Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has printed the brand new California Organic Research Agenda (CORA), a complete report that examines present wants and challenges of natural farmers and ranchers throughout California and supplies coverage and analysis suggestions to handle producer-identified points.
The CORA report is a companion to OFRF’s 2022 National Organic Research Agenda. The nationwide natural survey information boasts responses from over 1,100 producers and 16 listening periods held throughout the U.S. Using the California subset of the nationwide survey information, the CORA report highlights the highest manufacturing and non-production challenges cited by California’s natural farmers and ranchers.
“Organic farming has been traditionally under-invested in, when it comes to analysis, training and extension,” says OFRF Executive Director Brise Tencer. “Both the brand new California Organic Research Agenda and the 2022 National Organic Research Agenda current unbelievable suggestions immediately from natural farmers and supply a compelling roadmap for methods to greatest assist the expansion of this vital sector of agriculture.”
Report findings point out that managing manufacturing prices is a considerable problem for 71% of producers surveyed, and accessing labor proved to be the main non-production problem. An overwhelming variety of state producers (76%) expressed substantial want for technical help with the natural administration of weeds, pests, and illness. In addition to detailing farmer challenges on and off the sector, OFRF’s CORA report supplies a comparability evaluation of farmer responses primarily based on commodity and farming expertise. National and state comparisons are additionally included within the report.
Production of the CORA report was supported partially by the University of California Organic Agriculture Institute, a brand new statewide program throughout the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, in addition to the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology.
“One of our major actions is to generate new analysis and extension packages targeted on natural agriculture,” says Houston Wilson, director of the UC Organic Agriculture Institute. “The CORA report supplies a superb roadmap to information and prioritize our efforts, we’re actually excited to show this info into motion.”
According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, state farmers and ranchers had been answerable for 40% of all natural agricultural product gross sales within the nation. Data from a 2019 USDA natural survey concludes California has 965,257 acres in natural manufacturing, which is roughly 17.5% of all natural acreage within the nation. OFRF’s California Organic Research Agenda examines grower wants within the nation’s top-producing state of natural agricultural commodities and specialty crops, paving the best way for future analysis and funding.
“This report will profit natural growers in California by enjoying a task as a vital reference to extend public assist and develop analysis tasks concentrating on particular wants that various natural growers within the state are going through,” says Joji Muramoto, UC Cooperative Extension natural manufacturing specialist primarily based at UC Santa Cruz.
The CORA report is on the market free on-line at https://ofrf.org/analysis/nora for farmers, policymakers, agricultural suppliers, seed corporations and most people.
