The son of migrant farm workers from Nayarit, Mexico, Hector Lopez said he wanted nothing to do with agriculture for most of his life after watching the way his parents were treated. Now retired, he changed his mind during the pandemic when he saw an opportunity to buy an avocado farm in Bonsall with the hopes of increasing local access to quality produce.
On a recent morning, Lopez stood at the crest of the hill that hosts his 12-acre Tierra Sana Farm, surrounded by dozens of eager visitors with questions about his practices.
"That passion was born in me again," he said to the group in Spanish.
His farm was the first stop on a tour by the Latino Farmer Conference, which came to San Diego County over two days last week and was hosted by the National Center for Appropriate Technology and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. In its eighth year, the conference focused on bringing information about conservation, organic farming, regenerative agricultural practices and business management to Spanish-speaking farmers.
Omar Rodriguez, a conference organizer and sustainable agriculture specialist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology, said the conference, which happens in different California locations each year, is intended as both a place for farmers to network with each other and for them to connect with organizations that provide resources and support.
"First and foremost, it's a conference based around conservation — teaching cultural practices and management practices that are ecologically focused," Rodriguez said. "Beyond that, we also recognize that a farm needs to have sound business fundamentals and a good marketing strategy in order to even be able to think about conservation and soil health and things like that, so a big component of the Latino Farmer Conference does happen to be business management and leadership."
The first day consisted of a tour of several farms in North County, and on the second day, attendees gathered at the California Center for the Arts for presentations and panels, as well as more networking. Rodriguez estimated that about 250 people attended. They came from all over California, and some even came from as far away as New York.
On the first day of the conference, two charter buses of farmers, agriculture students, advocates and government officials toured three farms.
At the first stop, Lopez shared his experiences getting a grant from his water district to study his watering efficiency and improve it. The farm had been partially abandoned when he bought it, he said, and the watering system was old. He said that when he watered his trees, he lost about 45 percent of the water because of the inefficient system. With the improvements made using the grant, he now has 94 percent efficiency, he said.
He also demonstrated a compost tea process that he uses to provide nutrients to his plants weekly.
At Pauma Tribal Farms, another recent agricultural project, tour guests learned about its vineyard, olive grove and garden.
Edward Calac, who supervises the vineyard, said that the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians used profits from its casino to buy back some of its ancestral land in Pauma Valley. Though the tribe has long cultivated citrus and avocado, he said, the 3-year-old farm includes a lot of firsts for the community.
"This is one big experiment which is pretty cool," Calac said. "This is the beginning of something big."
He recalled the lessons he'd already learned on-the-job growing grapes, including worrying that he'd killed the plants when they went dormant that first winter. He said he plans to eventually be able to sell the wine produced there to casinos and hopes to one day open a tasting room.
Joe Aguilar explained to tour guests that because of the sandy soil in that part of the valley and the ever-growing concerns about water use, the tribe had opted to plant olive trees, which are hardy and require less water than many of the fruit trees typically grown in the area.
The farm now provides food for members of the tribe in weekly boxes as well as produce for the casino.
"We're here to create food security for the people," said Amanda Subish, the garden supervisor.
Across the street, the tour made its final stop at Solidarity Farm, where co-owner Nan Cavazos and his team explained how the farm had evolved with two goals — creating a business that provides healthy food to local communities as well as mentoring and supporting new farmers.
"We do this to lift up more Latinos and Latinas in this world," said Jose Alcaraz in Spanish. "There are a lot in the fields, but we want to see more bosses."
