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Welcome to the 37th annual California Small Farm Conference, a week-long event featuring over 40 online workshops as well as a dozen in-person gatherings around the state. Whether you’re a beginning farmer or a seasoned grower, a local food advocate or a farmers market manager, you’ll find something here for you. This year’s theme, "Rooted in Place", honors the vital relationship between farmers, communities and the land they steward.

Check out the schedule below for event times and locations. Click "Reserve Tickets" to register. Admission is on a sliding-scale, to ensure everyone can attend. Please select the amount you’re comfortable paying. Enjoy the conference!

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Type: Issues in Food & Ag / Other clear filter
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Monday, February 24
 

8:00am PST

Rethinking "Small Farm": What Does It Mean, What Should It Mean?
Monday February 24, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am PST
In this workshop, we will unpack the meaning of “small farm,” a term that often guides discourse around social justice and ecological stewardship in agrifood systems, even as it is poorly defined.

The USDA rigidly defines “small farms” as those with less than $350,000 in gross annual income yet provides no justification for this cutoff. Additionally, “small” farms must be “family” farms, itself a thorny term that includes both sole proprietors and farms owned by family members who may not even work on the farm (in Brazil, by contrast, “family” is defined by who labors, not by ownership). More broadly, the term is used in practice and scholarship to refer to farms of wildly varied size and scale characteristics while often implying that certain social, ecological, or economic goals are prioritized, presumably distinguishing the “small” farm from large-scale agribusiness.

Being “small,” however, in no way guarantees that, by definition, a farmer operates outside agribusiness or pursues/achieves these goals. Similarly, being “large” does not by definition make a farm incapable of achieving progressive socioecological or economic goals. Who, then, do we mean by "small farmers"? What should we mean? What are the goals/values driving the term’s usage? Do we need a new definition, or different terminology altogether? Is it "smallness" we want, or is it social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability? And do these goals require “smallness,” whatever that is?

Together, we will thoughtfully consider what “small farms” we’re fighting for and why, engaging the tensions or agreements that arise.
Speakers
avatar for Krista Marshall

Krista Marshall

UC Organic Agriculture Institute
EH

Evan Hazelett

PhD Student in Human Geography, University of Toronto
NB

Nathaniel Brown

Ujamaa Farmer Collective
avatar for Rachel Soper

Rachel Soper

Associate Professor, Sociology, CSU Channel Islands

Monday February 24, 2025 8:00am - 9:15am PST
Online

11:30am PST

A Farmer's Guide to Groundwater and SGMA
Monday February 24, 2025 11:30am - 12:45pm PST
Do you use a well for irrigation? Have you heard about the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) or new regulations for groundwater? Confused by the endless acronyms and jargon, and need to understand what this really means for your farm? Come hear from three farmers who are working with CAFF on groundwater education. Walk away with an understanding of how SGMA functions in Tehama, Butte, and Monterey counties, how to get good information on SGMA in your region, and ways to get involved in groundwater policy in your region.
Speakers
RJ

Robbie Jaffe

Cuyama, Condor's Hope
CV

Catherine Van Dyke

Water Policy and Organizing Manager, CAFF
RP

Rogelio Ponce

Sun Valley Farms
CT

Cheetah Tchudi

TurkeyTail Farm

Monday February 24, 2025 11:30am - 12:45pm PST
Online
 
From $20.00


2025 California Small Farm Conference
From $20.00
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