California Ag Network

Tag: Ventura County agriculture

  • SEEAG Expands Ag Education Efforts in Santa Barbara

    Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (SEEAG) expanded its reach by opening a new Santa Barbara County office and adding student and community learning programs during the 2024-25 school year.

    SEEAG is a nonprofit organization with a mission to connect youth and communities to the farm origins of their food and inspire the next generations of agricultural ambassadors.

    During the last school year, 4,225 students took part in 515 hours of STEM education. Nearly 500 high school students participated in SEEAG’s first year of STEM Career Pathways in Agriculture, a three-part experience including hands-on STEM-in-Ag labs, career guidance workshops and field trips to local agri-businesses.

    Elementary-age students in 72 schools from 27 School districts, from West Hills toSanta Maria, participated in immersive learning experiences in classrooms and on farms through SEEAG’s Farm-to-Food Lab. SEEAG’s Youth Wellness Initiative organized seven Produce Pop-Ups where 7,700 pounds of donated produce weredistributed to students and their families, with priority to students at Title 1 schools. Besides receiving seasonal fruits and vegetables, families received nutrition handouts, recipes and reusable shopping bags.

    In addition to SEEAG’s annual Farm Day in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, where farms, ranches and agricultural organizations open their doors to the public, the nonprofit introduced Farm Day Every Day in 2025. From January through May, Farm Day Every Day took place on designated Saturdays, enabling community members to tour five Ventura and Santa Barbara county farms. Over 12,000 Central Coast residents and visitors engaged with local farms firsthand through Farm Day events.

    “In a time when people are more disconnected from their food than ever before, agricultural labor and resource issues are growing, and too many community members on the Central Coast lack access to the fresh produce grown around them, SEEAG’s role is more critical than ever. SEEAG educates, inspires, and empowers youth and communities to become stewards of a more equitable and sustainable agricultural future,” says Caitlin Palus Case, SEEAG executive director.

    For a report on SEEAG’s 2024-25 activities, click here. To learn more about SEEAG or to make a donation, go to https://www.seeag.org.

  • UC Releases Costs of Growing Cilantro, Parsley

    For commercial growers considering planting cilantro or parsley, the costs and returns of producing in Ventura County are outlined in a new study by the University of California Cooperative Extension, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Institute, and UC Davis Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics.

    “These studies provide growers with a baseline to estimate their own costs, which can help if they need to apply for production loans, project labor costs or market their crop” said Etaferahu Takele, UC Cooperative Extension farm management advisor and agricultural economist and study co-author.

    The UC Cooperative Extension cost and return estimates are based on cilantro and parsley grown in Ventura County. Each study describes the cultural practices used for establishing, producing and harvesting the herbs, including land preparation, soil fertility and pest management, irrigation and labor needs.   

    Ventura County produces a diverse mix of vegetables and herb crops. Lately, the acreage in cilantro production has been increasing. Between 2002 and 2022, the cilantro acreage almost quadrupled from 1,257 acres to 4,065 acres, reflecting increases in demand for the herb often used in Latin American and Asian recipes.

    The total cost to produce cilantro in 2025, using a yield of 1,200 cartons per acre, is approximately $7,316 per acre. Sold for $9 per carton, profit for cilantro before paying management is estimated at $3,480 per acre.

    The total cost to produce parsley in 2025, using a yield of 2,200 cartons per acre, is approximately $14,759 per acre. Using a price received of $8.60 per carton, profit for parsley before paying management, is estimated at $4,713 per acre.

    The researchers based their studies on an 800-acre farm, which was the average farm size of the growers they interviewed. Double cropping is common in Ventura County so the total land farmed for this sample is about 1,600 acres per year. Because growers produce multiple crops each year, planting and harvesting vegetable crops are year-round activities.

    “Cilantro Production Costs and Profitability Analysis” and “Parsley Production Costs and Profitability Analysis” can be downloaded for free from the UC Cooperative Extension Ventura County website: https://ucanr.edu/county/cooperative-extension-ventura-county/vegetable.

    Government agencies such as the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture can use the information when developing and implementing agricultural policies and programs.

    The cost estimate studies were coauthored by Oleg Daugovish, UC Cooperative Extension strawberry and vegetable crop advisor in Ventura County; and Karen Jetter, research economist and associate director; Donald Stewart, staff research associate; and Fiona Ogunkoya, survey researcher, all of the UC ANR Policy Institute.

    For more information about cost studies, contact Takele at ettakele@ucanr.edu.

    These studies were funded by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Thelma Hansen Trust. — By Pamela Kan-Rice, UCANR