Following the farm financial crisis of the 1980s, land prices in the County sharply dropped ; this economic window provided an opportunity for a new generation of farmers to insert a more ecologically-minded approach to farming. Many of these farmers arrived to Yolo County relatively new to farming – often young, educated white urbanites with a desire to farm alternatively to the industrial agribusinesses that had historically dominated the landscape of Yolo County since the early 1900s . Informed by the organic movement, these so-called “back-to-the-land” farmers established innovative, high-value, diversified farms that still exist today. As diversified fruit and vegetable farmers, their approach to farming necessitated learning about and working with their local landscape and ecology . Upon arrival, many were particularly interested in soil fertility and made a conscious effort to avoid “mining the soil” and address ongoing issues with soil degradation in agriculture . While initially these back-to-the-landers lacked historically- and ecologically-specific knowledge of the lands they cultivated , over the last three decades or more, it is highly probable that they have individually amassed a wealth of local, place-based knowledge of their specific management contexts and soil landscapes . To our knowledge, farmer knowledge of local soil landscapes and related soil management practices remains entirely undocumented in Yolo County. Yet, the unique historical and ecological context makes farmer knowledge of soil health and soil management in this region especially important to document; this knowledge is potentially foundational as organic farmers adapt their farming approaches and management in the face of increasing social, economic, vertical grow shelf and environmental uncertainties.
Though many organic farmers in Yolo County are informed by principles of alternative agriculture when managing their soils, it is less clear how these particular farmers have translated their local knowledge of soil into practice and the substance of the soil management practices applied. To address this gap, we used an exploratory approach and examined local farmer knowledge of soil and practical knowledge of soil management in this region. Our objectives were to: 1) Understand how farmers acquire local knowledge of their soils; 2) Document what organic farmers know about their soils; and 3) Determine how these farmers translate this local knowledge into specific management practices related to soil health and on-farm resilience.This research is informed by a Farmer First approach, which recognizes farmers as experts and crucial partners in researching and innovating solutions for resilient, alternative agriculture . The Farmer First approach recognizes multiple knowledge forms and challenges the standard “information transfer” pipeline model that is often applied in research and extension contexts . We used an open-ended, qualitative approach that relies on in-depth and in person interviews to study farmer knowledge. Such methods are complementary to surveys that use quantitative methods for capturing a large sample of responses . Because they are more open-ended, qualitative approaches allow for more unanticipated directions ; however, as Scoones and Thompson point out, removing local knowledge from its local context and attempting to fit it into the constrictive framework of Western scientific rationality is likely to lead to significant errors in interpretation, assimilation, and application.
While interviews are not able to capture the quantity of farmers that surveys do, in-depth interviews allow researchers to access a deeper knowledge base that has inherent value – despite limitations in scalability and/or transferability – as participants respond in their own words, using their own categorization, and perceived associations . Such in-depth interviews are therefore essential to research on farmer knowledge and local knowledge .This research was part of a larger project examining soil health on working organic farms in the region. To identify potential participants for this study, we first consulted the USDA Organic Integrity database and assembled a comprehensive list of all organic farms in the county . Next, with input from the local University of California Cooperative Extension Small and Organic Farms Advisor for Yolo County, we narrowed the list of potential farms by applying several criteria for this study: grow fruit, vegetables, and other diversified crops ; located in Yolo County; at least 10 years of experience in organic farming; and, at least five years of farming on the same land. We chose to focus on diversified fruit and vegetable farmers specifically because of the high demands on soil health and management necessary to farm fruits and vegetables alternatively . We placed minimum limits on farmer experience and time on a particular piece of land in order to ensure farmer knowledge had time to develop; based on an informal survey of farmers throughout California, 10 years was the consensus among these farmers as the amount of time needed to experience aspects of farming “at least once.” This significantly reduced the pool of potential participants; in total, sixteen farms were identified to fit the criteria of this study .Working with a local UCCE advisor helped establish trust with farmers identified. These 16 farmers were contacted with a letter containing information about the study and its scope. Thirteen farmers responded and agreed to participate in the entirety of the study .
These 13 organic farmers represent a majority of the organic farms in the region that grow a diversified array of vegetable and fruit crops and that sell to a variety of consumer markets, including farmers’ markets, wholesale markets, and restaurants. These farmers interviewed also represented 13 individuals who oversaw management and operations on their farms. These individuals were most often the primary owner and operator of the farm, and made key management decisions on their farm.In-person interviews were conducted in the winter, between December 2019 – February 2020; three interviews were conducted in December 2020. We used a two-tiered interview process, where we scheduled an initial field visit and then returned for an in-depth, semi-structured interview. The purpose of the preliminary field visit was to help establish rapport and increase the amount and depth of knowledge farmers shared during the semi-structured interviews. The initial field visit typically lasted one hour and was completed with all 13 participants. Farmers were asked to walk through their farm and talk more generally about their fields, their management practices, and their understanding of the term “soil health.” The field interview also provided an opportunity for open dialogue with farmers regarding management practices and local knowledge . Because local knowledge is often tacit, the field component was beneficial to connect knowledge shared to specific fields and specific practices. After the initial field visits, vertical farming supplies all 13 farmers were contacted to participate in a follow up visit to their farm that consisted of a semi-structured interview followed by a brief survey. The semi-structured interview is the standard technique for gathering local knowledge . These in-depth interviews allowed us to ask the same questions of each farmer so that comparisons between interviews could be made. To develop interview questions for the semi-structured interviews , we established initial topics such as the farmer’s background, farm history, general farm management and soil management approaches. We consulted with two organic farmers to develop final interview questions. The final format of the semi-structured interviews was designed to encourage deep knowledge sharing. For example, the interview questions were structured such that questions revisited topics to allow interviewees to expand on and deepen their answer with each subsequent version of the question. Certain questions attempted to understand farmer perspectives from multiple angles and avoided scientific jargon or frameworks whenever possible. Most questions promoted open ended responses to elicit the full range of possible responses from farmers. In the interviews, we posed questions about the history and background of the participant and their farm operation, how participants learned to farm, and to describe this process of learning in their own words, as well as details about their general management approaches. Farmers were encouraged to share specific stories and observations that related to specific questions. Next, we asked a detailed set of questions about their soil management practices, including specific questions about soil quality and soil fertility on their farm. In this context, soil quality focused on ecological aspects of their soil’s ability to perform key functions for their farm operation ; while soil fertility centered on agronomic aspects of their soils’ ability to sustain nutrients necessary for production agriculture . A brief in-person survey that asked a few demographic questions was administered at the end of the semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted in-person, on farms to ensure consistency and to help put farmers at ease.
The interviews typically lasted two hours and were recorded with permission from the interviewee.Interviews were transcribed, reviewed for accuracy, and uploaded to NVivo 12, a software tool used to categorize and organize themes systematically based on research questions . Coding is a commonly used qualitative analysis technique that allows researchers to explore, understand, and compare interviews by tracking specific themes . Through structured analysis of the interview transcripts, we identified key themes and constructed a descriptive codebook to delineate categories of knowledge. Once initial coding was complete, we reviewed quotations related to each code to assess whether the code was accurate. First, we tallied both the number of coded passages regarding different themes or topics, and the number of farmers who addressed each theme. Second, we examined the content of the individual coded entries to understand the nature of farmer knowledge and consensus or divergence among farmer responses for each theme.The following results represent a small window into the collective pool of knowledge from the organic farmers involved in this study, based on their responses to interview questions. Consequently, these results only identify and characterize general types of knowledge that these 13 farmers shared during interviews, but does not fully encompass all types of knowledge that these particular farmers possess. Most importantly, these farmers are not necessarily representative of all organic farmers within their region, or beyond. Where we reference “the farmers” in the sections below, they refer specifically to the farmers in this study, not all farmers. Below, we introduce farmer demographics of this study, situate these farmers’ knowledge in terms of their connection to the land, and also provide insight on how farmers in this study accumulate knowledge; finally, we synthesize key themes that emerged from farmer interviews with regards to soil health and soil management.We interviewed 13 organic farmers, which represents about 80% of certified organic vegetable growers in Yolo County, California who focus on growing diversified crops and have been farming for at least 10 years. Farmer participants were majority white and all either first or second generation settlers in Yolo County, CA. This interview pool included 10 men and 3 women between the ages of 45 to 70. Nearly all farmers had post secondary education. In addition, each farmer interviewed was actively managing their farm at the time of the interview and represented the primary decision maker on the farm. Most of the farmers either grew up on a farm and/or had worked on a farm prior to assuming farm management at their current farm operation. Only three farmers were second generation farmers, and the remainder were first generation farmers. All the farmers had been farming for at least a decade, and most of the farmers had been farming for at least three decades, typically on the same lands. Nearly half of the farmers expressed they were at a big turning point in their personal lives when they decided to farm full time. For example, these farmers had either moved across the country to an unfamiliar place, had quit their office job, and/or had lost an important family member or their childhood home.Farmers interviewed possess embedded knowledge, which is knowledge that comes from living on the land and observing natural processes . To situate this type of knowledge in this particular place , the farmers described their relationship to the land they farmed. Not surprisingly, many of the farmers initially responded with personifications of their land . Initial responses also spoke to farmer perception of their role within the land as well as an expression of romanticism for their land . Among farmers who owned most of the land that they farmed , there was a distinct lack of reference to land ownership; these farmers described their relationship both as a responsibility and as part of a larger human inheritance.