Nonprofit group raises next crop of farmers

By TIM HEARDEN

Capital Press

WINTERS, Calif. -- Organic walnut and olive farmer Craig McNamara had it on his heart to help people get into the business.

So in 1994, he helped start the nonprofit Center for Land-Based Learning, which operates on his 450-acre Sierra Orchards property and mainly teaches high school students the basics of farming and the environment.

This winter, the organization is launching the California Farm Academy, a six-month class that teaches adults looking to get a foothold in agriculture. The course will cover such topics as pest management, farm equipment operation, irrigation management and direct and wholesale marketing.

The academy is part of an effort to respond to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's call for 100,000 new farmers to replace those who are aging and retiring, organizers say.

"I am so excited about the roll-out of this new academy for me personally and for the agriculture industry," McNamara said. "I think it's exactly the right thing at the right time."

Twenty students have paid $1,950 each for the academy classes, which start Feb. 16. After they graduate, students will have a chance to lease half-acre plots for up to three years at below-market rates to get started, and the academy will help them find larger parcels to rent, program director Jennifer Taylor said.

The class will make use of expertise from such professionals as Thaddeus Barsotti, co-owner of Farm Fresh to You and Capay Organic in the Capay Valley, 90 miles northeast of San Francisco.

There's now a waiting list for the course, which the center plans to offer again in the future.

"We're really targeting people who have some experience ... but maybe didn't grow up on the farm or had other careers and are coming back to farming," said Taylor, adding that students range in age from their 20s to their 50s.

"There's a whole lot of retiring farmers and land changing hands," she said. "We have a lot of mouths to feed, and that's not changing."

Toby Hastings of Davis, Calif., operates a prototype plot on the farm site, growing peaches and 14 other tree crops. It'll take about two years for the young trees to mature enough to produce, he said.

"I think it's great," Hastings said of the farm academy. "It's a really good opportunity for people who want to get started because there's not a lot of resources out here in the Central Valley."

McNamara has been farming in Winters for 32 years. While his orchard mainly consists of walnuts, there are also olive trees planted in 1886 that he uses to produce oil.

According to the center's tax returns, he receives rent from the nonprofit, but McNamara said hosting the nonprofit provides other benefits.

"I certainly benefit in terms of building the next crop of well-informed decision-makers in California," he said.

Online

Center for Land-Based Learning: www.landbasedlearning.org