2025 California Small Farm Conference

Beneficial birds and insects target a range of insect and rodent pests in agriculture. Farmland can offer diverse habitats to meet their reproductive and overwintering needs, which helps support these natural predators and creates a comprehensive defense system. In this workshop, we will explore the advantages of incorporating natural enemy birds and insects into agroecosystems and discuss ways to attract and support them using nest boxes, perches, flower patches, shrubs, trees, hedgerows, and riparian zones. We’ll also address their preferences for various native and nonnative plants. By inviting these beneficial species to your farm, you enhance sustainability and promote local biodiversity.

The Farmers Land Trust is a national organization working to support farmland protection, transition, and secure access for farmers through the innovative Farmland Commons model, which decommodifies land by placing it in the ownership of local communities. This dynamic and engaging presentation will share how the Farmland Commons model works, and participants will leave with the knowledge and resources that will enable them to carry forward creative land transition and access opportunities to their own communities.

To successfully raise poultry on pasture, or in rotation with crops, farmers need practical plans to launch, scale and manage a successful business. In this workshop, seasoned farmers will discuss practices and innovations that work well. According to the interest of those participating in the workshop, we will discuss production systems design, enterprise budgets and profitability calculators, breed selection, brooder management, sturdy mobile coops, preventive health, predator management, managing pasture for poultry, and navigating regulations on meat processing and egg marketing. NCAT/ATTRA will share highlights of the poultry entrepreneurs toolbox and take-home messages from experiments in three states on broiler production in rotation with vegetable crops. Aspiring and beginning poultry farmers will learn about how to access to sources of practical information and ongoing support.

Strawberries thrive in the cooler, sunny climates of California’s Central Coast which is why the region is home to the majority of the state’s commercial strawberry production. However, there are many small-scale operations throughout the state growing strawberries in hotter, drier regions. What does it take to successfully grow strawberries on a smaller scale—especially in less climatically ideal regions? How do coastal practices need to be adapted to hotter growing conditions? How does the heat affect disease and pest prevalence?

Join UC Cooperative Extension Small & Organic Farms Advisor, Margaret Lloyd, and Community Education Specialist, Lindsey Klein, as we dive into these questions plus topics like cultivar selection, irrigation needs, planting and harvesting schedules, post-harvest handling, and more!

* Please note: this session has changed from the originally-scheduled "Beyond the Newsletter: 5 Strategies to Scale a 100+ CSA Program in Less Than One Season"

Join us to hear from Jocelyn Parot, General Secretary of Urgenci, the international network of Community Supported Agriculture that works to promote alliances between food producers and consumers both at local and international level. We'll learn how CSA is taking shape around the world as part of a new study, including the many different models that farmers are using to connect with their local communities.

Join us for a workshop to explore the latest in small-scale mechanization for your farm. We'll hear from multiple suppliers and innovators of tractors and other production tools that are designed specifically for farming on a smaller-scale.

Panelists:

• Farm-ng,  Nathan Dorn

• BCS, Charlotte LeMieux, Product Line Manager

• FarmHand Tractor, David Haynes 

• Fernando Garcia, FarmLink

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about mechanized tasks suitable toward assisting farmer profitability. 

• See a list of typical farm activities with some cost accounting. 

• Learn from virtual demonstrations of the alternatives and how they benefit the farm business & bottom line

• Learn about available Grants and/or financing opportunities [FarmLink Focus]

In this session members of the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force will share an update on their work since October 2023. The members will discuss the main challenges the Task Force aims to address, how their draft recommendations address those issues, and how session attendees can engage in the work. There will be time at the end for attendees to share their own experiences, ideas and priorities related to agricultural land equity. The conversation will inform the Task Force as they continue developing their recommendations on how to address the land equity crisis and submit a final report to the Governor and Legislature by January 2026.

Learn about different market channels and their pros and cons. Identify which market channels may be beneficial for your business.

Every year, our community recognizes amazing farms, individuals and local businesses making a difference in our food system. Selected from hundreds of nominations by people like you, the 2024 California Farm Champions are blazing trails, giving back, and helping promote a healthier, more regenerative and more just world.

Join us for the awards ceremony as we travel all across the state, visiting this year's honorees.

We will cover the practical and legal knowledge required to run a successful operation in California alongside wildlife. We will cover deterrence, exclusion, guardian animals, and the dynamics of "Barnyard CSI" and kill site forensics. We will also touch on conflict with domestic animals (especially loose dogs) with livestock, and how wildfires, drought, and a changing legal landscape impact farmers, ranchers and wildlife. Our perspective is pro-farmer, pro-rancher, pro-homesteader, and pro-wildlife. Attendees will come away informed and empowered, including with information on how to access free resources to solve conflicts with wildlife legally and safely.

This workshop will explore the weaving of spirituality and agriculture from the experience of several panel members. These will include representatives from the Biodynamic community, Native American / Indigenous farmers, traditional faith background, and Earth-based spirituality.

Science has given us so many incredible tools to advance agriculture and especially food production. We can now produce more food with greater nutrition in more diverse ecosystems while paying attention to the impacts of different methods on the environment and segments of society. But a scientific focus can also lead to objectifying nature as something to manipulate at will, to control and use as a lifeless, mechanical resource. But what if the soil has soul? What if the land we depend on for life and livelihood has something akin to consciousness or even personhood-- different from the human sort but just as real? Historically, many indigenous and non-Western cultures have not separated their collective experiential knowledge (another name for empirical science) from their spirituality. What might it look like to form more intentionally collaborative relationships with the more-than-human beings that feed us, to honor spirit and science together? This upbeat workshop will be facilitated with curiosity, dialogue among speakers, and respect for diverse views. Plus time for Q&A of course! :)