Long-Term Soil Strategies Drive Many Environmental Benefits at Park Farming Organics
A CalCAN (California Climate & Agriculture Network) Farmer Climate Leader profile on Scott Park and Park Farming Organics, detailing how decades of cover cropping and composting have dramatically increased soil organic matter and carbon sequestration, improved water retention and drought resilience (cutting the number of irrigations needed), reduced synthetic fertilizer and pesticide dependency by 90%+, […]
Scott Park Farming – UC ANR Solution Center for Nutrient Management Farmer Profile
A farmer profile from the UC ANR Solution Center for Nutrient Management detailing Scott Park’s organic nutrient management philosophy and practices at Park Farming Organics in Meridian, CA. Covers his 4-year ideal crop rotation (tomatoes → rice → beans → wheat), how cover crops between each cash crop cycle provide nutrients and organic matter, his […]
Scott Park – Park Farming Organics Demo Farm Profile
A farm profile from CSU Chico’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems documenting Scott Park’s 50-year journey from conventional processing tomato farming to one of California’s most celebrated large-scale regenerative organic operations. Covers his 1985 soil revelation, his participation in the USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) project with UC Extension, Chico State, and […]
Park Farming Organics: Regenerative Transition Offers Lessons for Row Crop Growers
A trade magazine article from Organic Grower profiling Scott Park’s ~35-year regenerative transition at Park Farming Organics in Meridian, CA. Covers his soil management philosophy (“100% respect for the soil”), how cover crops and compost doubled soil organic matter over 30 years, his pivot away from intensive tillage to “targeted tillage,” his use of elaborate […]
Scott Park: A Normal CA Farm Farmed Abnormally | Real Organic Podcast #205
A full-length YouTube video of Scott Park’s talk delivered at Real Organic Project’s “Farmer Friday” event at Churchtown Dairy in Hudson, New York on September 27, 2024 (also published as Real Organic Podcast Episode #205, December 2024). Scott presents detailed slides on how Park Farming Organics — a 1,700-acre certified organic and Regenerative Organic Certified […]
Ferrington Vineyard Field Trial – North Coast Soil Hub
A detailed field trial profile page from the North Coast Soil Hub documenting the multi-year replicated cover crop and tillage management trial at Ferrington Vineyard in Boonville, Anderson Valley. Covers the vineyard’s background (167 acres, ~76 acres in vines, 63 acres of sheep-grazed oak-grassland hillsides), the trial design comparing multiple plant cover systems and tillage […]
Vineyard Field Trial Insights: Plant Cover Systems and Soil Health
A North Coast Soil Hub news/update post (published January 23, 2024) summarizing highlights from the Ferrington Vineyard Field Trial in Mendocino County. Links to a downloadable PDF of the October 2022 Ferrington Vineyard Field Trial Summary, which documents findings from a replicated field trial comparing cover crop and tillage management approaches and their effects on […]
Communicating the Beneficial Effects of Soil Health Practices: Yagi Sisters Farm Soil Data Summary 2023
A one-page UC Cooperative Extension handout authored by UCCE Advisor Ellie Andrews, presenting 2023 soil fertility, microbial, and structural assessment data from Yagi Sisters Farm with permission from Reyna Yagi. Includes results from Dellavalle Labs (soil fertility), Ward Labs (microbial biomass and diversity index), bulk density measurements, and water infiltration rates across multiple farm blocks […]
BIOS Field Day at Unruh Farms
A blog post recap from Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) documenting a June 16, 2022 Biologically Integrated Orchard Systems (BIOS) project field day held at Unruh Farms in Princeton, CA. Attended by approximately 30 participants, the event featured demonstrations of predatory mite releases using Daniel Unruh’s custom-built mite blower, predator attractant application (soy flour, […]
Regenerative Practices Have Yielded Unruh Walnut Farms Big Dividends in Chemical Savings
A grower profile article from National Nut Grower magazine (November/December 2024 issue) covering Daniel Unruh’s regenerative transition at his 193-acre walnut orchard in Colusa County. Focuses on how his mustard cover crop strategy resolved a severe nematode problem without chemicals, the evolution toward diverse 30-species cover crop mixes, no-till and crimping practices, biological pest management, […]