Salinas program trains field workers to be farmers

At a 100-acre ranch outside Salinas, field workers are learning additional techniques of the farming and business trades they will need as they work to become tomorrow's farmers.

Nearly three dozen of these hopeful farmers have completed a year of classroom sessions offered by the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association and are already taking their lessons to the field on small leased plots at the ALBA field.

"We have about 35 tenants at different stages of incubation," said Kaley Grimland-Mendoza, business enterprise development specialist for ALBA. "In their first year, they start with an average of a half acre. Some of our larger commercial farmers are on about six or seven acres on our ranch. We have an equipment share, so a farmer on a half acre doesn't have to buy a tractor."

Grimland-Mendoza made her remarks as two busloads of organic farmers from around the country visited the ALBA ranch during a tour before the annual Ecological Farming Conference held in Pacific Grove.

During the years, 100 workers have been able to take the classes at ALBA, try their new knowledge on a half acre, and eventually graduate to start their own small farming businesses.

"We've helped start over 100 businesses," said Nathan Harkleroad, ALBA program manager. "About a quarter of the farmers leasing land here are women, and it's about 90 percent Latino. Some of our farmers don't even have a truck when they start. Some of our students have 20 or 30 years' experience as farmworkers, but they haven't done all the things they will need to if they go into business as farmers."

ALBA sets land rents for the student farmers at 25 percent of the market rate the first year; the rents rise to 50 percent the second year, and eventually to 90 percent of market lease rates.

"Land rents in this area are about $2,200 an acre," Harkleroad said. "When I tell people from other parts of the country the rents, they think I'm talking about the purchase price. To have 100 acres in the heart of the Salinas Valley to do this work is pretty special."

Around 40 percent of the ALBA budget comes from these reduced land leases, equipment rentals and class fees, and the rest comes from grants, mostly from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Pointing to a one-acre demonstration plot used for teaching purposes and planted with broccoli, kale, chard, and mustard and rye mix cover crops, Harkleroad said the plot represents "the only arable land ALBA has that isn't leased out."

The tour stopped to visit with one of the student farmers, who grew many of the same vegetable crops conventionally in Hidalgo, Mexico, before learning to grow organically in the Salinas Valley.

"By good luck, I found the classes at ALBA," said this third-year student, who is leasing 4.5 acres at the ranch. "I was impressed with the organic practices, and the pride people have in their farming. I grew lettuce, radishes, cilantro and carrots using pesticides in Mexico."

Harkleroad said a major part of the education at ALBA is the conversations the students have with each other as they all learn about the business of farming.

"One of the benefits of being here is having the other farmers around," he said. "We have an aging farming population and the question is how we're going to replace them. I think the farmworkers are a great source of future farmers. They already know some of the crops, and they have a great work ethic. We are trying to help people financially and create jobs. When you think about organics, one of the things to consider is that organic creates jobs."

ALBA has found success placing its produce in the market but, as with other organic farmers, finds the going a little tougher as the price premiums have come down.

"We've grown crops for Chipotle, Blue Apron and a bunch of other people," Harkleroad said. "We've seen huge growth in the organic industry locally, but the profit margin has gone down."

Many of the farmers at ALBA have responded to the lower margins by relying less on strawberries and more on a mix of crops that also includes vegetables.

"The strawberries aren't bringing the premiums they were," Grimland-Mendoza said. "A lot of our farmers are doing more vegetables. The main crops are strawberries and mixed vegetables, romaine, cilantro, beets and carrots."

ALBA has also helped marketing efforts by cultivating a relationship with a Salinas startup that specializes in aggregating crops from many small farmers, in order to help them gain access to new markets.

"The restaurants and small chains would say, 'We don't have the time to do the aggregating, but if you can we'd love to support the small farmers,'" said Karen Marie Feliz, who creates networks of farmers at Aggrigator of Salinas. "We do more than just ALBA; we do all small farmers, organic and conventional."

In addition to lessons on everything from fertility to weeds and insect pests to soil diseases, ALBA also helps with learning the paperwork involved in being an organic farmer.

"I work with the farmers here to help them get and maintain their organic certification," Grimland-Mendoza said. "We serve mostly Latino farmworkers. They see this as a place they can learn some skills and go into business as farmers. We provide tons of education, and connections that will help them."

(Bob Johnson is a reporter in Davis. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@aol.com.)