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Farms & Agriculture
CSACommunity-supported agriculture (CSA) is generally the practice of focusing on the local production of high quality foods using ecological, organic or biodynamic farming methods. The core design includes developing a cohesive consumer group that is willing to fund a whole season's budget in order to get quality foods. By CSA theory, the more a farm embraces whole-farm, whole-budget support, the more it can focus on quality and reduce the risk of food waste or financial loss. Most CSAs have a transparent whole season budget for producing a specified wide array of products for a set number of weeks a year as well as a 'shared risk and reward' agreement, i.e. that the consumers eat what the farmers grow even with the vagaries of seasonal growing.

CSA is a relatively new model of food production, sales, and distribution aimed at both increasing the quality of food and the quality of care given the land, plants and animals - while substantially reducing potential food losses and financial risks for the producers. CSA's focus is usually on a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables, sometimes also flowers, fruits, herbs, milk or meat products. An advantage of the close consumer-producer relationship is increased freshness of the produce, because it does not have to be shipped long distances. The close proximity of the farm to the members also helps the environment by reducing pollution caused by transporting the produce.

Typically, CSA farms are small, independent, labor-intensive, family farms. By providing a guaranteed market through prepaid annual sales, consumers essentially help finance farming operations. Individuals, families or groups do not pay for x pounds of produce, but rather support the budget of the whole farm and receive weekly what is seasonally ripe. This allows farmers to not only focus on quality growing, it can also somewhat level the playing field in a food market that favors usually large-scale, industrialized agriculture over local food. The cost of a share is usually competitively priced when compared to the same amount of vegetables conventionally-grown, partly because the cost of distribution is lowered.


Community Supported Agriculture
Trail's End Farm - Janesville, CA

Community Supported Agriculture in the Region

Community Supported Agriculture in the State


Small Farm Resources

Add Small Farm Resources in Lassen County

Small Farm Resources in the Region


California Resource Conservation Districts
California Resource Conservation DistrictResource Conservation Districts (RCDs), once known as Soil Conservation Districts, are "special districts" of the state of California, set up under California law to be locally governed agencies with their own locally appointed, independent boards of directors. Although RCDs are established locally by the rules of a county's Local Agency Formation Committee (LAFCO), and they often have close ties to county government, they are not county government entities.

There are numerous types of special districts throughout the state set up to administer needs of local people for pest control, fire fighting, water distribution, and a host of other services. Some special districts are "enterprise" districts and deliver services or products, such as water, to local customers on a fee basis. Other districts, "non-enterprise" districts, deliver services, such as fire or police protection, to all local residents. These are usually supported on a taxation basis. RCDs have characteristics of both enterprise and non-enterprise districts.

Under Division 9 of the California Public Resources Code, RCDs are permitted to function to a certain degree as enterprise districts because they are empowered to charge reasonable fees for services rendered to individuals. At the same time, certain rules permit RCDs to draw on local taxes for revenues, though the passage of Proposition 13 in 1977 has made it much more difficult for RCDs to function in this way.

Though not governed directly by the state, special districts, among them RCDs, are subject to state law concerning elections, responsibilities, legal meetings, and much more. RCDs, however, are given their primary authority to implement local conservation measures by Division 9.

Local Resource Conservation Districts
Pit Resource Conservation District - Bieber, CA
Honey Lake Valley Resource Conservation District - Susanville, CA

California Resource Conservation District in the Region

California Resource Conservation District in the State


UC Cooperative Extensions
UC Cooperative ExtensionUniversity of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), ANR’s outreach arm, has farm, 4-H, and nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisors based in more than 50 county offices. In addition, Cooperative Extension specialists are headquartered at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC Riverside, where they conduct research. These specialists provide statewide leadership to teams of advisors and AES faculty, and carry out outreach programs statewide and at the local level. As a land-grant institution, the Cooperative Extension mandate is tied to the welfare, development, and protection of California agriculture, natural resources, and people.

County farm advisors’ work is aimed at enhancing California agricultural productivity and competitiveness. Together with farmers, pest control advisors, and industry representatives, they identify current and emerging agricultural opportunities and problems. The advisors collaborate with campus-based Cooperative Extension specialists and AES scientists to research, adapt, and field-test agricultural improvements or solutions and promote the use of research findings.

The 4-H youth development program, with staff in each county office, provides meaningful, learn-by-doing educational activities to children in 4-H clubs and to children participating in school enrichment and after-school programs. The 4-H program includes traditional offerings – such as cooking, animal husbandry, and sewing – and an array of exciting new programs for today’s youth – including rocketry, computer science, and leadership.

The nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisors focus on nutrition, food safety, food preparation, food preservation, and finance management. Collaborative partnerships with government and private agencies extend the reach of UC advisors. Workshops, public meetings, newsletters, the mass media, and other communications tools bring information to the community.

Three regional offices administer UC Cooperative Extension: the North Coast and Mountain Region, the Central Valley Region, and the Central Coast and South Region. See the county office page for regional office and UCCE county locations and contact information.

Local Cooperative Extensions
Lassen County - Susanville , CA

University of California Cooperative Extensions in the Region

University of California Cooperative Extensions in the State


UCCE Farm Advisors
Farm Advisors extend useful, technical, and economic research-based information to producers in their assigned county or counties. Issues they consider are: Improvement of production practices, resource management, pest management, food safety, worker safety, postharvest handling, alternative crops, market analysis, and agricultural education to the public. Backyard growers, please contact your local UCCE Master Gardener
Select a crop to find a local Farm Advisor
Almond
 Apple
 Apricot
Avocado
 Blueberry
 Caneberries: Raspberry, Blackberry
Cherimoya
 Cherry - Sweet
 Chestnut
Citrus
 Date
 Feijoa
Fig
 Guava
 Hazelnut
Kiwifruit
 Lychee
 Macadamia
Mango
 Nectarine
 Olive
Passionfruit
 Peach
 Peach - Cling
Pear - Asian
 Pear - European
 Pecan
Persimmon
 Pistachio
 Plum
Pomegranate
 Prune/Dried Plum
 Strawberry
Table Grape/Raisin
 Viticulture
 Walnut

 

Farming Related Information

California state budget cuts have suspended a land conservation program that has been hailed as a key to preventing sprawl and easing economic pressure on farmers and ranchers.
The 44-year-old Williamson Act provides tax breaks to agricultural landowners who sign 10-year contracts (renewed annually) not to develop their property.

New budget includes continued suspension of state funds for counties that participate in the California Land Conservation Act—known as the Williamson Act
By: California Farm Bureau Federation and Kate Campbell
Governor's plan opens negotiations on new state budget Issue Date: January 13, 2010 By Kate Campbell Assistant Editor Faced with more fiscal sinkholes, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his state budget proposal last week and called for emergency legislative action to deal with a projected $6.6 billion shortfall for the current fiscal year.

Counties hold key to Williamson Act's future
By: California Farm Bureau Federation
The loss of Williamson Act protection could mean that some of the land that gets farmed in California "won't be worth farming any longer."

Sustaining California Agriculture
By: Heather Cooley, Juliet Christian-Smith and Dr. Peter H. Gleick
A new study by the Pacific Institute shows that agriculturalists employing new steps to significantly increase the efficiency of water use in California fields will result in a strong and healthy California agricultural sector that can flourish despite diminishing water supply.

North Bay counties back sustaining Williamson Act
By Jeff Quackenbush, North Bay Business Journal Staff Reporter

A History of Farm Water Use and Crop Production
By: California Farm Bureau Federation
Agricultural water use in California has declined since the mid-1980s, due to a slight reduction in acres combined with continued improvements in efficiency.

In Yolo County, Williamson Act funding hangs by a thread
Yolo County is trying to find a way to salvage the landmark act and preserve its agriculture By ERIN TRACY / Daily Democrat

State of the Land 2006, A brief inventory of public and private land in the United States
By: Amos Eno, Willard Dyche and Laura Mass Dover
“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” Quoted from an essay by Thoreau lamenting the way in which modern urban life has made natural resources into commodities and isolated people from the natural processes on which their lives depended. Move forward to 2006, “open space” or “green space” has nearly replaced ‘wilderness’ in our vocabulary with the rise in the development of the rural landscape. The US population is now over 300 million and more and more people are sprawling out from the urban areas into the country. This push outward is having a measurable effect on our open spaces. Farmland near cities has seen its value inflated by demand for conversion to non-farm uses. People are often willing to pay more than agricultural value in order to live in primarily rural areas. For example, in Iowa there are now more non-farmers living in rural areas than there are farmers.


Continue to read State of the Land 2006

Land Preservation: An Essential Ingredient in Smart Growth
By: Thomas L. Daniels and Mark Lapping
The preservation of land for working rural landscapes, wildlife habitat, urban parks, recreational trails, and protecting water supplies and floodplains is emerging as an integral component of smart growth programs. Both the general public and non-profit organizations have been willing to spend billions of dollars on land preservation because of a perception that traditional land use planning and regulation are not successfully accommodating growth or protecting valuable natural resources. The literature on smart growth has largely overlooked the potential of land preservation to curb sprawl and to foster livable communities. On the other hand, the literature on land preservation has focused on the mechanics of conservation easements and land purchases rather than on how land preservation can fit in the comprehensive planning process to achieve community smart growth goals. More research needs to be done on the strategic use of land preservation in shaping and directing growth as part of a comprehensive planning effort. 
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