California Ag Network

Tag: CAFF

  • New Webinar Series by CAFF and UC Aids Farmers Transitioning to Organic

    Farmers seeking guidance on starting or advancing their transition to organic crop production are invited to attend free webinars led by a wide range of experts, including University of California scientists and fellow growers.

    Held at noon every Wednesday from Jan. 14 to March 18, 2026, the “Transition to Organic Webinar Series” covers the certification process, market dynamics, soil health and soil amendments, pest and weed management, and other key topics of organic production. Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions but can choose any webinars that are most relevant for them.

    Learn more and register; attendees also can choose real-time Hmong or Spanish interpretation for each session.

    The 10 online sessions – each comprising a 75-minute presentation and discussion, followed by optional office hours – are organized and sponsored by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, UC Cooperative Extension, and the UC Organic Agriculture Institute (an institute of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources).

    “This is the first time UC ANR is partnering with CAFF to offer such a series focused on transition to organic,” said Margaret Lloyd, UCCE organic agriculture and small farms advisor for Yolo, Sacramento and Solano counties. “Ultimately, we hope to provide the resources, community and support to folks who want to make a successful transition.”

    California leads the U.S. in the number of organic farms, land in organic production and organic sales. In 2023, there were more than 3,300 organic producers in the state, according to the latest California Department of Food and Agriculture report.

    Organizers designed the webinars to appeal to producers across California and to directly address issues that a variety of agricultural operations face.

    “This series brings together technical assistance providers and farmers to explore the full range of challenges producers face when transitioning to organic – from certification and market considerations to management practices, biodiversity, recordkeeping and inspections,” said Grace Jackson, the Central Valley regional lead for CAFF’s Farmer Services team.

    Series addresses challenges of certification, market dynamics, pest and weed management

    Another organizer, Katharina Ullmann – training and technical assistance coordinator at the UC Organic Agriculture Institute – said that demand for more information was quite apparent during workshops held this past year throughout the state, from Siskiyou County to San Diego.

    “Standalone workshops are great, but there is a lot of information to cover in a two- or three-hour workshop,” Ullmann said. “We thought it would be helpful to have a longer, regular series, where we would have a whole hour to dig into a specific transition topic.”

    The lineup of presenters – available on the registration page – reflects a diverse mix of perspectives on organic agriculture, encompassing firsthand farmer experiences and the latest scientific research.

    “We have farmer panels; we have people who work with certifiers, and organic inspectors; we have UCCE advisors and specialists who will present as part of this workshop,” Ullmann said. “Over the past three decades, many individual farmers and other partners like the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology, the CCOF [California Certified Organic Farmers] Foundation and the Ecological Farming Association [EcoFarm] have provided training on transitioning to organic production. We are excited to add to that body of work.”

    She noted that the series covers many of the topics mentioned by respondents to the Organic Agriculture Institute’s statewide needs assessment survey. In addition to crop production challenges and market concerns, growers emphasized the need for support on certification processes and related paperwork (such as the Organic System Plan) – topics to be presented on Jan. 21.

    Aside from this new series on topics about transitioning to organic, Lloyd and other UCCE advisors are continuing an annual online Organic Agriculture Seminar Series on specific aspects of organic production. Details for those webinars, scheduled for Tuesdays at noon in 2026, will be posted on Lloyd’s website.

    Registration and information on the “Transition to Organic Webinar Series” can be found at: https://actionnetwork.org/events/transition-to-organic-webinar-series-for-crop-producers/.

    The series is made possible through funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture State Organic Program, the CDFA Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability, and the United States Department of Agriculture Transition to Organic Partnership Program.

    UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings UC information and practices to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, economic and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu.

    To read more UC ANR news, visit our newsroom at ucanr.edu/News.

  • Small Farm Conference Continues to Provide Needed Education

    Since the beginning of production agriculture, the vast majority of farming operations have consisted of small family farms. That’s true today as well, as these farms comprise nearly 90% of all the farms in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    Providing the education needed to help California’s small farms thrive is the top priority for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, a nonprofit that provides information and ideas that will allow small farmers to succeed, said Evan Wiig, CAFF’s director of membership and communications.

    “By equipping small-farm operators with the tools and education they need, and by working to promote programs that really benefit small farms, such as more farmers markets and making direct-to-consumer sales easier, we can help them be successful,” Wiig said.

    CAFF’s major initiative each year is its Small Farm Conference, sponsored in part by Farm Credit associations doing business in California. The 36th annual conference was held earlier this year and drew more than 1,200 small farmers from around the state to the hybrid event, consisting of 60 online workshops as well as 10 in-person gatherings from San Diego to Humboldt County where people could network and exchange ideas.

    Wiig said sponsorships such as Farm Credit’s support are vital for nonprofits such as his.

    “We could not put on the conference without sponsorships. That’s the short of it,” Wiig said. “We strive to make sure our education is accessible to all farmers, including new farmers, students and farmworkers. To make the conference accessible to those people, we have to keep our ticket prices down. We really appreciate everything Farm Credit does. They’re still our rainmaker sponsorship. They really do make it rain and we appreciate it.”

    Kevin Ralph, California State President for AgWest Farm Credit, said providing ongoing education to farmers and ranchers is a top priority for California’s Farm Credit associations.

    “Each year, Farm Credit supports nonprofits focusing on ag education because educational opportunities offered by nonprofits such as CAFF are vitally important to the success of agriculture,” Ralph said. “Helping small farmers is something we should all support and keeping them up to date on the latest tools and techniques is a great way to ensure that they continue to thrive.”

    Farm Credit organizations members AgWest Farm Credit, CoBank, Colusa-Glenn Farm Credit and Fresno Madera Farm Credit are proud supporters of CAFF. The organizations are part of the nationwide Farm Credit System – the largest provider of credit to U.S. agriculture.

    The conference was abruptly transformed in 2021 into a virtual conference due to the pandemic, which turned out to be wildly popular since by definition small farmers often have a difficult time leaving their farms for four days and bearing the travel expenses to get to a central location.

    “We’re hearing from the farmers that they really appreciate this format,” Wiig said. “Attendees were posting on Instagram pictures of themselves tuning into the conference while doing all sorts of things on their farms. It was cool to see that we’re meeting them where they’re at and glad to see that they’re getting a lot out of it.”

    Workshops this year ranged from marketing a small farm to business administration to crop-specific workshops for commodities including strawberries and wine grapes. It also included innovative ways to do sales, such as online sales and selling to schools and hospitals.

    Wiig said programs are developed after a listening tour CAFF’s staff takes each fall to learn about what problems were keeping farmers up at night and where they should focus advocacy efforts in Sacramento.

    “A lot of the things that we’ve been hearing about for a long time continue to rise to the top – access to water and land, adaptation to climate change, dealing with wildfires, floods and droughts – the continued craziness of farming in California,” Wiig said.

    “But we also saw that because they are small operations, they struggle to access equipment and markets. We want to make sure smaller and new farmers have access to capital, processing equipment and infrastructure. We’re looking at things like helping start farm cooperatives and distribution collaboratives. We’re also cosponsoring a bill for tool-sharing programs so groups can get access to equipment they couldn’t otherwise afford on their own,” he said.

    Keith Hesterberg, President and CEO of Fresno Madera Farm Credit, said it’s encouraging to see nonprofits sponsored by Farm Credit continue to come up with new ideas to promote agriculture.

    “CAFF does a great job of understanding the needs of small farmers and developing support systems to help them,” Hesterberg said. “We are proud that our support makes a difference and look forward to continuing to support CAFF and our state’s small farmers.”

    Next year’s conference is tentatively scheduled for February 23-28, and Wiig said after reviewing feedback and evaluations from participants, one thing CAFF will try to do is expand the local gatherings.

    “Clearly, there’s a desire to add more in-person workshops and field days. This year’s field days sold out within days and it’s clear that people want to get onto other farms and see how they do things. We want to make that a central focus of the conference going forward,” he said.

    About Farm Credit: 

    AgWest Farm Credit, American AgCredit, CoBank, Colusa-Glenn Farm Credit and Fresno Madera Farm Credit are cooperatively owned lending institutions providing agriculture and rural communities with a dependable source of credit. For more than 100 years, the Farm Credit System has specialized in financing farmers, ranchers, farmer-owned cooperatives, rural utilities and agribusinesses. Farm Credit offers a broad range of loan products and financial services, including long-term real estate loans, operating lines of credit, equipment and facility loans, cash management and appraisal and leasing services…everything a “growing” business needs. For more information, visit www.farmcreditalliance.com

    About CAFF:

    The Community Alliance with Family Farmers builds sustainable food and farming systems through policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs that create more resilient family farms, communities and ecosystems. The California Small Farm Conference convenes farmers and ag advocates to share resources, trade best practices, learn and collectively advocate for family farms in their community. For more information, visithttps://caff.org.

  • Family Farmer Emergency Fund Provides Drought & Pandemic Relief

    With many small farms still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, and deepening impacts felt from the drought, Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) is relaunching its California Family Farmer Emergency Fund for farmers in crisis.

    The current drought is sending shock waves through California’s food system; as wells go dry, reservoirs sit empty, and the state begins shutting off access to water, thousands of farmers have begun fallowing their fields. And after more than a year of pandemic-induced market disruptions, from which many small businesses have yet to fully recover, the onset of yet another disaster has small farms questioning their future.

    “It’s not just tractors that run the risk of breaking down; many of our farms are on the brink,” said Paul Towers, Executive Director of CAFF. “The pandemic was challenging enough. With the addition of drought and the prospect of wildfires, family farmers are wondering if they’ll make it to next season. Emergency fund efforts can make the difference between whether they stay in business or not, and that impacts all of us.”

    According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, California is already losing four farms per day on average. And despite record-high subsidies for agriculture–driven in large part by efforts to make up for recent trade wars and pandemic relief–a report by the Environmental Working Group shows that over the past few decades, the biggest 20% of farm subsidy recipients claimed over 90% of federal aid and the top 1% claimed more than a quarter. “This support,” says Towers, “is not finding its way to the folks showing up at your local farmers market.”

    To make up for this disparity, CAFF’s fund will focus on smaller operations and those not served by existing assistance efforts, with at least 50% of the funds granted to farmers of color, immigrant and undocumented farmers.

    “These funds provide temporary relief,” said Cheyenne Stone of the Big Pine Paiute Tribe and CAFF’s Policy Committee Co-Chair. “State and federal policymakers need to advance bolder policies to address the threats of climate change and invest in farm, water and fire resilience, starting with those historically underserved farmers,”

    The twin funds — for pandemic and drought relief — are part of the larger California Family Farmer Emergency Fund, which may release a third category to provide wildfire relief to farmers in the coming weeks, as it has done in previous years. In 2020, the California Family Farmer Emergency Fund provided over $650,000 in total grants to 207 farmers, farmworkers and their families impacted by the pandemic or fire.

    Diverse advisory committees are reviewing the applications on a rolling basis to get resources to the most vulnerable farmers and their families. The fund is housed at the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, and all grants, which will be $5,000, will be made through CAFF. Applications are due by August 31st, with potential additional rounds pending fundraising.

    More information about the fund is available here: https://www.caff.org/cafamilyfarmeremergencyfund/

  • CA Passes Pandemic Aid for Smaller Family Farms

    Yesterday California state leaders enacted budget legislation to provide critical support for small and historically underserved farmers impacted by the pandemic. With approval of Senate Bill 85, state funding to the tune of $3.35 million from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will help ensure much-needed direct relief to farmers left out of previous aid efforts as well as language and culturally appropriate technical assistance. On behalf of our more than 8,000 farmer members, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) applauds the announcement, the fruit of more than a year of advocating for such crisis support.

    Small farmers continue to struggle to recover from significant challenges, particularly pandemic-induced losses sustained by closed and changing markets for their fresh, local food. Previous federal and state relief efforts have failed to reach many smaller-sized farmers, particularly black, indigenous, and people of color farmers. State efforts, supported by the California CDFA, will provide not only direct relief to growers but also allow them to leverage existing and new federal sources, particularly new programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This budget investment will enable CDFA to provide direct small grants to farmers in need and overlooked by other programs; will hire new University of California small farm specialists in at least two regions of the state; and contract technical assistance specialists across the state to provide support in connecting to federal resources.

    “Community Alliance with Family Farmers commends Governor Gavin Newsom and the state legislature for providing on-the ground technical assistance to small-scale and socially disadvantaged farmers. CAFF pushed hard for this state support for the small and BIPOC growers in our communities that have felt some of the greatest brunt of the pandemic,” said Paul Towers, Executive Director of CAFF. “This investment will make farmers more successful. Not only is direct aid essential but so is the support from trusted and experienced partner organizations to assist farmers in navigating the myriad of state and federal COVID relief programs.”

    State legislative leaders who have championed the needs of small and historically underserved farmers join CAFF in heralding this announcement:

    “The investment of over $3 million in SB 85 to provide technical assistance to small and disadvantaged farmers is a big victory and welcome news,” said Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton). “I’m proud to have partnered with CAFF to help build the support in the State Legislature to make this happen. These types of investments are critical as the agricultural sector works to recover from the effects of the pandemic and are central to efforts to grow and diversify our agricultural economy.”

    “I am thrilled to thank the Governor, Speaker Rendon and Pro Tem Atkins for including critical technical assistance funding of $3.35 million for small farmers in this week’s round of early budget actions,” said Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters). “This funding to CDFA for the UC Cooperative Extension to provide technical assistance and grants will provide desperately needed relief to our small, mid-sized, and underserved farmers to access federal disaster assistance. Federal programs are almost impossible for small players to even attempt to access–yet they’re some of the hardest hit victims of the economic and health crises of the past year. I want to send my special thanks to Secretary Karen Ross and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers for their work to secure this funding!”

    “As Chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, I am thrilled to see the State invest in our small scale and socially disadvantaged farmers,” said Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister). “By providing critical technical assistance funding to these farmers, this early budget action is a step in the right direction for our State and for equity in our agriculture industry.”

    Community Alliance with Family Farmers is a forty-year-old organization dedicated to creating more resilient family farms, communities and ecosystems.

  • New Online Water Resource for CA Farmers

    Community Alliance with Family Farmers & The Farmers Guild is thrilled to announce that the California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative (CAWSI) website has recently gone through a thorough update. The CAWSI website can be found at www.agwaterstewards.org.

    The California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative (CAWSI) was initiated in 2008 by CAFF and other agriculture organizations in order to make information available to farmers about a variety of practices that they could employ to conserve water on their farms.  Farmers can find a wealth of information on various types of on-farm water management practices such as dry farming, ponds, and soil, nutrient, irrigation, and stormwater management.

    There are over 60 case studies from farms across the state growing a variety of crops and implementing all types of water management practices. There are case studies on farms using recycled water on melons on the central coast to an almond orchard’s smart irrigation scheduling practices in the San Joaquin valley to dry farming with cover crops on the north coast in vineyards.

    New information was added on the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) including links to a SGMA Handbook, Department of Water Resources Videos explaining FSMA, and a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources video (all found under the groundwater management tab of the website).

    The dry farming section of the website was reformatted and new content was added on Oregon State University’s dry farming grains research as well as videos on dry farming winter squash in western Oregon. While these resources are based on farming in Oregon, there is certainly climatic overlap with certain regions of California.

    Additional updates, resources, and videos were added throughout the website. We thank the Water Foundation for their support and our advisory board for their scientific expertise.

    Founded in 1978, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and The Farmers Guild is a California-based nonprofit that builds sustainable food and farming systems through local and statewide policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs in an effort to initiate institutionalized change.

    For more information, contact Evan Wiig at evan@caff.org and 415-710-5692