The Small Farm Innovations Co-Operative builds and develops collaborations between small farms, college agriculture programs and agri-businesses to implement projects that meet three objectives:
1) Through field trials on small working farms, to scientifically test, track and optimize the usefulness of innovations in agricultural technology, eco-system preservation and sustainable farming practices.
2) To provide practical on-farm experience to people interested in the dynamic science and art of growing high quality foods for local communities using natural sustainable growing practices and technologies.
3) To grow better quality crops with higher yields while preserving the environment and educating adult students about small wild farmlands.
Field trials are important to the advancement of sustainable farming innovations that have proven their worth in the lab. Small farmers are intrigued by the possibilities of innovations, yet their focus is on their farmland, the quality of their crops and their yields. When they agree to a field trial and the innovation works, the farmer and his lieutenants enthusiastically harvest, but much too often the documenting of data points is not as precise as it needs to be to understand the reason the field trial worked.
Students in agriculture programs have access to teachers, some school agriculture lands and other tremendous school resources, yet this education, not farming. Our Small Farm Innovations Co-Op puts students onto the farms and under the tutelage of affiliate farmers and their field staff as a part of school accredited classes.
Our Small Farm Innovations Co-Operative projects give adult students a full taste of contemporary farming that they cannot get on-campus, and they bring enthusiastic student resources onto small farms to document and provide accurate, consistent metrics to field trials that will advance the technology and practices of natural sustainable small farming.
Want to learn more about our Small Farm Innovations Co-Op? We would love to talk to you. Fill out the form on this page or contact us by phone at 805-845-4949.
Additional Wild Farmlands On-Farm Education projects and events for 2016 are currently being planned and budgeted. Use the form to the right to join our email list or check back with this website often for news and updates.
