2023 Community Alliance with Family Farmers Survey

Your voice matters!

Calling all California farmers, land stewards, and community food growers! Please take a few moments (no more than 10 minutes) to complete the following survey.

The results from this survey help us to determine which communities of farmers we are best engaging with, what the most pressing issues growers are facing, and more. This survey directly impacts CAFF’s work as well as how we identify the top issues facing family farmers to bring to the capitol through our advocacy efforts!

Your participation in this survey will be confidential and anonymous and all identifying information will be blinded from public-facing publications. For those who provide contact info, you will be automatically entered to win brand-new Patagonia & CAFF gear!

This survey is intended for those living in California only. Please note all questions with a * are required

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* 1. First Name

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* 2. Last Name

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* 3. Email

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* 4. Phone #

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* 5. Primary county of residence

Write in any additional California county, if you associate with more than one

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* 6. How do you identify? (select all that apply)

Asian/Asian-American

Black, African American, or Afro Caribbean

Middle Eastern or North African

Hispanic or Latino/a/x

Native American, American Indian, Alaska Native, or Indigenous

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

White / Caucasian / European

Mixed race

Prefer not to say

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* 7. What gender do you identify with?

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* 8. Which of the below best describes your relationship with agriculture. (select how you primarily identify - ideally one)

farm owner/operator

tenant farmer

land steward

farm employee

home and/or community gardener

agriculture educator, researcher, and/or technical service provider

food business owner

farmers market professional

student

farm intern/fellow

homesteader

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* 9. How long have you been active in agriculture?

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* 10. If applicable, how many acres do you manage?

If none, are you currently looking for land? Please indicate with a Yes or No.

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* 11. Currently, do you lease or own the land you cultivate?

lease

own

both; lease and own

n/a

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* 12. If you lease your land, roughly how much has the cost of your lease increased in the last 5 years? (if your lease has decreased please indicate in the comments)

Decrease? if so indicate here.

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* 13. Of the list below, which agricultural issues are most important to you? Select your top 5.

sustainable pest & disease management

land access, tenure and security

language and culturally appropriate technical assistance & education

assistance navigating regulations e.g. permits & licenses

organic certification or transition assistance

financial resources (such as loans or grants for equipment, land, and materials)

cooperative farm models (such as land, markets, equipment, & infrastructure)

general business support & farm viability

wildfire preparedness and recovery

small scale farm equipment access: irrigation, storage/cold storage, processing, and more

immigration reform

local & direct marketing assistance

climate change & uncertainty (such as flooding, wildfire, extreme heat, soil salinity, frosts)

water access and resources for sustainable water management (e.g. groundwater, dry farming, rainwater catchment)

ecological agriculture programs, resources, & training (this includes climate-smart, agroecological, regenerative & sustainable ag practices)

Insurance of all types: fire, property, & liability

food safety

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* 14. If there was one state-level law or regulation you would have us write or change in 2024, what would it be? (note: This could be many things such as creating new assistance programs to adding or changing existing land or water regulations)

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* 15. What personal challenges are you experiencing that are directly impacting your ability to run your farm/business? (select all that apply)

healthcare/medical costs

student loan debt

mental health

childcare

affordable housing

lack of security for food and drinkable water

financial hardship due to the climate crisis (e.g. wildfire, floods, & drought)

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 16. How do you identify your agricultural practices on your farming operation? (select the top 2 you most identify with)

regenerative

ecological

sustainable

conventional

tribal foodways and/or traditional tribal agricultural uses

organic

agroecological

Other (please specify)

None of the above

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* 17. Of the list below, what topics are you most interested in learning more about, either through resources (e.g., fact sheets, blog posts) or events (e.g., webinars, field days)? Select your top 3.

organic certification or transition

water access and sustainable water management (e.g. dry farming & rainwater catchment systems)

small scale farm equipment: irrigation, storage/cold storage, processing and more

local & direct marketing

navigating regulations e.g. permits and licenses

general business support & farm viability

ecological agriculture (climate smart, agroecological, regenerative and sustainable ag practices)

sustainable pest & disease management

insurance of all types: fire, property & liability insurance

climate change and uncertainty (such as flooding, extreme heat, soil salinity, frosts, etc.)

land access, tenure, and security

wildfire preparedness and recovery

food safety

financial resources (such as loans or grants for equipment, land, and materials)

Something different? Please specify here.

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* 18. Where do you currently get information on pest management from? Select your top 3 sources.

farmers in my community

consultants (e.g. PCA or CCA)

technical assistance providers such as CAFF, UCCE, RCD, & NRCS (Please specify who in the final checkbox)

my commodity group

the internet (Please specify which websites are used in the final checkbox)

none of the above (please specify in final checkbox)

Please provide specifics to the questions above here:

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* 19. What kind of assistance in pest management is greatly needed? (select all that apply)

identification of pests and/or natural enemies

getting applicable resources on pest management strategies

getting incentives to implement sustainable pest management practices

testing effectiveness and impacts of different pest management practices

other - please provide details

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* 20. Which market channels do you sell to? Select all that apply

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box

Farmers Markets

Schools

retail/grocery store

food hub

online marketplace

wholesale distributors

Other institutions (hospitals, colleges, etc)

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* 21. Which markets channels do you NOT sell to that you would like to sell to? Select all that apply

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box

Farmers Markets

Schools

retail/grocery stores

food hub

online marketplace

wholesale distributors

Other institutions (hospitals, colleges, etc)

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* 22. For those facing wildfire-risk areas, which of these support methods are most useful to you? Rank from highest priority to least using the arrow buttons to move options to the top or bottom of the list

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* 23. Have you benefitted from any government programs such as those through the the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), California Department of Food & Agriculture(CDFA) or others? (For example: CDFA's Healthy Soils Program, Beginning Farmer & Farmworker Training Program, or California Underserved & Small Producer Program, or USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program)

Yes

If yes, please indicate which agency or program and provide a brief description of your experience. Was it accessible to you, were you respected, was the information relevant to your needs and easy to understand? If no, please briefly indicate why.

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* 24. [This question is for respondents who identify as Black Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) ONLY]: Do you think that current state or federal programs (as listed above) or policies are accessible or empowering?

Yes

Please describe why or why not.

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* 25. JOY: What is the best part of producing food?

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* 26. Depending on your capacity, would you be interested in joining any of the following engagement activities? (select all that apply)

join a committee meeting semi-regularly to discuss and develop policy solutions with the opportunity to meet with your elected official in Sacramento (time & expenses covered)

join an educational webinar or in-person meeting on the fundamentals of policy, advocacy and how to engage with your elected officials

join our email listserve to learn more about upcoming CAFF events

join a specific farmer group (we facilitate many including several regional farmer groups, CA Black Farmers Rising, and others)

host a field day to discuss your practices and experiences

participate in a podcast or blog

none of the above

Other (please specify)

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* 27. Anything else you'd like to share with us?

Thank you for participating in this survey! If you have any questions about the study or survey please contact Jamie Fanous at jamie@caff.org