Rising economic and climate pressures drive regenerative practices, innovation, and collaboration

CalCAN’s work is grounded in farmer experiences and expertise. As part of my job connecting with farmers across the state, I recently visited eight farmers and ranchers in Mendocino and Colusa counties. Rising economic and climate pressures impact farmers and ranchers everywhere, but the way each operation experiences and responds to these pressures is often unique. I try to listen for patterns in these stories and responses to help inform CalCAN’s policy work. Here are some of the patterns and stories I heard on this trip.

Periods of High Input Prices Drive Some Farmers to Experiment with Lower-Input, Organic, and Regenerative Strategies, and Sometimes Lead to Higher Net Profits

Scott Park started experimenting with organic practices in the 1980s. Today, Park and his family grow a wide variety of organically-certified crops, including processing tomatoes, rice, corn, and wheat, which he rotates with cover crops across 1800 acres.

Park employs a variety of practices to manage fertility with very few external inputs, a system he describes as “lower input and lower risk.” For example, he says that beans have historically been an essential part of his crop rotation, though he notes that increasing nighttime temperatures have made it harder to grow them in the area. When possible, he also grazes cover crops to recycle nutrients in his fields.

Park says these practices are part of a “net profit strategy” that has allowed him to stay in business. He says a conventional neighbor farming tomatoes year after year needs $6,000 to break even, whereas Park only needs $3,500.

A recently acquired field near the Sutter Buttes that the Park family is transitioning to organic.

But his economic competitiveness hasn’t always translated to easy access to land. Historically, Park says he had a hard time leasing land in the area because landowners were skeptical of organic production and returns. In fact, Park says, “landowners might be one of the largest barriers to organic transition.” That may be starting to change though. As conventional neighboring farmers have struggled, they can’t help but notice Park is still in business. This year, five or six farmers offered him 2,000-acre parcels to lease.

Scott’s story of responding to hardship from high input costs by innovating with lower input, organic, and regenerative practices, and ultimately finding a more profitable business model, mirrors the stories of many farmers in our network. This pattern is worth remembering and learning from as we live through another period of record-high fertilizer, fuel, and labor costs. What innovations and new successful business models will farmers develop as a result?

High Labor Costs Drive Some Producers to Experiment with New Technologies

For example, new technology is helping Ridgewood Ranch Cattle reduce labor costs with their calf-cow operation in Mendocino County. Dylan Jones, who runs Ridgewood Ranch Cattle near Willits, shared that the ranch recently began using virtual fencing technology for its cattle.

Virtual fencing technology involves a collar that the cattle wear which communicates to software that the rancher can use to define grazing areas. Jones said that the technology has come a long way in the past few years. It’s allowing them to double their pasture utilization rate and greatly reduce labor time and costs. No longer limited by fencing cost, the ranchers can contour with the landscape.

Of course, it’s not a replacement for being in the field, and Jones wouldn’t want it to be. “But at least now I’m not spending two hours putting up a fence in a muddy area that the cows are going to immediately knock down.” It also allows the ranchers to keep the herd close together and move them more frequently, mimicking how they would graze in nature and allowing the grassland more rest time in between grazes.

Virtual fencing technology is garnering interest from other ranchers as well. If you’re interested in learning more, our friends at the California Rangeland Trust are offering a two-part webinar series on virtual fencing on June 11th and 18th.

Farmers Turning to Regional Equipment-Sharing to Reduce Capital Expenses, Enable Diversification, and Reduce Costs

Farmer and Mendocino Grain Project owner-operator Rachel Britten checks the seed maturity on a rye planting at the School of Adaptive Agriculture.

I also met with Rachel Britten, the owner-operator of the Mendocino Grain Project. The Mendocino Grain Project was founded in 2009 in response to a regional survey that identified the need for staple crop production in Mendocino County. The business now includes growing, harvesting, cleaning and milling flour, and providing seed cleaning services for other farmers. The project’s seed cleaning capacities lowers the barriers to entry to seed cleaning for local farmers of any size, and has facilitated the growth of staple crop production by other farmers in Mendocino County.

As Britten has increased seed cleaning for other growers, she’s spending less time growing her own grain for the project. “I have all the equipment sitting there; I’d love for somebody to be able to use it.” Equipment sharing programs support small-scale and underserved farmers in accessing critical equipment that enables soil-health practices like cover cropping and compost spreading. In 2024, CalCAN successfully secured $15 million for an equipment-sharing grant program in the Proposition 4 climate bond which was passed by voters.

CalCAN is actively gathering and coalescing farmer and technical assistance provider input to help inform CDFA’s new $15 million equipment-sharing program. Are you a farmer, rancher, or TA provider with ideas about equipment sharing? Email Anna Larson at anna [at] calclimateag.org to share your ideas!