One of the cool things about being the Capital Press' Northern California field reporter is that it occasionally takes me back to Colusa, where I more or less got my start more than 20 years ago as a full-time staff reporter for newspapers. That Colusa County Sun-Herald job in the winter, spring and summer of '91 was sort of a lifeline and a fresh start after some previous professional disappointments. (So, too, was the Capital Press, albeit for different reasons.) Colusa was also my first real exposure to small-town America, which I've loved and admired ever since.
Anyway, I went back there this morning for a Colusa County Resource Conservation District-sponsored workshop that provided marketing and other tips for new and beginning small farmers and ranchers, which is not to be confused with the now-controversial California Small Farm Conference next week in Fresno. The upshot of the experts' advice: Diversify (but not too much), and make sure you have all your operational ducks in a row.
In the photos, from the top: Penny Leff of UC-Davis' Small Farm Program stands outside the meeting hall in the Colusa Industrial Park; Mary Fahey of the CCRCD (left) helps county health official Suzie Dawley prepare a presentation; and UC Cooperative Extension advisor Cindy Fake lectures on the "Top 10 Things to Know to Run a Viable Business."
As always, for my complete coverage of events that I attend, check CapitalPress.com regularly.
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