Center for Land-Based Learning

Adult education and training:a. The California farm academy business incubator offers farmland for lease to qualified beginning farmer training program graduates and other local beginning farmers on a case-by-case basis if land is available. The program provides access to shared infrastructure, equipment, and mentorship. Incubator sites are located in woodland and west sacramento. Plots of land ranging from one-quarter to one acre or more, as well as greenhouse, wash and pack, tractor, and cooler space can be leased. Land can be leased on an annual basis for up to four years. This year, the following was accomplished:(1) there were five (5) incubator farmers leasing land at the maples, for a total of 4.5 acres, and 6 incubator farmers in west sacramento, on three plots (5th and c, lake Washington, and cummins way) for a total of three acres. Riverfront farm continued to be farmed by clbl staff, and all food produced was provided to the west sacramento mobile farmers market truck. (2) the drip irrigation system was expanded to the front field, utilizing a cdfa sweep grant, and then the new 5-acre olive orchard was planted in june of 2023 in that field. B. The California farm academy apprenticeship program is for highly motivated and committed individuals who know they want to pursue a career in agriculture. The program lasts approximately two years and includes both a paid on-the-job training component, as well as coursework requirements. Upon completion, the apprentice will graduate to a journeyman level in the occupation of a beginning farm and ranch manager. (1) in 2022-23, the apprenticeship program continued its statewide expansion, serving a total of 12 apprentices in 10 counties. (2) development of the new aghire program, which is a spanish language track for farmworkers, for a planned launch in late 2024. (3) the program graduated five apprentices that completed their 2-year on-the-job training and curriculum.c. The California farm academy training program combines classes, hands-on training, farm visits and field trips. From agricultural production to business planning to marketing of specialty crops, the cfa training program is designed to start the next generation of farmers on their journey. (1) the program graduated nine students in september of 2022, and there were 13 students enrolled in the 2023 class that began in february. They will graduate in september. (2) the 2nd year of curriculum tracks continued for livestock, orchard crops, and on farm research trials. The 2023 class was required to work on the west sacramento mobile farmers market truck, which was very successful and led to excellent opportunities to learn the basics of direct sales. Another new aspect of the program in 2023 was the addition of required friday workdays to harvest crops in the training plot, all of which was sold on the west sacramento mobile farmers market truck. D. the community food progam continues to grow with funding from usda, nrcs, usda ams, county of yolo, city of woodland, and city of west sacramento. The 2022 year was the 2nd for the mobile farmers market truck, and 2023 we launched the 3rd year. Through this truck, we assisted more of our beginning farmer alumni sell produce to low- income communities using ebt/snap benefits. (1) 50% of all of the produce and fruit came from within 5 miles, the remainder from within 50 miles. Our goal of producing local, healthy food and getting it to the communities that we serve is being realized. (2) total sales in 2022 was $38,000, and in 2023 we expect $50,000 by the end of the program year (october). Almost 75% of those sales are calfresh ebt, which is matched by the state and federal market match program. (3) the success of the west sacramento mobile farmers market has meant we've been able to garner additional funding to add a second truck for woodland and rural yolo county. This funding was approved by the county of yolo (to purchase the new truck and other infrastructure, including a new cooler), and the city of woodland for the operation. Due to this funding, a 2nd coordinator will be hired in september of 2023 to manage the woodland operations. We expect to receive the new truck in early 2024 for launch in may of the same year. (4) in 2022, we moved our aggregation facility from its former location at campus brewing to a new location, a former togo's restaurant, with the goal of creating a full-service aggregation, light processing and potentially storefront facility. With our long-time partner, the west sacramento housing development corporation, we rehabbed this space so that our farmers would have 24-hour a day access to the cooler and storage space, and this was also the hub for our west sacramento mobile farmers market operations. This facility is now called "the hub and we have several additional funding sources, including the community food project (usda) and local food promotion program (usda).e. The farm and climate program entered its second year of implementation at the maples farm and its goal is to serve as a model of how farm practices can lead to carbon sequestration and increase biodiversity in agroecosystems. We are partnering with the yolo resource conservation district and carbon cycle institute to pilot carbon farm plans at the maples and a couple of other farms in the region, and these pilot models will be used to educate other farmers in the region. (1) the maples carbon farm plan was completed in june of 2023. (2) with our partners, we identified an additional farm, river garden farms (over 10,000 acres) for the 2nd carbon farm plan. This plan was started and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2023. (3) several workshops and trainings are planned for winter of 2024.

Youth education, workforce development and leadership training:a. The student and landowner education and watershed stewardship (slews) program served a total of 350 students from 8 different schools in yolo, sacramento, and san joaquin counties during the 2022-23 program year and recruited and trained 60 volunteer professional mentors. This was a big increase from the year before, and put us back in line with previous, pre-covid numbers. (1) completing a total of 24 field days, we planted 3,200 trees, shrubs, and forbs, 10,000 grass plugs, and installed 8 irrigation systems with 40 blue bird boxes. (2) out of the students served in the 2022-23 field season, 96% of students were more interested in careers related to agriculture or natural resources, 82% of students shared what they learned with their friends and family in the community, and 95% of students felt they would engage more with the outdoors as a result of the slews program. (3) we added a new county into the slews program, san joaquin, with the addition of partnership with lange twins winery and a project that will span 10 years. This project worked with lodi high school. B. Farming, agriculture, and resource management for sustainability (farms) leadership - the farms leadership program introduces, trains, and recruits high school students for college and career opportunities in agriculture and environmental sciences. Statewide statistics:total farms in-person field days completed - 50number of schools served - 24number of students impacted - 266 c. mjdoa scholarships - the annual farms scholarships are a partnership between the Center for Land-Based Learning and my job depends on ag. In 2023 we awarded 21 scholarships, totaling $12,000. Recipients of the scholarship will be pursuing degrees or certifications in fields related to agriculture and environmental sciences. (1) this year, twelve $500 senior scholarships were awarded to graduating high school seniors and six $1,000 scholarships for alumni in college or a vocational program.d. Internships and jobs - 25 internships were created in the sacramento region through the urban ag internship program with grant union and luther burbank high schools(1) the urban ag interns were provided with a year-round job, and a total of 5,000 hours of paid internship hours at $15/hour. They also were provided with 40 hours of workforce development training, and three field trips throughout the year to farms, colleges, and ag businesses. (2) five farms alumni were placed in paid internships throughout the state, including kern, fresno, monterey, and colusa counties, with such companies as grow west and agencies such as usda nrcs. (3) several in-person alumni gatherings were provided, including one at the world ag expo in tulare in february of 2023. These events bring together alumni with current students in the program, as well as industry partners and stakeholders. E. caring for our watersheds (cfw) - a joint program with nutrien, cfw is an environmental proposal contest and a project funding opportunity for high school students. Cfw empowers students to imagine and develop solutions to environmental concerns in their own communities and turn their ideas into action. Each year, the program's final event is in april, as close as possible to earth day. (1) in 2023, there was a total of 550 students, 380 proposals, and 10 finalists. (2) the 10 finalists received $6,000 in award funding, and their schools received matching funds. (3) in addition, we award funding for implementation projects, and there were 12 projects completed during the 22-23 year, for more than $8,500 in project monies provided.