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LinkedInPosts Tagged: Economic Development
Renewing Memories of the UC Davis Bee Haven
It's like “Old Home Week” or “Old Home Day” when Michelle Monheit visits the UC Davis Bee Haven on Bee Biology Road. “I visit the garden whenever I'm in the area,” she said, as she headed over to the six-foot-long ceramic-mosaic bee sculpture, “Miss Bee...
Michelle Monheit of Woodland stands by "Miss Bee Haven," sculpted by Donna Billick. Michelle has visited the garden since childhood when her mother was working on bee research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen and researcher Susan Monheit work in the beginning stages of the UC Davis Bee Haven. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Urban Agriculture in Rural Places
The cultural divide between city folk and country folk has been the basis of stories – from literature to sitcoms – throughout our country's history. It seems like rural and urban communities (and people from them) are as different as night and day, but wanting good food is something we all have in common. Farmers in these communities are finding out that they can learn a lot from each other, and by working together, they are learning to feed their communities more efficiently.
What is “rural”?
The definition of “rural” varies widely depending on whether you consult the US Census, USDA's Economic Research Service, research institutions, or community members. One way to define “rural” is by defining what it isn't: it isn't metropolitan or suburban and it isn't part of a center of population or commerce where transportation and other resources may be accessible but land is at a premium. Even though residents of rural communities are surrounded by different kinds of agriculture, they must often travel tens of miles to buy their food, which was produced hundreds or thousands of miles away.
What's it like to farm or garden in rural communities?
While a farmer in a rural neighborhood may not receive many complaints about their roosters crowing, small-scale farmers in rural communities have as many challenges as their urban counterparts.
A foremost concern is access to markets: while urban farmers in cities may have access to tens of thousands of potential customers within a few miles, rural areas are sparsely populated, so keeping food fresh and safe and bringing it to the folks who would love to buy it can involve lots of coordination and logistics. Many small-scale rural farmers sell through multiple channels: farm stands, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's), farmers markets, and food hubs reach consumers directly, and institutions like schools have the capacity and motivation to purchase fresh local food in quantities that allow rural farmers to reach profitability. Increasing numbers of rural farmers are shoring up their incomes and reducing waste by developing value-added products like seasoning mixes and freeze-dried fruit which can be stored and transported (or mailed) and provide important off-season income.
An urban farmer in a city who starts growing on a new piece of land may have to think about industrial chemicals or waste in the soil, access to affordable, good-quality water, and the shadows of nearby buildings interfering with their crops. These concerns are not typically foremost in a rural small farmer's mind; rather, they may think about the encroachment of hungry wildlife (deer, birds, rabbits, squirrels, grasshoppers, and more). The methods a rural farmer must employ to protect their crops may include tall fences, scarecrows, motion-sensitive sprinklers, netting, and electrified barriers - many of these are adaptations from time-honored strategies on large-scale rural farms.
Making difference a strength
Farmers are great at building local professional networks. Whether they are meeting for coffee at the local volunteer fire department or gathering at the neighborhood community center, farmers know the value of sharing knowledge, practices, and experiences that can help improve their livelihoods, increase their sustainability, and build personal and community resilience. Urban and rural small farmers can learn a great deal from each other by expanding these networks to include their colleagues with vastly different perspectives and challenges, whose creative solutions may find applications in their own operations.
Some examples of this “cross pollination” may include “country-to-city” knowledge transfers like cover cropping and soil health strategies, community-based cooperatives and innovative product and marketing strategies; “city-to-country” transfers like extreme space and water efficiency, the benefits of on-farm gatherings and events, and digital tools like online sales platforms, farm management apps, and effective use of social media. Many small-scale urban agriculture projects in cities include public and professional training and education in their mission, and rural farmers can access these and become inspired to develop their own programs like workshops, educational resources, and production-related events or celebrations. 
Perhaps the greatest benefit of bridging the urban-rural divide in the small-scale farming community is the development of an appreciation for each other's work, and the transfer of that appreciation to their local communities. Jason Mark wrote in his essay “What's Growing On” in Gastronomica over ten years ago: “Spend a few months taking a broccoli from seed to harvest, and you'll soon have a much deeper appreciation for the natural systems on which we depend. Our connection to the earth becomes gobsmackingly obvious when you watch the crops grow (or fail). The garden produces a harvest of teachable moments about what it means to live in an environment.” Not everyone can grow their own broccoli, but maybe knowing a neighborhood farmer and their farm, seeing the work they put in and the progress of their food from seed to table, can be almost as important for all of us: urban, rural, or in-between.
A few references from this post:
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Urban Agriculture in California, https://youtu.be/Q1pwSAEJ-bI
Santo, Raychel & Palmer, Anne & Kim, Brent. (2016). Vacant lots to vibrant plots: A review of the benefits and limitations of urban agriculture. 10.13140/RG.2.2.25283.91682.
Jason Mark, What's Growing on, Gastronomica (2013) 13 (2): 73–76.
Applying Entomological Research in a Cooperative Extension Context
How do entomologists apply research in a Cooperative Extension program? You'll want to hear UC Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM) entomology advisor Dylan Beal, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources Program, present a seminar, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and...
Close-up of seeds in an unripened strawberry. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
2024: Revisiting 'The 13 Bugs of Christmas'
Back in 2010, UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (1944-2022) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and yours truly, department communications specialist, wondered why no insects appear in "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Zero....
UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen (1944-2022) of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility apiary. Image taken in 2010. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Ask a rancher: Surveys draw on hard-won wisdom for surviving drought
Roche team lands $1 million to help ranchers stay strong
California ranchers benefit when they plan ahead for extreme weather variability, according to rancher surveys and interviews conducted by a team headed by Leslie Roche, a professor of Cooperative Extension in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences.
But while wise planning and climate-smart adaptations helped ranchers survive the state's record-breaking 2012-2016 drought, those strategies by themselves were not enough, ranchers reported. Nearly 50 ranchers shared their experiences, and their collective wisdom is summarized in a paper written by Grace Woodmansee. She completed her master's degree with Roche and is now a UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources in Siskiyou County.
Building on that work, Roche and members of the statewide team have landed a $990,000 federal grant to help ranchers stay strong. The team includes colleagues from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and partner organizations. The project draws on members' diverse expertise and regional knowledge rooted in UC Cooperative Extension, while at the same time linking up with trusted networks at the local level.
Both Woodmansee's paper and the new grant are based on more than a decade of surveys and interviews with ranchers and other agriculturalists. That work all points to the economic and social barriers that hinder producers from adopting the climate-smart practices that could help them stay profitable amid the changes to come.
“It's really important to listen to agricultural producers – the people who live and work on the land – and draw on their experiences to develop practical solutions,” Roche said. “Extension can play a key role in sharing this valuable knowledge statewide, so others can learn from it and, hopefully, apply it to navigate their own challenges.”
Partners on the project include individual livestock producers, statewide livestock organizations, local conservation organizations and local agencies. Programs like this could become an example for ranch managers across the American West.
Cattle is California's No. 3 agricultural commodity, with cattle and other livestock worth about $3 billion in 2021, the state Department of Food and Agriculture reported. In addition to facing climate change, the sector is beset by rising costs, high interest rates, wildfire impacts and land use pressures. These additional challenges make it crucial for people managing the state's 14,000 livestock operations – counting beef, sheep and goats – to take steps now to survive future droughts.
Rangeland drought strategy: Mix up the livestock
In the past 12 years, ranchers have increasingly adopted sustainable agriculture practices to cope with drought and other threats, Woodmansee and colleagues found.
A key finding from the surveys is the enormous benefit amid drought of grazing more than one kind of animal on rangelands, Woodmansee wrote. Although most ranchers interviewed grazed only one species during the drought, typically cattle, the few who mixed up their livestock reported doing better economically. Because they have different grazing habits, stock such as sheep and goats can take advantage of different kinds of forage and broaden a rancher's economic base.
In addition, ranchers who used genetic information to think ahead about culling their herds, when that step became necessary, were left with a stronger remainder, Woodmansee wrote.
Ranchers also found it was important to have plans both for preventing problems and reacting to them, Woodmansee added. But surveys done ahead of the 2012-2016 drought, and interviews done four years in, also revealed that only a little more than half of ranchers had planned ahead.
“There is a substantial opportunity to increase preparedness by aiding ranchers in developing drought management plans,” Woodmansee wrote. But she advised, “drought plans are not ‘one size fits all,' and policy must be designed to support drought adaptation and mitigation strategies at the ranch level.”
Grant part of nationwide effort
Roche and team's $990,000 grant comes from the United States Department of Agriculture through the National Resources Conservation Service. It's part of a $22-million, nationwide effort to help American ranchers overcome these and other barriers they face to adapting. Based on all they've learned through the surveys and interviews, the team is now launching a comprehensive education, outreach and training program. Their own wide range of expertise and networks reach deep into ranching communities, and they'll leverage those, too. 
UC Cooperative Extension will have an important role in that work, as a trusted source of information. Training also will embrace conservation planners and technical service providers who work with ranchers.
“Activities will include workshops, field tours and demonstrations on conservation practices to address local natural resource concerns,” the team wrote in their proposal. Their work also “will target opportunities to support underserved communities, including new and beginning ranchers.”
They'll also add resources specifically about the state's grazing lands to the California Climate Hub, a website developed by USDA to provide the latest information to help producers statewide adapt to new climate realities.
People trained in all these areas must be brought up in the ranks: The project calls for networking, mentoring and hands-on learning to spark career choices among young people, and grow skills among beginning ranchers and early career natural resource professionals.
Scientists co-leading the project are Tracy Schohr and Dan Macon of UC Cooperative Extension; Roselle Bush and Gabriele Maier, both UC Davis assistant professors of Cooperative Extension; and Steven Ostoja, California Climate Hub director. The project will provide opportunities for a broad range of UC ANR colleagues as well, Roche said.
Partnering organizations include the Sierra Valley Resource Conservation District, the California Cattlemen's Association, the California Wool Growers Association, the California Rangeland Trust and the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
Read the science
Woodmansee's paper, "Building Ranch Resilience to Drought: Management Capacity, Planning, and Adaptive Learning During California's 2012–2016 Drought," is online now. It's set for print publication in the January edition of Rangeland Ecology & Management.
An earlier paper that laid the foundation for the subsequent research: "On-ranch adaptation to California's historic 2012-2016 drought, Woodmansee et al., 2021."
