2025 California Small Farm Conference: Full Schedule

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!

Interested in sponsoring this event? Learn more here

8:00am PST

Let’s Talk About Nitrogen on Your Organic Farm

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

Online

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant production. It's particularly difficult to manage on organic farms because the availability dynamics are complex. This workshop will present a holistic way of thinking about nitrogen cycling and management so that growers can have a nitrogen plan in place. From compost and cover crops to soil organic matter and amendments, we'll talk about it all. By the end, you'll be empowered to understand how these different sources of nitrogen create a whole system plan and where you have room to improve.

Speakers

Patricia Lazicki

UC Cooperative Extension

Margaret Lloyd

Small and Organic Farms Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension

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

Organics

Audience New & Beginning Farmers, Experienced Farmers, Farm Advisors & Technical Assistance Providers

9:45am PST

Small-Scale Composting: Getting Started, Growing, and Building a Network

Monday February 24, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am PST

Online

Composting and compost use is an effective and scalable climate change solution that has a multitude of environmental and societal benefits, especially when implemented at community gardens and small farms. Despite state mandates for organic waste diversion from landfills to meet climate goals, adoption of composting in the state at community scale remains low and expansion of industrial composting can exacerbate air quality problems and greenhouse gas emissions. We formed a partnership among community organizations and researchers to meet this need. Our mission is to establish affordable, accessible, and scalable community-level composting knowledge and practices to transform farm and food waste into compost to grow nutritious food, mitigate climate change, and advance social justice in the San Joaquin Valley. In this workshop, we share knowledge gained and lessons learned through our partnership. We hope to equip participants of this workshop with fundamental knowledge of the benefits of composting at this scale, different models of small-scale composting, the human and natural resources needed to compost, and the tools to start community-scale composting projects and partnerships.

Organizer

Yaynicut Franco

Director of Culture and Land Stewardship, Wukchumni Tribe

Speakers

Eric Wellington

compost specialist, Foodlink for Tulare County

Michael Rodriguez

University of California, Merced

Rocio Perez

Central California Environmental Justice Network

Rebecca Ryals

Monday February 24, 2025 9:45am - 11:00am PST
Online

Organics

Audience New & Beginning Farmers, General Public (including non-farmers), Farm Advisors & Technical Assistance Providers

1:15pm PST

Organic IPM for Vegetables

Monday February 24, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm PST

Online

This workshop will provide a foundational introduction to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and how the IPM framework can be applied on small-scale organic vegetable farms. We will start with a basic overview of key IPM concepts and strategies. Then we will explore how IPM can be used to manage two common and economically-damaging pests as examples, symphylans and cucumber beetles. This will include real-world examples of IPM for these pests from North Bay vegetable growers, shared with permission. We will use last 30 minutes of this workshop to walk through how to write your own IPM plan for a pest of your choice using a simple outline. This will start with accurate pest identification, understanding its life cycle, and prevention strategies. Then we will cover how to set action thresholds appropriate for your farm as well as strategies for monitoring and record keeping. We'll cover how to combine management strategies such as biological, cultural, mechanical, and organic chemical options. Attendees will leave this workshop with a draft of an IPM plan they can continue refining over time.

Speakers

Ellie Andrews

Specialty Crops Advisor for Sonoma, Marin, and Napa Counties, UC Cooperative Extension

Monday February 24, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm PST
Online

Organics

Audience New & Beginning Farmers, Experienced Farmers, Farm Advisors & Technical Assistance Providers

1:15pm PST

Path to Organic: How to Prepare for an Organic Certification

Monday February 24, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm PST

Online

Join us for a workshop on organic certification and inspection, featuring an experienced organic inspector and successful organic farmer. This session will provide insights into the certification process, compliance requirements, and practices for preparing for an inspection.

Speakers

Megan Robertson

Alluvial Organics

Kristen Draz

FogDog Farm

Grace Jackson

Farmer Services Regional Lead - Central Valley, CAFF

Monday February 24, 2025 1:15pm - 2:30pm PST
Online

Organics

Audience New & Beginning Farmers, Experienced Farmers, Farm Advisors & Technical Assistance Providers

4:45pm PST

Organic Practices for Citrus and Avocado Growers

Monday February 24, 2025 4:45pm - 6:00pm PST

Online

Organic production of subtropical tree crops along the coast revolves around maintaining tree health through management of irrigation, nutrients and cultural practices. Disease and pests of these trees will be discussed and practices that reduce the occurrence.

Speakers

Ben Faber

Monday February 24, 2025 4:45pm - 6:00pm PST
Online

Organics

Audience New & Beginning Farmers, Experienced Farmers, General Public (including non-farmers), Farm Advisors & Technical Assistance Providers

11:30am PST

Mentorship Magic! How mentorship strengthens organic & bolsters beginning farmer success

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:30am - 12:45pm PST

Online

Hear from farmers who are part of the West – Southwest Transition to Organic Partnership (TOPP) Program for a conversation about the importance of farmer-to-farmer mentoring and their pivotal role in expanding organic and supporting beginner farmer success. Join the conversation and find out how to become a mentor or find a mentor!

Speakers

Justin Miller

Twin Peaks Orchard

Molly Nakahara

Education Manager, CCOF Foundation

Advancing organic by supporting people and communities who care for the land. The CCOF Foundation unites the organic community to offer intentional education, financial support, and growth opportunities for organic professionals.

Tuesday February 25, 2025 11:30am - 12:45pm PST
Online

Organics

Audience Experienced Farmers, Farm Advisors & Technical Assistance Providers, Farmers Market Professionals, General Public (including non-farmers), New & Beginning Farmers

2025 California Small Farm Conference

From $20.00