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CapitalPress.com
Friday, February 8, 2019
People & Places
Second-generation organic farmer
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Established 1928
CAPAY, Calif. — Thad-
deus Barsotti, who received
the Organic Farmer of the
Year award last December
from the Cal-
ifornia Certi-
fied Organic
Farmers and
the Organic
Produce Net-
work, says
Thaddeus
all farmers
Barsottii,
should get an
award.
“Some folks with influ-
ence in the organic com-
munity wanted to give me
a shout out, which has been
fun and very appreciated,”
he said. “However, farm-
ing is hard, and in my opin-
ion, any farmer that makes it
another season is ‘Farmer of
the Year.’”
Barsotti grew up on the
family farm in Capay. It
wasn’t until he was in col-
lege that he realized every-
one didn’t grow up growing
vegetables and hustling them
at farmers’ markets.
For him, the decision to
farm was gradual. He was
always interested in the farm
and went to school and stud-
ied agricultural engineering.
He figured he would end up
in the ag industry in some
capacity.
“In 2000, when I was fin-
ishing my second year of
college, my mother passed
away,” he said. “My broth-
ers and I chipped in to try to
keep the farm going. After
graduation from college, I
briefly had a job as an engi-
neer, and it was during that
Board of Directors
Western
Innovator
THADDEUS
BARSOTTI
Hometown: Capay, Calif.
Courtesy of Bill Goidell
Thaddeus Barsotti raises many organic crops year-round and advocates educating
the public about agriculture and its challenges.
job that I decided to work on
the farm full-time — figuring
if it didn’t work out I could
always fall back on an engi-
neering job.”
That was almost 20 years
ago.
“Our farm was certi-
fied organic in 1984,” he
said. “Before that, my par-
ents were farming in a man-
ner that ended up developing
the organic standard. I like to
tell people that our farm was
originally organic and that
my brothers and I are likely
the first, second-generation
organic farmers.”
They farm 600 acres.
He is firm in the convic-
tion that a farmer cannot
eradicate pests.
“What we can do is cre-
ate a healthy environment in
which problem pests are min-
imized and crops are healthy
enough to deal with them,”
he said. “We do this by main-
taining wild areas that foster
beneficial insects and when
we see problem pests begin
to show up, we treat with
organic pesticides to keep the
pest population from taking
over.”
The summer crops include
melons, tomatoes, eggplant,
peppers, figs and apricots.
The fall brings kales, chards,
carrots, lettuces, bok choy,
radishes and beets. Winter
crops are Satsuma Manda-
rins, Meyer lemons and win-
ter squash.
He is modest about receiv-
ing the prestigious award.
“Most of farming, organic
or not organic, is the same. A
good foundation on equip-
ment use, irrigation use, soil
and plant health, labor man-
agement are the same. When
you farm organic, the only
thing that changes is the list
of items you are allowed to
apply in the field.”
About half of what is
grown is sold through the
farm’s home delivery com-
pany, Farm Fresh To You.
Barsotti goes to 12 farmers’
markets year-round and sells
the balance on the wholesale
market.
“As one of the first organic
farms in the Capay Valley, the
Barsotti and Barnes families
(a family name) have long
been pioneers in the legacy
of organic farming in Califor-
nia,” said Lulu Meyer, direc-
tor of operations at CUESA,
the Center for Urban Educa-
tion About Sustainable Agri-
culture. “We are so grateful
that the legacy continues with
the vision and leadership of
Thaddeus Barsotti.”
Barsotti believes the dis-
connect between the public
and the farmers of California
is the biggest challenge fac-
ing the industry.
“We need to do a better
job at educating people about
agriculture and its chal-
lenges,” he said.
As an example, he said,
everyone — farmers, too —
in California wants to pay
Education: Esparto High
School. Bachelor’s degree
in bioresource and agri-
cultural engineering from
Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
Occupation: Organic
farming
Family: Wife Moyra,
children Lola, Lucca and
Julien
Personal quote: “Life is
not about where you are
going or where you have
been — it is about what
you are doing right now.”
farmworkers more money.
“But when California
makes laws that dictate this
and then California shifts
its buying practices of fresh
fruits and vegetables to prod-
ucts that are not grown in
California, it makes it very
difficult for California agri-
culture to keep growing veg-
etables,” he said. “If we
(California individuals and
government) say that we
want local agriculture and
we want better wages for the
people that work on those
farms, we (California indi-
viduals and government)
need to buy those products.”
Researchers test deficit watering in berries
yield.
What they found was that
yield did not vary as much as they
expected. Even at 50 percent deficit
watering, Baameur expected to lose
half his yield but while there was
some loss, it wasn’t significant.
So he said as long as growers stay
within a reasonable range, produc-
tion figures will not be impacted.
“Fruit size changed a little but
not drastically,” he noted. “It was
smaller by a few percent.”
By PADMA NAGAPPAN
For the Capital Press
In an irrigation trial that lasted
several years, strawberry and black-
berry crops in Northern Califor-
nia were given different amounts of
water to determine how to maximize
water use efficiency without affect-
ing yield.
Farm advisors found that deficit
watering did not necessarily reduce
the size of the fruit or sugar content
by much, but it did impact taste — in
a positive way.
Aziz Baameur is a retired small
farms advisor with the Univer-
sity of California’s Department of
Agriculture and Natural Resources
(UCANR) who worked with spe-
cialty crops and small growers in
Santa Clara County.
“Our initial focus was to see if
current practices with the amount of
water used is efficient, how to quan-
tify it, and how do we research it if
we think it could be done better,” he
said.
Plants in different areas use dif-
ferent quantities of water to stay
alive. The universal principle is tran-
spiration, and Baameur used crop
co-efficiency factors to calculate
how much water plants lose depend-
ing on environmental factors, and
how to replace it.
“We used a network of weather
stations within the state, the Califor-
nia Irrigation Management Informa-
Better flavor
California Strawberry Commission/
Pickers harvest strawberries near Santa Maria, Calif. Researchers
have found that deficit irrigation of berries can save water without
impacting quality.
tion System, which gives us infor-
mation on how much water was lost
in the previous few days, so I can
plan my irrigation for the next few
days,” he explained.
Applications
The trial involved four types of
water applications.:
• Normal irrigation in which
100 percent of the lost water was
replaced. This also functioned as the
base measurement level for the trial.
• Deficit irrigation levels in
which they went with 25 percent
lower water replacement, watering
the plants at only 75 percent of their
water needs.
• 50 percent lower water, in which
the berry plants were given half of
what they needed.
• Surplus irrigation, in which 125
percent of the water needed was
applied.
The surplus treatment was to help
those farmers who like to use more
water, and to see if it actually helped
the fruits in terms of production and
The berries were harvested once
a week and tested for sugar content
and pH levels. He did not see signif-
icant differences in these measure-
ments for the four different levels of
watering, but there was a noticeable
difference in taste.
“We took the fruit to farmers’
markets and asked people to taste the
berries, look at texture and appear-
ance, and give us their impression,”
Baameur said.
Many folks responded that they
liked the 50 percent deficit watered
berries more than the 125 percent
level fruits, but others said they
found them to be fairly similar.
“So this tells you, even with
reduced water, the fruits were not
shabby looking,” he said. “In terms of
texture and flavor, the 50 percent level
fruit had better texture and flavor than
the rest although the others were fine,
but these came out a little higher.”
CALENDAR
Saturday, Feb. 9
Forest Owners Winter School:
8 a.m.-4 p.m., Spokane Community
College, 1810 N. Greene St., Spo-
kane. One-day course for 200 forest
owner families through Washing-
ton State University Extension. More
than a dozen topics will be covered.
Andy Perleberg, andyp@wsu.edu,
509-667-6540. $30 to $50. http://for-
estry.wsu.edu/
Tuesday, Feb. 12
Produce Safety Rule Course:
8 a.m.-5 p.m., Clarion Inn Ontario,
1249 Tapadera Ave., Ontario, Ore.
The Produce Safety Rule is part of
the U.S. Food and Drug Admin-
istration’s efforts to carry out its
Food Safety Modernization Act. The
course is slated to cover identify-
ing microbial risks, reducing risks,
and how to best start using recom-
mended produce-safety practices on
the farm. $35. https://bit.ly/2CDMr2L
Walla Walla Food Producers
Workshop: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Walla Walla
County Fairgrounds Community
Center, 363 Orchard St., Walla Walla,
Wash. The meeting will include a dis-
cussion on the feasibility of a Walla
Walla food hub. Jeff Mathias, jeffm@
bmacww.org, 509-524-5218. https://
bit.ly/2S0DlaO.
Wednesday, Feb. 13
Changing Hands in Baker City:
Workshop on Farm/Ranch Transfer
Mike Forrester
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Susan Rana
Harrison Forrester
Mike Omeg
Cory Bollinger
Jeff Rogers
and Access: 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m., Geiser
Grand Hotel, 1996 Main St., Baker
City, Ore. This workshop is a part of a
series that will bring together retir-
ing and aspiring farmers for a full
day of training on land access and
succession planning. We will also
have facilitated networking through-
out the day to introduce landseekers
to landowners. The day-long work-
shop starts with breakfast at 8 a.m.
Ashley Rood, ashley@roguefar-
mcorps.org, (971) 409-6806. $20.
https://bit.ly/2MexZlW.
Thursday, Feb. 14
Organicology 2019: Hilton
Portland and Executive Tower, 921
SW Sixth Ave., Portland. Organicol-
ogy seeks to bring all of the stake-
holder groups to the table to not
only develop skills in their own areas
of activity but to gain exposure to
the challenges and accomplish-
ments of those in other areas of the
trade and movement. http://www.
organicology.org/welcome/.
PNW Pollinator Summit and
Conference: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., CH2M
Hill Alumni Center, Oregon State
University, 725 SW 26th St., Corvallis.
A two-day conference and an addi-
tional day of workshops designed
to “connect-the-dots” between
research, extension and applica-
tion. This meeting is for extension
agents, natural resource profession-
als, land managers, educators, as
well as pollinator enthusiasts who
Organicology 2019: Hilton
Portland and Executive Tower, 921
SW Sixth Ave., Portland. http://www.
organicology.org/welcome/.
PNW Pollinator Summit and
Conference: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., CH2M
Hill Alumni Center, Oregon State
University, 725 SW 26th St., Corvallis.
https://www.oregonbeeproject.org/
pnwpollinators2019.
Harvest and Hearth Farm and
Heritage Workshops: 8:30 a.m.-
4:30 p.m., College of Idaho, 2112
Cleveland Blvd., Caldwell. The Ada
Soil & Water Conservation District is
hosting the first Harvest and Hearth
Farm and Heritage Workshops for
local farmers and small acreage
owners. This all-day workshop fea-
tures four tracks: livestock, farm-
stead management, crop produc-
tion, and enterprise diversification.
Guest speakers are the Muller family
from Full Belly Farm in Guinda, Calif.
http://www.adaswcd.org.
Hill Alumni Center, Oregon State
University, 725 SW 26th St., Corvallis.
https://www.oregonbeeproject.org/
pnwpollinators2019.
2019 Organic Agriculture
Research Forum: 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Hil-
ton Portland and Executive Tower,
921 SW Sixth Ave., Portland. The
forum will feature innovative presen-
tations from researchers across all
disciplines related to organic farm-
ing and food systems. https://bit.
ly/2GamkDY
Farm Transition Play & Work-
shop: 4-8 p.m., Jessie Mays Com-
munity Hall, 30975 NW Hillcrest St.,
North Plains, Ore. Join the Tualatin
Soil and Water Conservation District,
Rogue Farm Corps and instructors
from Oregon and Iowa to learn how
to plan for the future of your farm.
Dinner is included. Agenda includes
a performance of “Map of My King-
dom,” a play about the issue of land
transition. It will be followed by a dis-
cussion and a presentation and Q&A
with attorney Maria Schmidlkofer.
Charlotte Trowbridge, charlotte.
trowbridge@tualatinswcd.org, 503-
277-3709. https://www.swcd.net/
event/farm-transition-workshop/.
Saturday, Feb. 16
Sunday, Feb. 17
want to develop or enhance the pol-
linator programming in their area.
https://www.oregonbeeproject.org/
pnwpollinators2019.
Friday, Feb. 15
Organicology 2019: Hilton
Portland and Executive Tower, 921
SW Sixth Ave., Portland. http://www.
organicology.org/welcome/.
PNW Pollinator Summit and
Conference: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., CH2M
‘Map of My Kingdom’ Hood
River: 6:30-8 p.m., Wy’east Middle
School Auditorium, 3000 Wyeast
Road, Hood River, Ore. Who’s going
to get the farm, and what are they
going to do with it? “Map of my
Kingdom,” a play commissioned by
Practical Farmers of Iowa and written
by Iowa Poet Laureate Mary Swan-
der, tackles the critical issue of land
transition. Doors open at 6:00 with
the one-hour performance begin-
ning at 6:30. The event includes a
brief panel discussion facilitated by
Mary Swander. A $10 donation is
requested. https://www.facebook.
com/events/359649488192946.
Tuesday, Feb. 19
Farm succession workshop:
Herrett Center, 315 Falls Ave., Twin
Falls. University of Idaho Exten-
sion workshop, featuring Ron Han-
son, University of Nebraska. Includes
light breakfast and lunch. Ash-
lee Westerhold, ashleew@uidaho.
edu, 2087363604.$30. http://www.
uidaho.edu/farm-business.
Changing Hands in Medford:
Workshop on Farm/Ranch Transfer
and Land Access: 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m.,
Central Point Extension, 569 Hanley
Road, Central Point, Ore. This work-
shop will bring together retiring
and aspiring farmers for a full day
of training on land access and suc-
cession planning. We will also have
facilitated networking throughout
the day to introduce landseekers to
landowners. The program begins at
8:30 a.m. and goes until 3:45 p.m.,
with light breakfast and lunch
included. Ashley Rood, ashley@rog-
uefarmcorps.org, (971) 409-6806.
$20. https://bit.ly/2G02Wdx.
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Capital Press Managers
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Elizabeth Yutzie Sell ... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
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Samantha McLaren ....Circulation Manager
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Index
Dairy ......................................................11
Hemp ......................................................4
Livestock ...............................................11
Opinion ...................................................6
Markets .................................................13
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