br />
“Regenerative agriculture farmers are<br />
way ahead of the science,” said Dr.<br />
Jonathan Lundgren of the EF. “So the<br />
science is trying to catch up.”<br />
The EF is based out of South Dakota,<br />
but has projects from Saskatchewan to<br />
Kansas, into the southeastern U.S. and<br />
down into California. Besides orchards,<br />
the foundation focuses on food systems<br />
such as pastured dairy, perennial<br />
and annual crops, rangeland and honey<br />
bees.<br />
Research Challenges<br />
The EF started working in regenerative<br />
ag with corn crops in the upper Midwest.<br />
The farmers and ranchers were<br />
happy to cooperate with the researchers,<br />
but ultimately that initial study was<br />
a failure.<br />
“The problem was they were trying so<br />
hard to isolate particular components<br />
that it was misrepresenting what was<br />
really going on,” Lundgren said. “When<br />
the farmers changed one aspect of the<br />
system, they’d have to alter everything<br />
else in their system. You lose what is<br />
special about a farm. So, this whole idea<br />
of how to study regenerative agriculture<br />
presented unique challenges from<br />
a scientific perspective.”<br />
The researchers realized they needed<br />
to consider all the aspects working together<br />
to create a functional farm. That<br />
meant looking at everything from soil<br />
chemistry and soil/water relationships<br />
to nutrient density and the economics<br />
of the system. It also meant looking at<br />
life on the farms – from the microbial<br />
communities within the soil to the<br />
insects and plants. The experiments<br />
also needed to be done at scale. Plots of<br />
three feet by ten feet on a research farm<br />
didn’t react the same way as acreage did<br />
on a full-scale working farm. Experiential<br />
knowledge was also something that<br />
couldn’t be duplicated by researchers<br />
new to the field.<br />
“A scientist can step in and say, ‘do this,<br />
this and this, and then you’re going to<br />
be a regenerative farmer.’ But knitting<br />
all those aspects together into a regenerative<br />
farm requires farming experience,”<br />
said Lundgren.<br />
Studying regenerative farming and<br />
encouraging the practice is important<br />
for our future. “We’re talking about offsetting<br />
carbon emissions with our food<br />
system,” Lundgren said. “Regenerative<br />
farming practices hold tremendous<br />
potential for solving so many of these<br />
planetary-scale problems that we’re facing<br />
as a society. These include reducing<br />
water stress on landscapes and promoting<br />
biodiversity conservation during<br />
one of the worst mass extinction events<br />
the planet has ever faced.” He added<br />
that regenerative ag also increases<br />
farm resilience and produces healthier<br />
food, which in turn produces healthier<br />
people.<br />
Regenerative vs Conventional<br />
To succeed as a regenerative farmer<br />
takes a paradigm shift. Instead of focusing<br />
first on yield and profit, regenerative<br />
farmers shift their focus to soil<br />
health and biodiversity. The yield and<br />
profits follow.<br />
There are many ways to create a regenerative<br />
farm instead of a conventional<br />
farm, but most, if not all, regenerative<br />
farms practice the following four methods:<br />
No tillage. Stop tilling completely, or<br />
reduce it to maintain living roots.<br />
Continued on Page 6<br />
Continued on Page 4<br />
4 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 5
Continued from Page 4<br />
Never leave bare soil. Plant cover<br />
crops, or depend on native or resident<br />
plants to act as natural cover crops.<br />
Plant diversity. Some is better than<br />
none; more is better than less.<br />
Integrate crops and livestock. Carefully<br />
introduce and manage livestock<br />
such as sheep, cattle or chickens onto<br />
cropland or into orchards at specific<br />
times of the season, but not within<br />
120 days of harvest.<br />
While all of the above practices have<br />
proved helpful to regenerative farmers,<br />
“Until we apply science, though, these<br />
become very anecdotal,” Lundgren<br />
said. “Well, this works for this farm,<br />
but it might not work for this one sort<br />
of thing.”<br />
Research assistant Ali Mohammedsabri uses an aspirator and a<br />
quadrat to sample for invertebrates (all photos by T. Fenster.)<br />
Research assistant Hilary Vanderheiden takes a bulk density sample.<br />
That’s where researcher Tommy Fenster<br />
of the EF and the Departments<br />
of Biology and Earth and Environmental<br />
Science at CSU East Bay come<br />
in. Fenster did a comparison between<br />
regenerative and conventional almond<br />
orchards. His study looked at everything<br />
from farmer design systems, to<br />
soil nutrients and microbial communities,<br />
up through yield and profitability<br />
of the farm to see how all the<br />
pieces connected.<br />
Questions that Fenster wanted<br />
answered included: Are regenerative<br />
farms increasing biodiversity? Are<br />
these practices providing pest control?<br />
Are they creating real profitable<br />
and successful business models? Do<br />
regenerative management practices<br />
reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers,<br />
insecticides and herbicides while<br />
adding value to an orchard?<br />
To start the study, the researchers<br />
found regenerative farmers growing<br />
almonds, and did field assessments<br />
of their practices. They scored the<br />
orchards on the practices they used,<br />
things such as introducing livestock<br />
and using propane flamers to control<br />
the vegetation strip between trees.<br />
Fenster settled on eight regenerative<br />
almond orchards and eight conven-<br />
6 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
tional almond orchards, pairing one of<br />
each within a 10-mile radius in similar<br />
soil type and growing the same almond<br />
variety. The farms were located north of<br />
Chico down through Merced County.<br />
The average age of the regenerative<br />
orchards was 17 years. Average age of<br />
conventional orchards was 13 years.<br />
Fenster found that regenerative farms<br />
were more likely to have 12 centimeters<br />
of ground cover compared to 2 cm on<br />
conventional farms.<br />
“That ground cover helps protect the<br />
soil even during dry summers,” he said.<br />
“Water doesn’t penetrate as well into the<br />
soil without ground cover or mulch.”<br />
Some of the things the study compared<br />
were soil nutrients, soil carbon and<br />
nitrogen, soil organic matter, water<br />
infiltration and bulk density, microbial<br />
diversity and biomass, ground-level<br />
invertebrate biomass, diversity and pest<br />
management services.<br />
At harvest time, researchers assessed almonds<br />
for pest damage. Damage from<br />
navel orangeworm was the same.<br />
“Both the regenerative and conventional<br />
farmers did a pretty good job of controlling<br />
pest damage,” Fenster said.<br />
The Profit Factor<br />
Researchers also looked at the nutrient<br />
density of nuts, yield per acre and<br />
profitability. They found little or no<br />
difference in yield between both of<br />
the farming systems. Profitability was<br />
about twice as high for regenerative<br />
growers.<br />
“There’s really no difference in operating<br />
costs. There’s actually potential for<br />
the regenerative orchards to decrease<br />
operating costs,” Fenster noted. “Increased<br />
revenue came from a higher<br />
value placed upon the almonds.”<br />
Regenerative farms scored significantly<br />
higher soil health index scores. Those<br />
farms had higher amounts of organic<br />
matter, organic nitrogen, carbon,<br />
calcium and total phosphorus. Conventional<br />
farm soil had a slightly higher<br />
aluminum content.<br />
Getting the key nutrients to the trees<br />
without the use of synthetics proved<br />
doable. “And in some cases these key<br />
nutrients were actually higher,” Fenster<br />
said.<br />
There was easier root penetration on<br />
the regenerative farms and better water<br />
infiltration, 10 minutes for infiltration<br />
compared to 64 minutes in one test<br />
after a heavy rain event. Bulk density<br />
is lower in conventional orchards;<br />
conventional orchards had 41 metric<br />
tons of total soil carbon per hectare,<br />
compared to 54 metric tons per hectare<br />
in regenerative.<br />
Continued on Page 8<br />
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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 7
"<br />
"<br />
—Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, Ecdysis Foundation<br />
Continued from Page 7<br />
The difference in the carbon amount<br />
was in the very top layers of soil.<br />
“It shows the fragility of where this<br />
carbon is at,” Fenster said.<br />
Microbial biomass was higher in regenerative<br />
farms, including mycorrhizal<br />
fungi mass.<br />
“These are really key for getting nutrients<br />
to trees,” he added.<br />
Regenerative orchards showed six times<br />
the biomass of ground-level invertebrates<br />
and higher biodiversity.<br />
“Regenerative orchards are supporting<br />
a more robust and diverse invertebrate<br />
community.”<br />
Research assistants Chris Bradley, Ali Mohammedsabri and Hilary<br />
Vanderheiden prepare to sample for ground-level invertebrates.<br />
Regenerative Farming<br />
Key Takeaways<br />
Maintaining ground cover on orchard<br />
floors is the most important<br />
practice for building soil carbon,<br />
but only functions within a complete<br />
regenerative system.<br />
Regenerative orchards slowly gain<br />
total soil carbon (TSC). Conventional<br />
orchards slowly lose it.<br />
There’s a significant correlation<br />
between increasing invertebrate<br />
and arthropod biodiversity and<br />
TSC in top soil layers. A robust<br />
and diverse population of the little<br />
creatures plays an important role<br />
in breaking down the plant matter<br />
into soil carbon.<br />
Increasing invertebrate biodiversity<br />
correlated to reduced pest damage.<br />
There was a definite link between<br />
TSC and invertebrate diversity with<br />
profitability.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
8 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
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Boron for<br />
GROWING<br />
Organic Crops<br />
Both Soils and Crops Need Adequate Boron to<br />
Balance Nutrient Utilization<br />
BY NEAL KINSEY, Kinsey Agricultural Services<br />
The previous article provided the<br />
first in a series to be published in<br />
Organic Farmer on both soil needs<br />
and plant response for trace elements or<br />
micronutrients.<br />
More often than not, the soils we<br />
receive to be analyzed for growing all<br />
types of crops are deficient in several<br />
micronutrients, but the one that requires<br />
constant vigilance to assure the<br />
greatest success is boron. Like nitrogen<br />
and sulfur, boron can be leached from<br />
the soil. So, just as is true concerning<br />
sulfur, farmers and growers should<br />
test for boron content in the soil and<br />
generally expect it to be required to<br />
correct soil needs accordingly from<br />
year to year.<br />
Although it should be, boron is not<br />
usually considered as a necessary addition<br />
for growing most crops including<br />
corn, soybeans, wheat, vegetables and<br />
even pastures. Without adequate boron,<br />
more nitrogen is needed in order to<br />
produce the same amount of growth.<br />
Consequently, it needs to be present<br />
in sufficient amounts as plants begin<br />
to grow and throughout the growing<br />
season. Still, it is always best to apply<br />
boron to the land based on actual needs<br />
as established by a reliable soil test,<br />
not by guessing whether it is or is not<br />
needed.<br />
Calcium and Boron<br />
Based on the test we use, the minimum<br />
boron level in any soil should be no<br />
lower than 0.8 ppm. But because it can<br />
be easily leached with rainfall or irrigation<br />
water, enough material should<br />
be applied to build for a higher level,<br />
and 1.5 to 2.0 ppm is considered ideal.<br />
Excellent boron levels are only most effective<br />
when there is sufficient calcium<br />
and phosphorous. Though it can still<br />
be helpful, there is no need to expect<br />
the best response from boron under circumstances<br />
where either one of these<br />
elements is not at sufficient levels.<br />
In fact, calcium and boron work together<br />
in the soil as plants need sufficient<br />
calcium to take up adequate boron, and<br />
enough boron is needed in the soil to<br />
assure that calcium is taken up by the<br />
Continued on Page 12<br />
10 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 11
All crops and pastures need adequate boron for maximum nitrogen response<br />
(photo by Linda Kinsey.)<br />
Continued from Page 10<br />
plants. Also, if phosphate is deficient<br />
in the soil, boron will not fill the seed<br />
or grain to the same extent as would<br />
normally be the case.<br />
Though some in plant genetics may<br />
disagree, once all the other needed<br />
nutrient levels are completely met for<br />
producing a desired corn yield, if boron<br />
is not kept above 0.80 ppm, the kernels<br />
will not fill out all the way to the tip<br />
of the cob. It is not plant genetics that<br />
cause this problem. In every case, once<br />
the nutrients that are lacking have been<br />
supplied, even the most “susceptible”<br />
varieties fill out completely. How many<br />
bushels of corn grain are lost due to<br />
that lack, even at ¼-inch of grain loss<br />
per cob per acre?<br />
As an all-too-common example, one<br />
corn farmer, new to the program, always<br />
had problems getting his corn to<br />
fill all the way to the tip of the cob. This<br />
farmer had low phosphate and deficient<br />
boron levels in his fields. We recommended<br />
both the needed phosphate<br />
and the boron. However, the farmer<br />
was convinced by his fertilizer dealer<br />
that his soils had adequate P levels and<br />
only needed a little starter P. This was<br />
also advocated to farmers in the area by<br />
the land grant university in the state.<br />
Though sufficient boron was supplied,<br />
the kernels at the tips of the cobs<br />
still did not fill out completely to the<br />
end because the soil lacked sufficient<br />
phosphate. When both are deficient, a<br />
primary element such as phosphate or<br />
potassium should be given the highest<br />
priority over any trace element, including<br />
boron.<br />
That same farm still uses our program.<br />
Once the needed P was supplied and<br />
the boron level continued to be maintained,<br />
the cobs began filling plump<br />
kernels of grain completely to the tip<br />
of each ear, and the yield increase from<br />
that extra grain is now an annual 30 to<br />
40 more bushels of corn per acre.<br />
Nutrient Balance<br />
Soils need boron to maximize the size<br />
of fruit and seed crops. But this will<br />
not happen without adequate calcium.<br />
Calcium is necessary to get starch into<br />
crop leaves. Boron is needed to get the<br />
starch from the leaves to the fruit or<br />
the grain. If either is lacking, seed and<br />
fruit size will also be lacking.<br />
Consider again: this response will not<br />
happen without the proper minimum<br />
amount of calcium in the soil. And just<br />
having a “good soil pH” does not assure<br />
that calcium is adequate enough for the<br />
best crop response to boron. It is the<br />
soil saturation of calcium that determines<br />
how boron will help plants to<br />
respond in any soil. When the available<br />
Continued on Page 14<br />
12 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
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Continued from Page 12<br />
calcium saturation is 60 to 70% in a soil,<br />
the crop response from using adequate<br />
boron is excellent. But on that same<br />
soil, if the saturation of calcium is in<br />
the 40 to 50% range, the same amount<br />
of boron can be toxic to the very same<br />
crop. This is why growers should not<br />
rely on soil pH as being indicative of<br />
enough calcium for the safe use of<br />
boron.<br />
A lack of response from boron can<br />
also be caused by excessive amounts<br />
of potassium in the soil. This situation<br />
can cause boron to be tied up and<br />
unavailable to the crop from the soil.<br />
More specifically, when potassium is<br />
over 7.5% of total soil saturation, even<br />
if the level of boron has been maintained<br />
as needed, such high potassium<br />
ties up what would have been normally<br />
plant-available boron. In such cases,<br />
the crop will suffer from boron deficiency.<br />
Still, the more deficient the calcium<br />
saturation is in any soil, the more likely<br />
boron toxicity problems will occur. So<br />
again, a balance between all the soil<br />
nutrients is needed for best results<br />
because each nutrient must sufficiently<br />
be supplied to do its job in order to help<br />
the other nutrients to properly do their<br />
job.<br />
Once there is adequate calcium to<br />
ensure a safe response from boron, the<br />
minimum level in the soil should be<br />
0.80 ppm for general cropping purposes.<br />
But once the levels of other nutrients<br />
are built up, boron should be built up<br />
to between 1.5 to 2.0 ppm. This is the<br />
recommended level for alfalfa, but<br />
for maximum response from boron<br />
on other crops, that same level, when<br />
safely achievable, should be considered<br />
as ideal.<br />
Clay soils can be built up to the point<br />
that boron is sufficient for a crop or<br />
even several cropping seasons. Sandy<br />
soils are much harder to build, and at<br />
times may not even be safe to supply<br />
the amount needed to produce the best<br />
results. Again, only a reliable soil test<br />
can safely provide that critical information.<br />
Just guessing can be extremely<br />
expensive and very dangerous to the<br />
growing crop in such cases!<br />
Too much boron can be toxic to growing<br />
plants, so be careful not to apply<br />
more than each particular crop can<br />
stand at any one time. This is true even<br />
when more is shown to be needed for<br />
obtaining excellent results.<br />
Using legumes, plants that are very sensitive<br />
to boron in the seedling stage of<br />
growth, as an example, more than two<br />
pounds per acre of actual boron can be<br />
toxic, even if calcium is excellent. This<br />
is true from the time of emergence up<br />
to setting the first tri-foliate leaf, so<br />
at least one good soaking rain should<br />
occur between such an application and<br />
planting.<br />
A citrus grower using our program initially<br />
had severely deficient boron levels<br />
in his soils. The recommendations<br />
made were to correct the needed calcium,<br />
which, with ordinary agricultural<br />
limestone, will generally take three<br />
Boron is necessary for efficient nitrogen utilization. It also takes the starch from the leaf and<br />
puts it in the fruit which gives larger sized tomatoes (photo by N. Kinsey.)<br />
14 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
years to see the full effects for building<br />
up calcium levels. Because the calcium<br />
was so low and citrus is one of the most<br />
sensitive and adversely affected crops to<br />
excessive boron, the minimum boron<br />
application was recommended to be<br />
made with another minimum application<br />
six months later.<br />
The grower was warned that in his<br />
very sandy soils the boron might never<br />
reach ideal. Due to unexpected circumstances,<br />
the first application went on in<br />
late fall instead of late summer. But the<br />
response was so positive that a second<br />
application was used in late winter<br />
instead of six months later. Where this<br />
was done, the fruit was the size of half<br />
dollars when the part that did not receive<br />
the boron was the size of quarters.<br />
So, in spite of these two applications<br />
so close together, the results were so<br />
good that the decision was made by the<br />
grower without asking anyone to apply<br />
a third application in the spring. This<br />
time, the trees showed the classic boron<br />
toxicity with many brown pustules on<br />
the underside of the leaves and began to<br />
rapidly defoliate. This would likely have<br />
been a big disaster, but an unexpected<br />
five inches of rain came in the next two<br />
days and washed enough of the boron<br />
out to allow the trees to grow another<br />
flush of leaves. Though these were<br />
mature trees, the grower said it was the<br />
best crop he had ever produced there.<br />
Had it not rained, it would have likely<br />
been the worst.<br />
An example of boron use on grass<br />
may be helpful in several ways as well.<br />
Samples had been analyzed for the<br />
same golf course for a number of years,<br />
and the golf course superintendent<br />
had been applying everything but the<br />
recommended boron. Because of its<br />
reported effect on grass by other golf<br />
courses, he had been afraid to do so.<br />
applied. Recommendations were made<br />
for using a soil application of boron in a<br />
dry fertilizer mix.<br />
In about a week, he called to say how<br />
much better the grass was already<br />
growing than ever before. Due to improved<br />
nitrogen utilization, the same<br />
thing will happen on pastures when boron<br />
is properly used. But before talking<br />
about the grass growth, he explained<br />
how they could not get dry boron for<br />
spreading in the dry mix, but could get<br />
Solubor. I cautioned him not to use the<br />
full rate if the Solubor was used as a foliar<br />
liquid application because it could<br />
damage the grass. He immediately<br />
replied, “No it won’t!” As a test, we have<br />
already applied it to the grass at the<br />
nursery; half of one of the greens and<br />
half of one of the fairways, and in each<br />
case, the grass is just growing greener<br />
and taller than ever before.<br />
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It then was suggested that he just count<br />
his blessings under the circumstances<br />
and switch to applying the recommended<br />
amount in 12 equal applications over<br />
the entire growing season, which he<br />
agreed to do.<br />
The next day he called back and<br />
exclaimed, “You just saved my job!” Because<br />
overnight all the grass they had<br />
treated was now “dead” and, thankfully,<br />
no more had been applied that way. Foliar<br />
boron is fine to use, but it must be<br />
applied at a safe rate as a foliar which<br />
is much less than that can be done as a<br />
normal soil application.<br />
Soil v. Tissue Testing<br />
Certified organic growers can apply<br />
boron based upon proper testing to<br />
show there is a need. Borax (11% B) and<br />
Solubor (21% B) have always been al-<br />
Continued on Page 16<br />
View the Full Study at<br />
But after attending one of our courses<br />
and hearing why boron, due to the<br />
circumstances involved, can cause<br />
problems in one place while working<br />
well under different conditions in<br />
another, the boron was now going to be<br />
WATER<br />
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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 15
In citrus, boron increases nitrogen efficiency, bloom size with thicker petals and larger fruit size<br />
(photo by John Fair Photos. Used by permission.)<br />
Continued from Page 15<br />
lowed. Other products may be allowed<br />
depending on the material and the<br />
rules used for certification.<br />
There are some soils with a pH below<br />
6.0 that still have a sufficient level of<br />
calcium to justify a safe and effective<br />
boron application. But there are also<br />
soils with a pH of 8.0 that have such<br />
a low base saturation of calcium that<br />
even half the normally safe rate for that<br />
soil with a pH below 6.0 could be toxic<br />
even with the same crop growing there.<br />
There may be several reasons why, and<br />
this is in no way meant to imply anyone<br />
is trying to deceive the growers. First of<br />
all, too many assume that soil pH is all<br />
you need to determine whether boron<br />
will be a problem in plants. This is a<br />
false assumption. It is not soil pH that<br />
accurately determines boron toxicity. It<br />
is whether each soil has enough available<br />
calcium or not.<br />
We recommend and use plant tissue<br />
testing for evaluating nutrient levels in<br />
plants. However, in certain cases where<br />
micronutrient levels are in question,<br />
the plant analysis will come back showing<br />
a sufficient level when the soil test<br />
shows there is still a need for more to<br />
achieve the best results. When it comes<br />
to the use of micronutrients, we follow<br />
and trust the guidance of the soil tests<br />
we use over that of plant analysis.<br />
For example, leaf testing for boron content<br />
will tell growers they have enough<br />
when soil tests will show boron as still<br />
not being there in sufficient amounts<br />
for the crop in question.<br />
Growers should be cautious when<br />
considering whether their soils need<br />
boron or not. There is a great disparity<br />
between plant testing and soil testing to<br />
show when more boron is needed. For<br />
example, when sufficient boron is applied<br />
to the soil to reach the ideal level<br />
for the best response and growth for<br />
citrus, leaf tests from this same grove<br />
may report toxic levels in the leaf. This<br />
type of warning has been given even<br />
when there is no sign of toxicity in the<br />
leaves or other plant parts, and, in fact,<br />
those who know citrus best would actually<br />
choose those trees as the best of the<br />
best based on looks, plant response and<br />
fruit production.<br />
Boron is an anion, which means it can<br />
be leached out of the soil because it<br />
is not attracted and held by the clay<br />
colloids in the soil. Humus is able to<br />
attract and hold some, but generally far<br />
too little to keep sufficient boron levels<br />
for the crops to be grown there from<br />
year to year. Like nitrogen and sulfur,<br />
boron can be easily leached from the<br />
soil. Consequently, though in some<br />
heavier clay soils it is possible to build<br />
boron sufficiently enough that, for a<br />
year or two, adding more is not necessary,<br />
most soils need at least some build<br />
up every year.<br />
Although needed in very small<br />
amounts, boron enables plants to utilize<br />
needed nitrogen, helps increase size<br />
in fruit, grain or seed production, and<br />
at excellent levels along with adequate<br />
copper, helps in preventing and controlling<br />
rust and fungus diseases.<br />
Apply boron based on actual need as<br />
determined by soil tests. Using too little<br />
or too much can be extremely costly.<br />
Do not guess. You cannot manage what<br />
you do not correctly measure.<br />
Neal Kinsey is owner and President of<br />
Kinsey Agricultural Services, a consulting<br />
firm that specializes in restoring and<br />
maintaining balanced soil fertility. For<br />
more information please call (573) 683-<br />
3880 or see www.kinseyag.com.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
16 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
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Considerations<br />
When Thinking About Transitioning to Certified<br />
Organic Production<br />
BY REX DUFOUR, NCAT/ATTRA<br />
Farming is a difficult business.<br />
Farming organically is a bit more<br />
complicated than farming conventionally<br />
because it requires a different<br />
knowledge base and a different approach<br />
“between the ears” than conventional<br />
farming. Here are some thoughts<br />
about transitioning to certified organic<br />
production.<br />
First of all, you should know that I’m<br />
biased toward many of the production<br />
practices that support organic production<br />
(cover cropping, use of compost,<br />
avoiding synthetic chemical pesticides<br />
and fertilizers, diverse crop rotations),<br />
because I’ve seen what good soil management,<br />
and plant diversity above the<br />
soil line can do.<br />
There are some basic considerations<br />
that farmers need to think about prior<br />
to transitioning to organic:<br />
• Market and market demand<br />
• Paperwork<br />
• Biological transition<br />
• Certified organic processing<br />
facilities (for meat, fruits, nuts or<br />
veggies)<br />
• Equipment<br />
• Commitment<br />
• Mindset<br />
What’s Your Market?<br />
There are a lot of conventional growers<br />
that have adopted some or all of the<br />
practices typically considered “organic”<br />
because these practices support nutrient<br />
and water cycling. So, if conventional<br />
growers are doing this, then the<br />
first question you should ask yourself<br />
is, “Why transition to certified organic<br />
production?”<br />
If your market demands certified<br />
organic product, or if the most likely<br />
sector for growth in your market is<br />
certified organic, then you better start<br />
climbing that organic learning curve<br />
(attra.ncat.org is a good resource.)<br />
However, if you’re just wanting to “do<br />
the right thing” and aren’t necessarily<br />
interested in the organic price premiums,<br />
then perhaps certified organic<br />
isn’t the appropriate path for you and<br />
your farm.<br />
You can experiment with planting cover<br />
crops or use of compost on a small<br />
block and observe the results. I would<br />
remind readers that most of our soils<br />
are in a degraded condition from years<br />
of tillage, compaction, chemical impacts<br />
and lack of organic matter, so it’s<br />
likely going to take at least a few years<br />
of managing your soils with respect,<br />
and as a complex ecology, to begin to<br />
bring the life back to them so they’re<br />
functioning properly.<br />
“Paperwork” Transition<br />
Certified organic production requires<br />
a three-year transition from the last<br />
application of a prohibited substance to<br />
the date of harvest of a certified organic<br />
product. Generally speaking, transitional<br />
product (i.e. not certified organic)<br />
doesn’t command any price premium.<br />
Plus, there’s the paperwork—each<br />
certifying agency has something called<br />
the Organic System Plan (OSP) that you<br />
need to fill out—it’s a record of all your<br />
inputs and many of your production<br />
practices.<br />
You should also be prepared if you’re an<br />
organic grower in California to register<br />
with the State of California as an<br />
organic grower (and depending on the<br />
size of your farm’s gross sales, you’ll be<br />
able to pay for this privilege. To see how<br />
much, visit organic.cdfa.ca.gov/OrganicReg/Registration_Fee_2017.aspx.)<br />
18 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
Organic farming requires a different approach to nutrient and pest management.<br />
Most importantly, it requires a different approach “between the ears”<br />
(photo by Rex Dufour, NCAT.)<br />
Annual inspections of your farm operation<br />
are also required by the certifying<br />
agency. And each certifying agency has a<br />
slightly different fee rate. For the last several<br />
years, USDA has provided each state’s<br />
department of agriculture some funds to<br />
defray the cost of organic certification to<br />
the grower. This is usually 75% of the cost<br />
of certification up to $750. These funds<br />
may or may not be available in the next<br />
growing season. Check with your state’s<br />
department of agriculture.<br />
And on a slightly different note, USDA’s<br />
Natural Resources Conservation Service<br />
(NRCS) has a practice under their Environmental<br />
Quality Incentives Program<br />
(EQIP) called Conservation Activity Plan<br />
Supporting Organic Transition (CAPSOT<br />
138), which will pay for a qualified consultant<br />
(known in NRCS-ese as a Technical<br />
Service Provider or TSP) to develop<br />
an organic conservation plan for your<br />
transitioning farm— nearly identical to an<br />
organic system plan. If you’re interested,<br />
ask your local NRCS Service Center about<br />
CAPSOT 138, and if they can recommend<br />
it.<br />
Continued on Page 20<br />
<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 19
'<br />
Transportation costs<br />
can quickly devour any<br />
organic price premiums<br />
that might accompany<br />
a product, so make<br />
sure you understand<br />
what certified organic<br />
processing facilities are<br />
available for your farm<br />
products and what the<br />
transport costs are.<br />
'<br />
Continued from Page 19<br />
Biological Transition<br />
The biological transition of your ground<br />
generally takes a bit longer than three<br />
years. Certainly, your farm’s ecology<br />
will continue to evolve and revive as<br />
your expertise in organic practices<br />
evolves, but it also depends on how creative<br />
you are in your use of cover crops,<br />
compost and general management of<br />
the soil ecology and the above-ground<br />
ecology.<br />
You can learn a lot from talking with<br />
experienced organic growers. You can<br />
speed up this biological transition by<br />
implementing the “five principles” of<br />
healthy soil management (see ATTRA’s<br />
publication on this at attra.ncat.org/<br />
product/manage-soil-for-water.)<br />
Equipment<br />
There’s the “equipment curve” as well.<br />
You need to figure out what equipment<br />
you should have, but don’t have right<br />
now, to be an effective organic farmer;<br />
again, talking with an experienced<br />
organic farmer will help you avoid<br />
some of the larger mistakes transitioning<br />
growers might make. For example,<br />
cover crops are an increasingly popular<br />
way to improve soil health. One-hopper<br />
grain drills can be effective, but<br />
if you’re interested in planting a more<br />
diverse mix and different seeding rates,<br />
multi-hopper, no-till drills are available.<br />
Do you have equipment to manage<br />
a cover crop? Many farmers like flail<br />
mowers to handle heavy cover crops,<br />
but make sure you have an appropriate-sized<br />
tractor which has sufficient<br />
power to handle the flail mower.<br />
Continued on Page 22<br />
Transitioning to organic production requires a change in thinking about your soils, especially maintaining soil<br />
quality and fertility. This farmer has planted a vetch cover crop, brought up by winter rains. The vetch will<br />
protect the soil from rainfall impacts, as well as providing "free" nitrogen (photo by R. Dufour, NCAT.)<br />
20 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
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Continued from Page 20<br />
Processing Facilities<br />
A very important consideration is<br />
the location of processing facilities in<br />
relation to your farm’s location. Many<br />
certified organic products require certified<br />
organic processing facilities—this<br />
is especially important for nut crops,<br />
processing tomatoes, vegetables and<br />
leafy greens, and any meat or dairy<br />
products.<br />
Transportation costs can quickly devour<br />
any organic price premiums that<br />
might accompany a product, so make<br />
sure you understand what certified organic<br />
processing facilities are available<br />
for your farm products and what the<br />
transport costs are.<br />
Commitment<br />
The grey matter between your ears is<br />
perhaps the most important consideration.<br />
If you’ve been farming conventionally<br />
and relying on chemical<br />
fertilizers and pesticides for managing<br />
fertility and pests, be warned that organic<br />
farming is a different animal, and<br />
really a different way of farming.<br />
Over-reliance on synthetic chemicals<br />
has allowed some farmers to mask<br />
a lot of unsustainable soil and pest<br />
management practices with increasing<br />
amounts of chemical inputs, but even<br />
that approach eventually becomes too<br />
costly and less and less effective.<br />
Making a commitment to investing in<br />
your soils, just as you would invest in<br />
maintaining farm machinery or farm<br />
buildings, or training your farm’s staff,<br />
is an important commitment to make.<br />
But to invest in your soils, you need to<br />
understand what investments in your<br />
soil will provide the best return. You<br />
can begin by learning the basics of soil<br />
ecology and applying those aforementioned<br />
five principles whenever and<br />
wherever you can on your farm.<br />
Mindset and Input Substitution<br />
A word about input substitution, since<br />
you can make a small fortune with this<br />
approach, but you have to start with a<br />
large fortune. For growers transitioning<br />
to organic production from conventional<br />
practices, it may be tempting to<br />
simply substitute organic inputs for<br />
conventional inputs. This can be done,<br />
but you’ll likely go broke doing it, since<br />
organic inputs, including everything<br />
from organically acceptable commercial<br />
fertilizers to pesticides, can be pretty<br />
pricey. It’s much more practical to<br />
grow at least part of your nitrogen-using<br />
cover crops and to rely mostly on<br />
diverse rotations and creating beneficial<br />
habitats for pest control.<br />
Changing approaches from reacting<br />
to problems by applying chemicals<br />
to a mindset of proactive ecosystem<br />
management is a radical shift in how<br />
to approach problems on your farm. It<br />
can be a steep learning curve as well.<br />
But many farmers I’ve spoken with<br />
about this claim that adopting a more<br />
ecologically based approach to farming<br />
makes growing crops and livestock fun<br />
again and more interesting. The bottom<br />
line is: whether you decide to farm<br />
organically or not, all of us, including<br />
non-farmers, need to become better<br />
stewards of this planet, which, as far as<br />
we know, is the only place in the whole<br />
galaxy with life on it.<br />
Rex Dufour has been working in<br />
sustainable and organic agriculture<br />
for over 40 years. He has completed<br />
the International Organic<br />
Inspectors Association (IOIA)<br />
training for organic inspectors, has<br />
a MSc in IPM from UC Riverside<br />
and is registered as a Technical<br />
Service Provider (TSP) with NRCS<br />
in CA and NV.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
Additional Resources For Making<br />
the Organic Transition<br />
To choose a USDA-accredited certification<br />
agency (ACA), look through the list of options<br />
on the National Organic Program (NOP) website:<br />
www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop<br />
“The Organic Certification Process” found within<br />
the Program Handbook, and in the ATTRA<br />
publication: Organic Certification Process:<br />
attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.<br />
php?pub=163<br />
How growers overcome the challenges of transitioning<br />
to organic:<br />
freshfruitportal.com/news/<strong>2020</strong>/09/21/<br />
how-growers-overcome-the-challenges-of-transitioning-to-organic/<br />
Transitioning to Organic Production, ATTRA<br />
News 2006:<br />
attra.ncat.org/newsletter/attranews_1106.html<br />
10 myths about transitioning to organic:<br />
duckduckgo.com/?q=10+myths+organic+transition+attra&t=ffab&atb=v225-1&ia=web<br />
Organic Certification of Farms and Businesses<br />
Producing Agricultural Products:<br />
attra.ncat.org/attra-pub-summaries/?pub=152<br />
Non-GMO Dairy Transition Guide:<br />
attra.ncat.org/product/non-gmo-dairy-transition-guide/<br />
Organic Transition Training:<br />
attra.ncat.org/event-calendar/organic-transition-training-2/<br />
Thinking about transitioning to organic production:<br />
agupdate.com/minnesotafarmguide/news/<br />
crop/thinking-about-transitioning-to-organ-<br />
ic-production/article_06cced82-03b0-11e9-<br />
b116-a7399763cc99.html<br />
Do the Numbers: Organic Grain Transition:<br />
anchor.fm/moses-podcast/episodes/Do-the-<br />
Numbers-Organic-Grain-Transition-eg7mqs<br />
MOSES Organic Farming Podcast<br />
anchor.fm/moses-podcast/episodes/Do-the-<br />
Numbers--Part-2-Dairy-Graziers-on-the-Economics-of-Dairy-Grazing-efk3rf<br />
22 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 23
PESTS IN<br />
HEMP<br />
Crop and Yield Loss Still Being Assessed<br />
in this New Commodity<br />
BY SARAH LIGHT, UCCE Agronomy Advisor, Sutter, Yuba, and Colusa Counties<br />
Powdery mildew has been observed<br />
in hemp, but disease pressure was mild<br />
and did not require treatment<br />
(photo courtesy DeAnna Vega, UCCE.)<br />
Hemp (Cannabis sativa) is an<br />
emerging crop in California, with<br />
cultivars of industrial hemp legalized<br />
for production in the 2018 Farm<br />
Bill. By definition, industrial hemp<br />
may not contain more than 0.3% of the<br />
psychoactive compound THC in the<br />
parts of the plants sampled and regulated<br />
by the state. Hemp has various end<br />
uses ranging from fiber to flower buds<br />
to grain seed, however most growers<br />
in California are growing hemp for the<br />
cannabinoid CBD. Hemp cultivars can<br />
be dioecious or monoecious, but hemp<br />
cultivars grown for CBD have primarily<br />
been dioecious types (male and female<br />
flowers on separate plants,) with female<br />
plants grown for CBD production.<br />
Pests in Hemp<br />
Since hemp is a new commodity, pest<br />
challenges are still being observed and<br />
monitored. Certain agricultural pests<br />
have been observed on industrial hemp<br />
in California, but it is not yet known<br />
which cause significant crop damage or<br />
yield loss.<br />
We know that tobacco budworm and<br />
corn earworm can cause severe flower<br />
damage. Webworms appear to cause<br />
damage to young stands when plants<br />
are small, but it is not clear whether<br />
hemp plants can grow out of it. Some<br />
other known agricultural insect pests<br />
have been observed on hemp, including<br />
leaf miners, spotted cucumber beetle,<br />
adult whitefly, lygus and mites. However,<br />
crop loss has not been confirmed<br />
for any of these species. While some<br />
of these pests can cause visible but<br />
minor damage to hemp plants (e.g. leaf<br />
miners), it is not clear if the damage is<br />
ever severe enough to affect crop yields.<br />
Many beneficial insects like dragonflies,<br />
native bees and honeybees have also<br />
been seen in these hemp fields.<br />
Some diseases have also been observed<br />
on industrial hemp. Some, like beet<br />
curly top virus and Botrytis blight,<br />
appear to be problematic. Others like<br />
powdery mildew have been observed,<br />
but disease pressure was very mild<br />
and did not require treatment. Gopher<br />
damage to root systems has also been<br />
observed in drip-irrigated fields. More<br />
research is needed to identify important<br />
pests of hemp, determine which<br />
pests require management and develop<br />
IPM practices. In addition, it is unknown<br />
what pest pressure may build up<br />
in the landscape in the future as more<br />
and more acres of hemp are planted in<br />
the state.<br />
Beet curly top virus (left) and Botrytis blight (right) can be very problematic in industrial<br />
hemp (photos courtesy Bob Hutmacher, UC ANR and Annemiek Schilde, UC ANR.)<br />
Continued on Page 26<br />
24 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 25
Examples of common Agricultural pests that have been observed in hemp.<br />
(photos courtesy Ian Grettenberger, UC Davis.)<br />
Continued from Page 24<br />
Spotted Cucumber Beetle<br />
Webworm<br />
Corn earworm can cause severe<br />
flower damage<br />
(photos by S. Light.)<br />
Tobacco Budworm<br />
Leafminer<br />
Beneficial insects like dragonflies<br />
have also been seen in these<br />
hemp fields (photo by S. Light.)<br />
Managing Pests in Hemp<br />
Hemp is a highly regulated commodity,<br />
and regulations are changing to<br />
meet industry and environmental<br />
safety needs. Talk to your Agricultural<br />
Commissioner if you are interested in<br />
growing hemp. Pesticides that can be<br />
used in hemp are currently limited.<br />
What determines if a pesticide can be<br />
used on hemp? The product must meet<br />
three requirements in order to be legal<br />
for application on hemp:<br />
• Exempt residue tolerance requirements.<br />
• Exempt from registration.<br />
• Use of the product would not be<br />
legally considered a use in conflict<br />
with the registered label.<br />
What does this mean? Basically, a<br />
product that is labeled broadly enough<br />
to not be excluded from application to<br />
hemp can be applied. Generally, these<br />
tend to be “softer” chemicals; however,<br />
these products still come with risks, so<br />
care should be taken to follow the label<br />
and make safe and effective sprays.<br />
Bee Safety<br />
Although most industrial hemp plants<br />
are female, the seed feminization<br />
process is never 100% true, and males<br />
will be present in the field. Male hemp<br />
plants shed a lot of pollen, making<br />
them attractive to native bees and<br />
honeybees. Bee Safe practices should be<br />
followed when managing pests in hemp.<br />
See a previous article in the August/<br />
September issue of Organic Farmer on<br />
Protecting Bees in Hemp Production<br />
for more information.<br />
'<br />
Certain agricultural pests<br />
have been observed on<br />
industrial hemp in California,<br />
but it is not yet known<br />
which cause significant<br />
crop damage or yield<br />
'<br />
loss.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
26 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 27
Creating the<br />
Optimum Compost<br />
Proper Feedstocks and Treatment Are Essential for a Beneficial Blend<br />
BY TAYLOR CHALSTROM, Editorial Assistant Intern<br />
Compost offers a wide range of<br />
benefits to soils depending on the<br />
blend, providing soils with biomass,<br />
carbon and nitrogen sources.<br />
In order for compost to work in a soil, it<br />
needs to have the proper blend of feedstocks<br />
and be tested/treated to ensure<br />
proper nutrient levels and microbial activity<br />
are present. This article provides<br />
insight into the large-scale compost<br />
operation at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo,<br />
and how this compost provides benefits<br />
to a nearby vineyard.<br />
Finding the Right Mix<br />
Kevin Piper, Director of Agricultural<br />
Operations at Cal Poly, San Luis<br />
Obispo, said in recent video interview<br />
that the school’s own operation takes<br />
four key components into account<br />
when building the feedstocks that go<br />
into their compost: carbon to nitrogen<br />
(C:N) ratio, percent moisture, bulk<br />
density (measured in cubic yards) and<br />
texture.<br />
“Good composting practices are important,”<br />
Piper said. “We want to know<br />
our feedstocks well, and that means<br />
knowing the specific components of<br />
each.<br />
“Texture is a good thing to incorporate,<br />
and normally you’re going to get that<br />
with your carbon source,” he continued.<br />
“This could be anything from fine sawdust<br />
all the way up to rough woodchips.<br />
You want to find a happy medium; if<br />
you have too much fine texture, you’ll<br />
end up with a light mix that has a hard<br />
time holding temperatures, and if you<br />
have too much rough texture, you’ll<br />
end up with a density issue.”<br />
The Organic Compost page on Cal<br />
Poly’s website (cafes.calpoly.edu/cal-poly-compost)<br />
says that the school’s<br />
operation removes solid manure from<br />
its dairy, beef, equine and poultry units<br />
and incorporates it with green waste<br />
from campus landscaping to create its<br />
unique blend. The specific feedstock<br />
breakdown for the operation, according<br />
to Piper, is green waste (55% moisture,<br />
610 lbs/cu yd., C:N ratio of 150,) waste<br />
feed/silage (75% moisture, 1,300 lbs/<br />
cu yd., C:N ratio of 12,) horse manure<br />
(45% moisture, 450 lbs/cu yd., C:N ratio<br />
of 40) and separated solids from the<br />
on-campus dairy operation (85% moisture,<br />
1,400 lbs/cu yd., C:N ratio of 18.)<br />
“Once we’ve blended our recipe, we<br />
want our ideal component ranges to be<br />
a bulk density of 800 to 1,000 lbs/cu yd.,<br />
40 to 60% moisture and a C:N ratio of<br />
30,” Piper said.<br />
Best Practices for Compost<br />
Creating a compost blend can be a<br />
complicated and drawn-out process<br />
and there are several safety/sanitation<br />
measures to keep in mind. If a compost<br />
producer’s operation is as large as Cal<br />
Poly’s, which Piper said produces 7 to<br />
8 million pounds of manure annually<br />
that is then turned into about 3,000 to<br />
3,500 cubic yards of finished compost,<br />
vigorous sanitation steps and testing<br />
are necessary to retain organic certification.<br />
“Compost producers have to consider<br />
California’s regulatory environment,”<br />
Piper said. “In this state, we deal with<br />
CalRecycle and the Regional Water<br />
28 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
Quality Control Board, both of which<br />
have regulatory requirements for<br />
composting facilities. One of the main<br />
things to keep in mind when setting up<br />
an operation or composting in general<br />
is not to do it next to a wellhead or<br />
within a couple hundred feet of a live<br />
stream. This can pose issues of runoff.<br />
“Another good [sanitation] practice<br />
is preventing cross contamination by<br />
cleaning machinery between handling<br />
raw feedstock and ongoing/finished<br />
compost,” Piper continued.<br />
Maintaining certain levels of microbial<br />
activity and nutrients within compost<br />
can also make or break an operation.<br />
Testing of temperatures and the product<br />
itself needs to be conducted before<br />
anything is sold. If a compost blend is<br />
not ready for use, according to Piper, it<br />
can be dangerous to incorporate into<br />
plants because of the potential for nutrient<br />
stealing.<br />
“We have a pathogen reduction phase<br />
(PRP) in our windrow process,” Piper<br />
said. “We use short and long temperature<br />
gauges to get an idea of what is<br />
happening on the interior and exterior<br />
level of the compost pile. Once we’ve<br />
reached a temperature of 131 degrees<br />
F during the PRP, we have to maintain<br />
that temperature for 15 days and turn<br />
that windrow a minimum of five times.<br />
When there is a 20-degree differential<br />
between the interior and exterior gauges,<br />
we know it’s time to turn.”<br />
Piper said that interior temperatures<br />
cannot exceed 150 to 160 degrees F in<br />
order for microbial activity to remain<br />
undisturbed. If they do, internal moisture<br />
conditions can become altered.<br />
“When pulling back some of the<br />
compost after checking the gauges,<br />
we want to see a layer of white mycelium<br />
growing as it shows we have the<br />
right moisture conditions and a happy<br />
environment for beneficial organisms,”<br />
Piper said.<br />
Before sending off finished compost<br />
samples to a certified laboratory, operators<br />
have the ability to conduct one last<br />
test to ensure for a stable product.<br />
“We use a Solvita test,” Piper said. “It allows<br />
to test what we consider a finished<br />
product for ammonia and CO2 levels.<br />
If the test shows reassuring results, we<br />
can send it off to a certified lab that is<br />
tied with the U.S. Composting Council’s<br />
Seal of Testing Assurance (STA).”<br />
According to the U.S. Composting<br />
Council’s website, the STA program is a<br />
“compost testing, labeling and information<br />
disclosure program designed to<br />
give you the information you need to<br />
get the maximum benefit from the use<br />
of compost.” Any grower looking to<br />
purchase compost for use in their own<br />
farming operation should look for the<br />
STA on a finished product.<br />
Continued on Page 30<br />
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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 29
Interior temperatures for compost cannot exceed 150 to 160 degrees F in order for<br />
microbial activity to remain undisturbed (photos by K. Piper.)<br />
Continued from Page 29<br />
Grower Usage<br />
Jean-Pierre Wolff, principal owner of<br />
Wolff Vineyards in San Luis Obispo,<br />
Calif., explained in a phone interview<br />
his own usage of compost in his soils<br />
and the benefits it has provided him.<br />
“I’ve been applying compost postharvest<br />
for 20 years and apply 1.5 tons per acre,”<br />
Wolff said. “It takes several years for<br />
compost effects to take place in terms<br />
of mineralization. In my case, in the<br />
first 10 years, I was mixing compost<br />
with gypsum. Now, I’ve switched to<br />
100% compost to give priority to the<br />
carbon content. The benefit of the nitrogen<br />
content is a slow leaching, which<br />
has been a good approach for us in the<br />
vineyard to have a slow and steady feed<br />
of nutrients. It also increases microbial<br />
activity due to the higher quality of<br />
compost.”<br />
Wolff switched to using Cal Poly’s compost<br />
mix in recent years for multiple<br />
reasons including its close proximity to<br />
his vineyard.<br />
“Years ago, I used dairy farm compost<br />
from the Central Valley,” Wolff said.<br />
“Because of the transportation costs, I<br />
switched to green compost from Santa<br />
Barbara county. Now, I use Cal Poly’s. I<br />
switched to them because they’ve gone<br />
through a lot of upgrades on their compost<br />
equipment and they also offered<br />
training classes. Close proximity was a<br />
big part of the decision.”<br />
Even though the use of compost has<br />
been working out for Wolff’s vineyard<br />
over the years, he made it a point to<br />
note a couple of major tips when using<br />
and buying compost.<br />
“One area which I think can be problematic<br />
because of climate change is<br />
that it [compost] only works well with<br />
areas of normal rainfall,” Wolff said. “I<br />
proved this during the latest drought.<br />
Utilizing drip irrigation just does<br />
not have the same flushing affect for<br />
nutrients into the soil as rain does. The<br />
microbe activity of freshly applied compost<br />
diminishes if this is the case.<br />
“Not all composts are created equal,”<br />
he continued. “The whole business<br />
of it starts with the quality you get.<br />
It sounds fundamental, but it’s key.<br />
Always get compost from a reliable<br />
source.”<br />
Producing and using compost is a<br />
complex process for both sides, and<br />
patience is required. Producers have<br />
to ensure that their final product is<br />
up to par (i.e. good feedstock sources,<br />
properly heat-treated, adequate nutrient<br />
levels and absence of any harmful compounds)<br />
and growers need to ensure<br />
that they are buying from the right<br />
source and utilizing good compost<br />
practices themselves.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
30 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 31
GROWING<br />
Organic Vegetables<br />
with Dry-Farming Practices<br />
BY DANITA CAHILL, Contributing Writer<br />
As climate change warms our<br />
planet, the ability to farm with less<br />
water is becoming increasingly<br />
imperative. Reduction of available summer<br />
water because of reduced snowmelt<br />
and drought is affecting food security.<br />
Farmers and researchers are working<br />
together to gain knowledge and come<br />
up with strategies for growing food with<br />
little or no irrigation.<br />
The idea for dry-farming is simple:<br />
hold the water that falls during the<br />
rainy season in the soil so it’s available<br />
for plants that grow primarily during<br />
the dry summer. Dry-farming can be<br />
successful in areas that receive at least<br />
20 inches of annual rainfall, such as the<br />
Pacific Northwest.<br />
“There is a suite of practices to conserve<br />
water for our summer crop growth,”<br />
said Amy Garrett, Oregon State<br />
University (OSU) Extension Associate<br />
Professor of Practice, Small Farms<br />
Program.<br />
The three main strategies for dry faming<br />
are:<br />
1) Using a tillage system;<br />
2) Protecting the soil surface; and<br />
3) Choosing drought-resistant plant<br />
varieties.<br />
These strategies work on land that has<br />
deep soil with good water retention.<br />
If soil is lacking such qualities, be it<br />
rocky or sandy, it can be amended with<br />
the addition of organic matter such<br />
as compost, growing cover crops and/<br />
or carefully managed livestock grazing,<br />
which recycles the cover crop into<br />
manure. The roots of dry-farmed vegetables<br />
seek moisture and grow deeper<br />
than irrigated crops. To look at the soil<br />
texture and moisture content at root<br />
level, take a 5- or 6-foot core sample.<br />
Time the Tillage<br />
Use careful timing. When you work<br />
the soil, do so in the early morning<br />
hours before the area is hit with direct<br />
sunlight and while there is still dew on<br />
the ground.<br />
As far as seasonal timing of tillage,<br />
Garrett said, “We are starting as early<br />
as possible. We will typically flail mow<br />
our cover crop much earlier than<br />
irrigated farmers because as rain starts<br />
to slow down, the soils start to dry. We<br />
mow the cover crops in March or April<br />
when they are about knee high. We<br />
usually get a dry window sometime<br />
in the spring – as early as April, depending<br />
on soil type and microclimate,<br />
sometimes as late as the second week of<br />
May. We typically plant in May when<br />
there is still moisture in the soil. It’s<br />
important to put that seed in contact<br />
with moist soil.”<br />
Cultivate the Soil Surface<br />
Keep soil surfaces loose. It conserves<br />
moisture down at the root zone. Uncultivated<br />
soil tends to dry out and crack.<br />
Cracks in the soil open up and start<br />
drying out the deeper soil.<br />
“Organic farmers are cultivating to<br />
manage their weeds,” Garrett said.<br />
“Some farmers in California cultivate<br />
32 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
five to six inches deep. It prevents this<br />
crusting and cracking from happening.”<br />
As with any farming practice, improving<br />
the soil is key. “Anything we can do<br />
to improve soil quality is very important<br />
for dry-farming,” Garrett said.<br />
Growers can also use organic mulches<br />
such as leaves, wood chips or straw.<br />
There are two drawbacks to these deep<br />
mulches: They cool the soil temperature.<br />
This could inhibit the germination<br />
of some direct-seeded crops such as<br />
melons and squash, in which case a<br />
transplant might work better. And the<br />
mulch may attract pests such as slugs,<br />
snails, mice and voles.<br />
“We are looking into the benefits of<br />
deep mulch. A lot of people are experimenting,”<br />
Garrett said. “We’re just<br />
starting to analyze the data for leaf<br />
mulch.”<br />
Growers and researchers look at a soil core sample (all photos by Amy Garrett, OSU.)<br />
Plant Varieties<br />
Some of the plants which have been<br />
grown successfully with dry-farming<br />
methods include drought-tolerant<br />
varieties of dry beans, melons, potatoes,<br />
squash – including winter squash and<br />
zucchini – flour corn and tomatoes.<br />
A good source for dry farm seed is Seed<br />
rEvolution Now. Sundial Seed Company<br />
is another source. Both companies<br />
are located in California.<br />
Garrett and others involved in Pacific<br />
NW growing trials have shown success<br />
with watermelon variety Christmas.<br />
“It’s one of our favorites,” Garrett said,<br />
adding that although some dry-farmed<br />
watermelons tend to get mealy or pithy,<br />
she’s never heard negative feedback<br />
about Christmas, at least not as far as<br />
taste. Oregon Coastal dry farm collaborators<br />
didn’t have enough hot, sunny<br />
summer days for Christmas to ripen in<br />
the Astoria, Ore. area. Other dry farm<br />
varieties that have proved themselves<br />
worthy in taste and performance are<br />
Dark Star zucchini and Stella Blue<br />
winter squash.<br />
Continued on Page 34<br />
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Continued from Page 33<br />
Early Girl tomato is grown with success<br />
by dry-farmers in Coastal Northern<br />
California. In the Oregon Willamette<br />
Valley, the summer humidity is too low,<br />
and Early Girl tends to get blossom end<br />
rot. Next summer, a dry-farm trial will<br />
happen in Oregon with 200 different<br />
varieties of tomatoes.<br />
Since 2015, growers and researchers<br />
have been conducting variety trials. Included<br />
in the trials are a number of potatoes,<br />
several varieties of delicata winter<br />
squash, and maxima squash, which<br />
is a Hubbard type. Before COVID-19,<br />
the Dry-farming Collaborative (DFC)<br />
hosted farm tours along with taste tests<br />
with tomatoes and melons from both<br />
dry-farms and irrigated farms set out<br />
side by side. This year, the DFC hosted<br />
nine virtual farm tours.<br />
Dry-Farm History and Research<br />
Dry-farming is not a new way of<br />
farming, but rather a return to an old<br />
way that has been passed down from<br />
one farmer to the next. Only a small<br />
number of farmers experiment with<br />
dry-farming. Even fewer have extensive<br />
experience at it.<br />
The farmers and researchers behind the<br />
DFC, OSU Extension Dry-Farm Project<br />
and Community Alliance with Family<br />
Farmers (CAFF) have expanded that<br />
knowledge. Their studies, led by Garrett,<br />
started in 2013 on Western Oregon<br />
and Northern California farms.<br />
“We started out with case studies with<br />
farmers who had been doing this for<br />
a long time,” Garrett said. When she<br />
began her research into dry-farming,<br />
there wasn’t any information available<br />
through OSU, and no extension publications.<br />
“I’ve been kind of on a mission<br />
to raise awareness of the practices.”<br />
During the drought of 2015, there were<br />
about 100 people who attended the dryfarm<br />
summer demonstration. “Many<br />
people had their wells run dry that year.<br />
There was a real concern with people<br />
about water,” Garrett said.<br />
Getting Started<br />
Dry-farming has definite benefits. Winter<br />
squash from dry-farming will store<br />
longer than its irrigated counterparts.<br />
Dry-farmed produce also has more<br />
flavor. Besides producing more flavorful<br />
produce, which could command<br />
a higher price, dry-farming works in<br />
harmony with nature by growing food<br />
in a more sustainable way than conventional,<br />
irrigated farming. In addition<br />
to using less water, dry-farming also<br />
uses less fertilizer and labor. There are<br />
fewer problems with annual weeds<br />
and, although tough perennials such<br />
as bindweed and Canadian thistle may<br />
persist. Dry-farming practices also<br />
protect carbon reserves in the soil.<br />
The major downside to dry-farming is<br />
decreased yields. In some cases, yield<br />
reduction can be 25% to 50% lower<br />
when compared to irrigated crops.<br />
“The best way to begin dry-farming is<br />
to start small, Garrett suggests. “Maybe<br />
just two or three rows.”<br />
Soil is cultivated around a dry-farm crop.<br />
34 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
During the DFC winter meeting, “We<br />
all come together and talk about what<br />
worked and what didn’t,” Garrett said.<br />
The meeting will be virtual this year.<br />
“Opportunities are coming up. We’d<br />
like to find farmers who would like<br />
to join us, gather some ideas of things<br />
they’d like to try.”<br />
The DFC also has a Facebook group.<br />
“We’re specific northwest centric,” Garrett<br />
said, “but we have people from all<br />
over who are interested in dry-farming.”<br />
Check out the OSU Small Farms,<br />
Dry-farming website at:<br />
smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/smallfarms/dry-farming.<br />
Organic vegetables growing with dry-farm practices.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
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<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 35
Putting the Winter<br />
Back<br />
in Winter Squash<br />
Popular Commodity Looks to Make a Comeback on the Vegetable Market<br />
BY STEVE ELLIOTT, Western SARE<br />
For growers, it doesn’t matter<br />
how much you harvest. What matters<br />
is what you sell!<br />
A good example of that came out of<br />
Oregon recently, but applies broadly.<br />
Growers were having trouble producing<br />
and storing a crop for sale in the winter<br />
into the early spring.<br />
“We heard from farmers that they<br />
weren’t making money on winter<br />
squash as so much of it rotted in storage<br />
in early fall,” explained Dr. Alex<br />
Stone, the extension vegetable crop specialist<br />
at Oregon State University. “We<br />
investigated and found that in western<br />
Oregon we have some particularly<br />
aggressive fungi that rot squash.”<br />
But storage rot wasn’t the only problem.<br />
Consumer behavior played a big role as<br />
well.<br />
“Winter squash is nutritious and delicious,<br />
but most people don’t eat very<br />
much of it,” Stone said. “One reason is<br />
that we can’t think of new ways to cook<br />
it, and you can only eat so much squash<br />
soup. Another reason is that many of<br />
us grew up eating unripe acorn squash<br />
and they just don’t taste very good. We<br />
wanted to see if we could change that.<br />
We wanted people to eat more squash<br />
because it is delicious and good for<br />
them and the environment.”<br />
To accomplish that, Stone, with Lane<br />
Selman of the Culinary Breeding<br />
Network and others in her team of<br />
researchers, chefs and grower collaborators<br />
had several challenges:<br />
• Identify squash varieties that<br />
yielded well in western Oregon and<br />
stored well under barn conditions<br />
(western Oregon has mild, wet<br />
winters.)<br />
• Identify squash varieties that taste<br />
good.<br />
• Show people how to prepare squash<br />
in new and interesting ways.<br />
Stone got a grant from the Western<br />
Sustainable Agriculture Research and<br />
Education program, which is funded by<br />
USDA, and began planting squash.<br />
“We grew lots of winter squash varieties,”<br />
she said. “We harvested them in<br />
September and stored them – or threw<br />
them out – through April. And we went<br />
through that same process again the<br />
next year, and then again the next year.<br />
We stored them in both controlled environment<br />
(temperature and humidity)<br />
and barn (maintained above freezing)<br />
conditions, and most stored longer in<br />
the barn.”<br />
One collaborator Stone had brought<br />
into the project was Chef Timothy<br />
Wastell, who tasted each variety as they<br />
ripened in storage.<br />
“Winter squash are meaty and can be<br />
eaten as main courses instead of meat,<br />
or blended with meat in main courses,”<br />
Wastell explained. “They can also be<br />
eaten raw in salads or cooked as side<br />
dishes or even desserts. Squash diversity<br />
– in texture, flavor, size and culinary<br />
use – lets us come up with a diversity of<br />
strategies for incorporating squash into<br />
meals.”<br />
After three seasons of growing, storing,<br />
testing and tasting, the project team<br />
launched a consumer-focused website<br />
at eatwintersquash.com.<br />
36 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
“The squash featured on this website are<br />
the ones that were productive in the<br />
field, long storing under barn conditions,<br />
and delicious every year,” Stone<br />
said. “Taste is critical because if they<br />
don’t taste good, people won’t buy them.<br />
The ones we feature on the website taste<br />
good and are profitable for farmers to<br />
grow because they store so well that<br />
growers can sell them throughout the<br />
winter when there isn’t very much local<br />
produce available.”<br />
The website breaks down squash varieties<br />
into four types: simple squash, saucy<br />
squash, sweet squash and salad squash.<br />
In each type, it identifies flavorful,<br />
long-storing varieties.<br />
“Winter Sweet and Gill’s Golden Pippin<br />
show up in a few different categories<br />
because they’re very versatile,” Stone<br />
said. “But the star of this project is the<br />
delicious and extremely long-storing<br />
and reliable Tetsukabuto. Growers are<br />
planting more of it because they can<br />
sell it reliably with no storage losses<br />
from October through May (or longer),<br />
and it is always delicious.”<br />
In all, five chefs contributed a total of<br />
20 recipes to the website, ranging from<br />
squash fries to Winter Squash with<br />
Louisiana Rémoulade to Sunshine Panna<br />
Cotta to Roasted Winter Squash and<br />
Leek Bread Pudding.<br />
“Another important benefit of winter<br />
squash is that they can be grown in an<br />
environmentally responsible manner,”<br />
Stone said. “Winter squash can<br />
be grown successfully on organic or<br />
conventional farms with relatively few<br />
inputs of nutrients, water and energy,<br />
and stored successfully in a low-input<br />
storage environment.”<br />
To get recipes or learn more about<br />
the squash varieties, visit eatwintersquash.com.<br />
To find information on<br />
the group’s subsequent project, visit<br />
eatwintervegetables.com.<br />
To find information on the group’s subsequent<br />
project, visit eatwintervegetables.<br />
com.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
Candysick Dessert delicata is very long<br />
storing and delicious. Most delicatas are<br />
not long-storing (all photos by Shawn<br />
Linehan Photography.)<br />
<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 37
Organics Continue to Make Gains in<br />
CALIFORNIA<br />
Farm Gate Sales and Acreage Continue to Increase<br />
According to Recent Analysis<br />
BY TAYLOR CHALSTROM, Editorial Assistant Intern<br />
Farm gate sales of California<br />
organic agriculture more than<br />
doubled in a three year period from<br />
2013 to 2016 as the California organic<br />
farming industry saw increases in both<br />
acreage and the number of organic<br />
growers, according to the UC Agricultural<br />
Issue Center’s recently released<br />
“Statistical Review of California Organic<br />
Agriculture." The report, which covers<br />
the period from 2013 to 2016 shows<br />
the total number of organic growers in<br />
California grew by 1,020 and the total<br />
number of organic acres farmed grew<br />
by 927,924, while farm gate sales nearly<br />
doubled during the four year period<br />
from $1.54 billion in 2013 to $3.12<br />
billion in 2016.<br />
By the Numbers<br />
The total number of organic growers<br />
in California grew by 1,020 from 2013<br />
to 2016, and the review noted that<br />
some growers produce commodities<br />
in more than one group. Fruit and nut<br />
crop growers led that growth each year,<br />
gaining 545 new growers from 2013<br />
to 2016, while pasture and rangeland<br />
growers were the least abundant, gaining<br />
four new growers.<br />
The Central Coast region, which includes<br />
Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino,<br />
Lake, Sonoma and Napa counties,<br />
had the most organic growers in each<br />
year of the review.<br />
Acreage<br />
The total number of organic acres<br />
farmed in California grew by nearly<br />
a million acres from 2013 to 2016.<br />
Pasture and rangeland produced the<br />
most organic acreage each year, but<br />
the review shows that there were large<br />
up-and-down fluctuations across those<br />
years. Overall, pasture and rangeland<br />
experienced the highest net gain with<br />
556,947 new organic acres from 2013 to<br />
2016.<br />
Up-and-down fluctuations can also be<br />
seen by region for organic acreage. The<br />
San Joaquin Valley region experienced<br />
this especially, but still saw an overall<br />
net gain of 436,198 new organic acres<br />
from 2013 to 2016.<br />
Farm Gate Sales<br />
According to the review, California<br />
organics produced over $10 billion<br />
in total revenue from 2013 to 2016.<br />
Vegetable crops produced the most<br />
revenue each year with $3.77 billion in<br />
total revenue from 2013 to 2016, while<br />
pasture and rangeland produced the<br />
least amount with $9.07 million in total<br />
revenue.<br />
The San Joaquin Valley region, which<br />
includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus,<br />
Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare<br />
and Kern counties, produced the most<br />
revenue in each year of the review<br />
with $3.22 billion in total revenue<br />
from 2013 to 2016. The Cascade-Sierra<br />
region, which includes Trinity, Siskiyou,<br />
Modoc, Shasta, Lassen, Plumas,<br />
Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado,<br />
Alpine, Amador and Calaveras counties,<br />
produced the least revenue in each year<br />
of the review with $140 million in total<br />
revenue from 2013 to 2016.<br />
What Does It All Mean?<br />
The statistical trends in the review show<br />
large increases in organic growers,<br />
acres and farm gate sales. Even though<br />
these trends are from 2013 to 2016,<br />
Muramoto says he’s still seeing similar<br />
trends today in the organic farming<br />
industry.<br />
In a recent press release from the Organic<br />
Trade Association , the organization<br />
stated that organic sales across<br />
all states, not just California, were up<br />
by 4.6% in 2019 from the previous year.<br />
Statistics like these and the ones found<br />
in the review made my Muramoto and<br />
his team show that consumers are seeking<br />
out the Organic label more than<br />
ever, and future statistical reviews will<br />
be able to provide even more insight<br />
into the sector’s growth.<br />
Significance of the Review<br />
The late Karen Klonsky, a UCCE<br />
specialist who passed away in 2018,<br />
spearheaded the initial publications for<br />
38 Organic Farmer <strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong>
statistical reviews of California organic<br />
agriculture in 1998, six years after the<br />
data became available as a result of the<br />
California Organic Food Act. Klonsky<br />
saw the need for a display of this data<br />
for the industry and published reviews<br />
that contained statistics all the way<br />
through 2012. All previous organic<br />
agriculture statistics reviews can be<br />
accessed at aic.ucdavis.edu/research1/<br />
organic.html.<br />
The review summarized by Muramoto<br />
and his colleagues aims to continue<br />
Klonsky’s work. “This is the most comprehensive<br />
statistical review of California<br />
organic agriculture at the state<br />
and county levels,” Muramoto said.<br />
“Because we use her [Klonsky’s] format,<br />
we are able to compare this data to her<br />
past reviews.”<br />
The statistics review provides several<br />
functions: it helps project future trends<br />
of organic crops by commodity groups;<br />
influence strategy and policy for organic<br />
sectors in each county; and improve<br />
researchers’ understanding of specific<br />
needs and dynamics of particular organic<br />
sectors.<br />
“Accurate data on past trends and the<br />
current status [of organic farming] is<br />
crucial to develop an effective strategy<br />
for the future,” Muramoto said. “For<br />
example, the number of organic farms<br />
[by county] is highest in San Diego and<br />
is still increasing. They don’t necessarily<br />
produce the highest revenue per<br />
grower because they are mostly small<br />
farms; yet they play important roles in<br />
local food systems now and probably<br />
will in the future.”<br />
As for publications made more recently<br />
and future ones, there will be more<br />
published by CDFA, according to<br />
Muramoto, but there are some continuity<br />
issues due to the way data is being<br />
collected.<br />
“More recent years are not included [in<br />
our report] because the data collected<br />
by CDFA changed the crop category in<br />
2017 and again in 2019, so they are not<br />
comparable to the data in this report,”<br />
Muramoto said. “They did this to reduce<br />
the burden of growers in reporting,<br />
but it made a data gap consequently.<br />
Now, CDFA is trying to match the<br />
categories with the Ag census.”<br />
The most recent CDFA reviews of<br />
organic statistics are the “California<br />
Agricultural Organic Report, 2018-<br />
2019” by CDFA and the “2019 Organic<br />
Survey” by USDA-NASS.<br />
Comments about this article? We want<br />
to hear from you. Feel free to email us at<br />
article@jcsmarketinginc.com<br />
<strong>Dec</strong>ember/<strong>Jan</strong>uary <strong>2020</strong> www.organicfarmermag.com 39
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