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Patricia Carrillo, Executive Director at Agriculture & Land Based Training Association (ALBA). ALBA owns and operates a farmer training facility in the heart of the Salinas Valley.
OPN Connect: Give us a brief overview of the history and mission of ALBA.
The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) was incorporated in 2001. ALBA’s mission is to create economic opportunity for limited-resource and aspiring organic farmers through land-based education in the heart of the Salinas Valley. ALBA owns approximately 110 acres of farm land, on the Rural Development Center (RDC), outside of Salinas, California. Since 1972, a “Farmworker to Farmer” program where agricultural workers gain skills for job advancement in farm management and potentially farm ownership has been in place at the RDC, first through our predecessor non-profit (Central Coast Counties Development Corporation (“CCCDC) and then through a second predecessor non-profit organization, Agriculture & Community-Based Education, Inc. (ACBE).
OPN Connect: Why is the work ALBA does important for the local community and the organic industry at large?
We are a very important and unique asset in the community. We currently have 39 farmers on ALBA’s incubator program. These farms generate about 90 jobs per year. If we estimate sales at a low of $15,000 per acre, this translates to $1.5 million in sales generated by the ALBA farmers just off of land at the RDC. This is all money that goes back to our local community.
California is a leader in organic, and home to 19% of organic farms and 38% of organic fruit and vegetable production. (USDA Census of 2012). In Monterey County, organic acreage has increased by 70% in five years and sales have more than doubled. The U.S. is facing a crisis with an aging farmer population and lower entry rates for beginning farmers. ALBA is helping to grow the farmers that will take over for the older generation. Since 2001, over 500 participants have gone through ALBA’s program and over 150 have established their own independent organic farms.
OPN Connect: What different programs and services do you provide potential new organic farmers?
ALBA has a five-year Farmer Education and Enterprise Development (FEED) program. In the first year, ALBA student farmers enroll in the bilingual Farmer Education Course (PEPA). PEPA is a 300-hour curriculum, which includes both classroom instruction and field-based trainings. After graduating from PEPA, students who have demonstrated the necessary success and commitment it takes to start their own farm, are invited to enter ALBA’s farm-business “incubator.” While in the incubator, participants lease acreage over a four-year period at the ALBA Farm and launch their own independent organic farming operations. The ALBA farmers have access to technical assistance and workshops on organic agricultural practices, pest control, food safety, business management, marketing, among others.
OPN Connect: What significant changes have you seen over the 8 years you’ve worked with ALBA?
We have expanded and improved the farm-education and hands-on training curriculum that we offer, we’ve increased the number of program participants, and obtained Hartnell College’s accreditation for the Farmer Education Course. The type of technical assistance that we provide has evolved during the years along with the increased regulations for small farms. One area that we are definitely ahead of the curve on is our food safety program. We have been piloting a Group GAP food safety program through the Agricultural Marketing Service. ALBA has an internal Quality Management System (QMS) and manages an umbrella organic certification with a group of growers in addition to ranch management aspects.
OPN Connect: What are some of the biggest accomplishments you have witnessed? Do you have any individuals you would like to call out that have gone through program?
I think that the ALBA farmers have all had numerous accomplishments during the time that they’ve participated in our program. I’d like to highlight a couple of farmers. The first is Rigoberto Bucio, who actually got his start at the ALBA farm as an employee for an ALBA graduate and then took the course in 2007. He was 20 years old when he started farming on ½ an acre and grew to over 5 acres in the incubator, and acquired an additional 12 acres of land outside of the farm. He graduated off of the ALBA incubator in 2016 and continues to farm successfully. He employs 10 people on his 12-acre farm.
The second farmer I’d like to highlight is Javier Zamora. Javier received CAMEO’s 2017 Faces of Entrepreneurship Award. Javier comes from a farming family in Mexico. He learned English, worked in food service and was doing very well until the housing crash in 2008. He was working full-time and got his GED, enrolled in college, and found out about ALBA. He took the Farmer Education Course in 2011 and started farming on on and one-half acres. In five years, he has grown his business to over 200 acres, including purchasing ALBA’s former Triple M farm.
OPN Connect: How can potential new farmers get involved?
I would encourage anyone that is thinking about becoming an organic farmer to contact us for information. Even if you’re not in the Monterey County area or in California for that matter, we can try to connect you with beginning farmer programs in your area. You can reach us by phone at (831) 758-1469, visit our website at www.albafarmers.org, or contact us on social media on facebook by searching for @albafarmers or on Instagram using @albafarmers831. We offer opportunities to come and visit the farm, do volunteer work with ALBA, and do volunteer work with ALBA farmers.
ALBA also holds two Family Farm Days per year; one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Please come out and join us at the farm to learn more about ALBA and meet the ALBA farmers!
