To promote specialty crops and strengthen the industry through agritourism, California Department of Food and Agriculture has awarded nearly $450,000 from its Specialty Crop Block Grant Program for the California Open Farm Passport project. Rachael Callahan, statewide agritourism coordinator for the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, is leading the project, working with regional partners throughout the state to promote farmers through Open Farm events. 

WSARE California invites proposals for small grants (up to $25,000) to support professional development opportunities in sustainable agriculture targeted primarily to agricultural professionals such as extension staff, non-profit, state and federal agency staff, PCAs/CCAs, etc. Farmers and ranchers may be included but should NOT be the primary audience.

The UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program (SAREP) is pleased to announce the recipients of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems 2024-25 Small Grants Program. Funds from this grant program are provided for planning, research, and education projects that support the development of sustainable community food systems and environmentally-sound and economically viable farming enterprises. 

Vivian Wauters joined UC SAREP as a project scientist on Jan. 1.

In this role, Wauters is working with Sonja Brodt on a project to support co-learning and institutional capacity-building within a multi-organizational network to help accelerate adoption of climate-adaptive and climate-mitigating practices among California farmers.

Facilitated by the California Food Hub Network at UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program (SAREP) and the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) Foundation

TOPP Transitioning Producer Mentee Qualifications:

UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) is pleased to announce the release of the request for proposals for our 2024-25 Small Grants Program. The program funds research projects, education and demonstration programs of research-based technologies and systems, and projects that support the development of sustainable community food systems. 

The 1862 Land Grant institutions were founded during the immediate post-Civil War, post-slavery period for the benefit of white farmers and homesteaders and were built on the wealth generated by land expropriated from indigenous peoples across the U.S. (Joseph A. Myers Center, 2021). With a history so fraught with racial oppression, our public sector extension service faces an enormous task not only in righting past wrongs, but in moving forward in truly meeting the needs of contemporary people of color.

The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) offers a unique recruitment opportunity for an Assistant Project Scientist in Climate-Smart Agriculture with UC SAREP. The Project Scientist will provide scientific leadership and capacity-building support for a nascent extension network involving multiple project partners across California, ranging from UC Cooperative Extension to Resource Conservation Districts and agricultural non-profits.