Around Marin County - March 2011

Marin Farm News:

Mike and Sally Gale have been selected by the Marin Conservation League (MCL) as its 2011 John McPhail Jr. Business awardees. This award is given to a business which exemplifies environmental sensitivity and has fostered positive working relationships with environmental groups. MCL wrote of the Gales, “Your stewardship is evident in the great care you have taken to protect and preserve habitat for fish, wildlife, and native plants.” The award will be presented at a dinner on April 15.
Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM) has introduced a new look for their market tour education program. “Diggin’ the Farmers Market” captures the enthusiasm of market tour participants, who come to learn about local agriculture. To learn more about these tours, visit AIM’s website, http://www.agriculturalinstitute.org/.

Upcoming Events - Save the Dates:

2011 California Co-op Conference, April 8 & 9, Berkeley, CA. The conference is dedicating a track of workshops to share how cooperatives stimulate economic development and to present the latest information on food and cooperatives. For more information, go to http://www.cccd.coop/events/ccc_2011.
“Reweaving the Community Cloth: A Celebration for our First Farm Based Cotton & Wool Mill,” May 1, 2011. Benefit Dinner and Fibershed Fashion Show starts at 5 pm. at Toby’s Feed Barn on behalf of fiber farmers. Dinner ticket is $75, and late-night entry is $25 covers the fashion show and two cocktails. Contact Rebecca Burgess at 415-259-5849 for more information.

Publications:

Explore the Sonoma Marin Cheese Trail:
http://marineconomicforum.org/images/Map_for_web_crx.pdf.
Marin Agricultural Summit 2010: Notes & Memory: http://ucanr.org/sites/2010AgSum2/files/74316.pdf, February 2011.
Coming of Age: The Status of North Bay Artisan Cheesemaking: http://cemarin.ucdavis.edu/files/73480.pdf, January 2011.
Small Farm Handbook, 2nd Ed.: http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/Items/3526.aspx, published March 4, 2011.
“California Ranching Without the Williamson Act”: http://reach.ucdavis.edu/downloads/WilliamsonActFactsheetUCDavis.pdf.
Dairy Safety Training Program materials, including the fotonovela in English and Spanish can be downloaded at
http://agcenter.ucdavis.edu/Announce/dairy_guide.php.