California Farm Academy honors 16 grads virtually

Seven months of training prepares beginning farmers for careers in Ag

The Center for LandBased Learning’s California Farm Academy is celebrating the graduation of 16 students from its Beginning Farmer Training Program.

The ceremony was held virtually via Zoom Saturday afternoon.

The Center for LandBased Learning was founded in 2001 with the mission is to inspire, educate, and cultivate future generations of farmers, agricultural leaders, and natural resource stewards. Once located in Winters, the Center moved to Woodland about two years ago and is located near The Maples, north of town.

“The graduation ceremony celebrates the accomplishment of our 16 beginning farmers, and the dedication they’ve made to their farming goals,” said Beginning Farmer Training Program Manager Maureen Thompson.

“This year has been like no other,” Thompson stated. “In their commitment to this program, their learning, and their future plans, especially in the midst of the challenges of this year, they have shown resilience, tenacity, adaptability and perseverance.

“They have not only put in hundreds of hours of hard work in the field and in our zoom classroom, but they’ve worked to develop and write their own business plans so they can get started in an intelligent and thoughtful way,” Thompson went on. “With the support of the CFA and agricultural community, they have a network of people cheering on their transition to agriculture!”

The ceremony featured keynote speaker Nina F. Ichikawa, executive director for the Berkeley Food Institute.

Ichikawa is a fourth-generation Californian and policy professional dedicated to making good food accessible, sustainable, and culturally appropriate.

“Our training program provides the foundational knowledge that beginning farmers need to succeed in their farming ventures. In particular, the experiential learning component of our program has led to tremendous growth for every student and will be pivotal as they move forward in their careers,” said California Farm Academy Director Sri Sethuratnam.

Upon completing the program, graduates with a strong business and marketing plan can lease plots of low-cost land from the Center for Land-Based Learning either at the new headquarters site or an urban farm site in West Sacramento.

More than 70% of California Farm Academy graduates are either farming or working in agriculture-related businesses, according to Sethuratnam. California agriculture, a $50 billion industry, leads the nation in agricultural production, but the average farmer’s age ranges in the 60s.

The USDA estimates that the U.S. will need 700,000 new farmers over the next two decades to replace those who age out. This new crop of graduates range in age from early 20’s to early-60s.