CCOF Blog

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation. 

Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop resiliency, or develop wildlife habitat, NRCS can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. NRCS can help you identify natural resource problems in your operation and provide technical and financial assistance to solve those problems in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.

Note that...

Need a cover crop roller? A sensor that will text you when your greenhouse gets too hot or too cold? A chicken trailer?

You can build these pieces of equipment yourself using plans posted to the Farmhack.org website. More than 300 plans have been posted to the site, which is a project of the beginning farmer support organization Greenhorns. According to Greenhorns, “The purpose of Farm Hack is to facilitate the use, design, construction, modification, documentation, and sharing of tool ideas.”

Farm Hack began in 2010 and is currently being revitalized by Greenhorns. They...

Shriya Rangarajan1,2,5, Mark Lubell2, Joji Muramoto3,4, Houston Wilson1,5

1 Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside; 2 Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis; 3 Center for Agroecology, University of California, Santa Cruz; 4 University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, 5University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources—Organic Agriculture Institute

The University of California’s Organic Agriculture Institute (UC OAI) recently released a summary of findings from their ongoing needs...

Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation Helps Suppress Weeds, Disease, Without Fumigants

Troubled by puny plants, low yields, and persistent mite problems, third-generation Southern California strawberry grower Glen Hasegawa was ready to give up on his transition from conventional to organic 12 years ago.

“I've always liked a challenge—but it turned out to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be!” he said.

But then, with the help of scientists including Oleg Daugovish, UC Cooperative Extension strawberry and vegetable crop advisor in Ventura County, Hasegawa tried a...

Datev Gevorkian, Future Organic Farmer grantee, has his eyes set on the future of organic agriculture, focusing his impact on farming as well as research. He is currently experimenting with growing tobacco-derived nicotine as an organic insecticide alternative for common insects. Gevorkian, a Massachusetts native, was raised on a farm, which influenced his long-term aspiration to become a farmer and landowner. Gevorkian currently attends the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is working toward his Bachelor of Science degree in sustainable food and farming. Gevorkian is not only a full...

Figure 1 from left to right: CCOF Board Member Steven Cardoza, CCOF Senior Policy Manager Addison Peterson, and Assemblymember Damon Connolly

Based on invaluable farmer input, AB 2734, a CCOF-sponsored bill, has been crafted to enhance the Healthy Soils Program (HSP). This grant program is designed to financially assist and incentivize California farmers, ranchers, and growers to adopt healthy soil practices. These practices, in turn, will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), sequester carbon, and enhance water retention in the soil. Our CCOF Board Member Steven Cardoza,...

Phil LaRocca is the founder of LaRocca Vineyards. He serves as chairman of the CCOF Board and has been an organic farmer for over 50 years.

“I have a firm belief about organic,” Phil says. “As a kid, I spent every weekend at my grandfather’s ranch in the Santa Clara Valley.” The whole family worked on the farm, picking cherries and helping with the harvest. Apricot season, when Phil was out of school, was his favorite. “I got the farming bug in me. I loved being out there with the trees.”

After World War II, federal officials tried to give Phil’s grandfather some excess...

Utah native and Future Organic Farmer grantee Abigail Lazier’s earliest memory of farming is of running through her family’s garden as a child and collecting fresh carrots and ripe tomatoes. Lazier credits her family’s garden for planting the seed that propelled her into her organic farming career. Lazier describes, “As a child, the towering corn stalks of my home garden grew my curious imagination and fed my growing body in a partnership between my human and earthly mothers, and today, I have them to thank for helping to shape me into the avid gardener and plant geek I’ve become.”

Need a boost with marketing your organic products? CCOF is developing resources to help your organic business succeed. The first step is gathering input from our members on their marketing practices, challenges, and needs through an online survey. The results will let us know what tools will be most helpful to you. These marketing tools will be available at no cost to all CCOF members in both Spanish and English in winter 2024.

Take the survey online. Dé clic aquí para iniciar la encuesta en español.  It should take three to five minutes to complete. We have already collected many...

Ted Vivatson is the founder of Eel River Brewing, America’s first certified organic brewery. He serves on the CCOF Board.

Ted Vivatson’s love for quality beer evolved as organically as the company he created. A native of Danville, California, Ted spent a couple of years developing his palate for unique brews while serving his country in Germany in the early 70s.

“I was young, and America's big, corporate breweries hadn’t contaminated my palate for quality brews. I learned to savor and appreciate beer in a new light—not just by how many I could drink in a short time, but by...

The state of California joins in the national celebration of Agriculture Day each year with a gathering of farmers, ranchers, public agencies, state legislators, and agricultural organizations at the state capitol. This year’s Ag Day was on Tuesday, March 19; the theme was Next-Gen Tools, Talent & Tech. 

CCOF’s Senior Policy Manager Addison Peterson and Senior Policy Advocate Laetitia Benador attended Ag Day and helped staff a booth shared by partner organizations Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) and the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN). They had...

As a small farm business owner, Darlene Ruiz has always wanted to promote organic agriculture through education. She does this both through her own family farm, as well as through her educational pursuits. “My goal is to connect people to their food sources and to connect people through food by creating opportunities to share knowledge and create memories which can make lasting impacts that benefit the community well-being and our environment.” 

Ruiz is currently putting this goal into action by studying for her basic crop inspection training through the IOIA, or the International...

Join CCOF for a special Santa Cruz premiere of ”Organic Rising,” the new feature-length film directed by Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winner Anthony Suau. 

Join us on May 3, 2024

5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

At the RIO Theatre 

1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, CA 

Purchase tickets online

There will also be a Q&A session featuring certified organic growers and Jessy Beckett Parr, Chief Program Officer for CCOF.

CCOF is excited to sponsor this film showing of “Organic Rising” in Santa Cruz. The film features CCOF-certified producers, as...

CCOF está recopilando la opinión de nuestros miembros acerca de sus prácticas, los desafíos y las necesidades de mercadeo para poder desarrollar herramientas y recursos que ayuden a que su negocio de productos orgánicos tenga éxito. Estas herramientas de mercadeo estarán disponibles sin ningún costo para todos los miembros de CCOF en el otoño de 2024.

Dé clic aquí para iniciar la encuesta.  Le tomará 3 minutos o menos. La encuesta se enfoca principalmente en pequeños y medianos agricultores de productos orgánicos, ganaderos, productores de lácteos y operaciones “mixtas”, invitamos...

As a child, Shelia Wambui lived in Kenya with her family, where they tended land, grew their own vegetables, and reared hundreds of chickens and a handful of pigs. She believes it is our responsibility to be ethical stewards for the environment and its inhabitants. Sheila values conscious farming practices because of their effect on all ecosystems. She notes that organic farming, by avoiding the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, reduces harmful exposure to humans and waterways. Sheila envisions an agricultural system that protects the environment, the farmers, and the...