Legumes in New Places: Improving Soil Health with Small-Scale Latino Farmers

Commodities

• Vegetables: beans, peas (culinary), other

Practices

• Education and Training: farmer to farmer, participatory research
• Soil Management: soil quality/health

Small scale Latino farmers in California face unique challenges sustaining soil health, as the exorbitant cost to rent land drives farmers to keep land in production as many months as possible, leaving little physical space or seasonal availability for cover cropping.  

In addition, lack of Spanish language resources and a preference for in-person or oral communication limits access to existing soil health resources and strategies. 

Alternative soil health improvement strategies may be more attractive to small scale Latino farmers, because they do not require replacing a cash crop with a cover crop: integrating a marketable legume such as beans or peas or intercropping a legume at the same time as a cash crop. 

In collaboration with eight Latino farmers and two researchers from Stanford University, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) will trial two legume strategies that have been identified by farmers: harvestable peas/beans and clover intercropped in furrows. 

On-farm trial results will be shared in Spanish, Mixteco, and Triqui through at least one on-farm conservation field day. Farmers, researchers, and the PI will share results in least two additional statewide conferences. Farmer interviews will be broadcast in Spanish, Mixteco, and Triqui on two radio stations. 

200 small scale Latino farmers will be exposed to alternative soil health improvement strategies. 30 small scale Latino farmers will report increased interest in incorporating legumes through one of the methods trialed in the project. At least eight farmers in addition to the eight project participants will trial legumes. 

1. Compare agronomic suitability, soil health benefits, and nitrogen benefits of two practices: seeding clover in furrows with cash crops in beds, or incorporating more harvestable legumes (peas/beans) in crop rotations 

1. 1. • Give limited resource Spanish speaking Latino farmers the support and resources required to trial two methods of adding legumes in their crop plans. Methods chosen with farmers through conversations with 50 farmers over two years  

     2. Facilitate farmer to farmer learning through education and outreach elevating participating farmers  

• • • Farmers trialing legumes will be given 348 total hours of one-on-one technical support (48 hours per farmer) by Agricultural Technical Specialist, as well as support by both researchers 

• • • Participating farmers will be given opportunities to present and share alongside Agricultural Technical Professional and Researchers through: at least two statewide conferences, at least one on-farm field day, and at least two radio interview opportunities; All events will be held in Spanish with interpretation in Mixteco and Triqui; at least one radio interviews will be held in Spanish and at least one radio interview will be translated into Mixteco or Triqui  

• • • Participating farmers are located in high-density farming areas including an incubator farm with ~30 participants and a shared ranch with approximately ~20 participants. Through project support, participating farmers will serve as resources for other interested farmers