From the Fields - Brian Park

By Brian Park, Sutter County farmer 

We have carrots, vetch, garbanzos, radish, kale and cauliflower growing for seed production. The carrot seed will be harvested in October, while the others will be harvested in June. The fields are too wet to get in and hoe or cultivate, so we’re mostly watching the crops for their overall vigor and plant health. We’re watching the weather closely, as it impacts how soon we can get on our ground.

Every acre besides our alfalfa and seed crops has cover crops growing. One of the many benefits we’ve found with cover crops is watching every drop of rain stay in the field. Soon, the cover crops will be grazed by sheep. We have a lot of work going on in our shop, making sure tractors and implements are ready to go once the weather cooperates and fields lend themselves to spring tillage.

This time of year, we’re spending a lot of time reflecting on the ups and downs of last year, trying to figure out how we can do stuff better this upcoming season. There’s a lot of time spent in front of spreadsheets and budgets to ensure our crop plan will be profitable while continuing to improve our overall soil health.

Next season will be my best season (said the internally optimistic farmer). We’re meeting with buyers—from tomato canneries, seed crops, rice, corn, alfalfa, sunflowers and fresh produce—to firm up acres and prices, finalizing what they want.

There seems to be an underlying current of saturation within the marketplace, whether it is rice or tomatoes or alfalfa or sunflower. It really is amazing how fast California agriculture can fill voids.