UC Cooperative Extension was awarded an internship grant from the UC California Communities Program to develop a two day forum focused on possible solutions to the complex problems faced by local farmers trying to adapt production and marketing strategies to survive modern day challenges of retail consolidation, global trade, and ever-changing consumer demands. UC Davis Geography Ph.D. Candidate D'Arcy Dornan was selected to coordinate the planning process.
UCCE staff worked with D'Arcy to form a Planning Committee composed of representatives from Lake County Business Outreach and Response Team, Lake County Community Development Services, Lake County Farm Bureau, Lake County Farmers' Finest (an association of agricultural producers and supporters), Lake County Marketing and Economic Development Program, Lake County Women for Agriculture and the Lake County Winegrape Commission to develop a program for the conference. The committee met monthly and after nearly one year, hosted 2004 Solutions for Today's Farmers.
In addition to the organizations listed above, conference co-sponsors included the UC California Communities Program, USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA), UC Agricultural Issues Center and several local businesses. RMA's support was in the form of a grant to the UC Agricultural Issues Center aimed in part at reducing risk for small-scale and beginning farmers in California. The RMA finances risk management education for specialty crop producers who are not eligible for most federal government agricultural support programs.
The conference was held on January 10-11, 2004 at the Gard Street Elementary School. It emcompassed two plenary sessions and nine panel sessions with 40 speakers. Locally grown produce and wines were featured at all breaks, lunches and during an evening reception. The conference was very well received with over 125 farmers and other supporters in attendance. Congressman Mike Thompson's message, "The timing of this seminar is critical. Farmers and ranchers today face major challenges. We all share a responsibility to ensure agriculture remains strong in Lake County", set the tone for the plenary sessions, the documentation of which is offered in the following Proceedings.
The collaborative and cooperative environment fostered by the 2004 Solutions for Today's Farmers Conference provided many opportunities for follow up. Making the proceedings available electronically is one method to extend the myriad of ideas and beneficial outcomes gained over the two days. If you are a Lake County agricultural producer, a supporter of Lake County agriculture or are just interested in agricultural diversification and marketing generally, we hope you will find these proceedings useful.
If you would like to be notified about future educational opportunities related to agricultural economic development please email celake@ucdavis.edu or call 707-263-6838 or fax 707-263-3963 with your contact information.
