Announcements May 2026
Image credit: Swanton Pacific Ranch, Davenport, CA
Happy International Compost Awareness Week (May 3-9, 2026)!
This year's theme is "Compost! Feed the Soil that Feeds Us" and to help us celebrate, one of our student scholars will be unveiling a new tumbler compost system and leading a composting workshop at the CAFES Experimental Farm on Sunday, May 10th at 11am.
Click the links for more info: Event Flyer and Sign Up Sheet
Please see below for links to upcoming events and opportunities in sustainable food and agriculture:
Upcoming Events
Cal Poly
1. Cheesemaking 101, Dairy Products Technology Center: 6/17-18
2. Strawberry Center Annual Field Day: 7/23
3. Grimm Family Center for Organic Production and Research Field Day: 7/23
4. ITRC Irrigation Short Courses: 7/22 – 8/7
5. Cal Poly Meats and Poly Provisions: open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays
6. Cal Poly Creamery Ice Cream Drive-thru: Fridays
San Luis Obispo & Central Coast
7. Bike Month SLO County: 5/1 - 5/31
8. Sheep Shearing Shindig, City Farm SLO: 5/9
9. Olive and Lavender Festival, Paso Robles: 5/9
10. Outside Together: Breath of Gloster screening and discussion, Cuesta College SLO: 5/9
11. Santa Barbara Culinary Experience: 5/11-17
12. Paso Wine Fest: 5/15-17
13. Walters Creek Process-Based Restoration Site Tour, MBNEP: 5/16
14. Making a Micro Farm Work – A Real-World Look at Diversification, Soloro, Creston: 5/17
15. The Science and Practice of Dry Farmed Vineyards, Adelaida Cellars, Paso Robles: 5/21
16. Mead Making Workshop, CC Beekeepers Alliance, Atascadero: 5/23
17. SLO Ranch Farms Blueberry Festival: 5/23-24
18. Vegetated Practices Field Day: Water Quality and Ag Order 4.0, Soledad: 5/27
19. Garden Skillshare and Homesteading Event, Atascadero: 5/30
20. The Year of Foraging - An Evening with Robin Greenfield, Ecologistics SLO: 6/2
21. MINDSET Regeneration and Resilience Symposium, Santa Maria: 6/8-10
22. UC Strawberry Breeding Field Day, Day-Neutral Cultivars, Salinas: 6/11
23. FARMstead Ed Open Farm Days, SLO County: 6/19-21
24. Growing Citrus and Avocado for home gardeners, Master Gardeners SLO: 6/20
25. Salinas Biological Summit: 6/23-24
26. SLOstice Fundraiser, EcoSLO: 6/27
27. Organic Produce Summit, Monterey: 7/14-16
California
28. Regenerative Strawberries Conference, Camarillo: 5/11
29. 2026 California Co-op Conference, Los Angeles: 5/15-16
30. Festival of Fruit 2026, Fullerton: 6/9-14
31. Sowing Sovereignty: Growing Seeds and Cultivating Resilience, UC Santa Cruz: 6/16
32. Organic Stone Fruit Jubilee, Kingsburg Historical Park: 6/27
33. Free Organic Transition Workshops, Riverside: 7/15 & 8/10
Virtual
34. Connecting Solutions for Groundwater Resilience, Sustainable Conservation: 5/6
35. Rooted in Results: Nature-Based Climate Solutions at Work, The Climate Center: 5/7
36. On-Farm Risk and Insurance: What Agritourism Operators Need to Know: 5/7
37. Evaluation of Environmental and Economic Benefits of Dairy Treatment Tech: 5/12
38. Small Ants, Big Impacts: Managing Invasive Ant Species in N. America, NAISMA: 5/13
39. UC Ag Experts Talk: Grapevine Nursery Cultural Practices & Perennial Weed Mngmt: 5/13 & 6/3
40. Livestock 101: Aquaculture: 5/21
41. Opportunities and Gaps for Agroforestry on the West Coast: 5/21
42. Sheep Grazing, Soil Health, and Food Safety in Organic Tree Nut Systems: 5/27
43. Building a Biological Powerhouse in Your Soil webinar series, EcoFarm: 5/27 & 7/15
Opportunities
44. Virtual Carbon Farm Planning Training, Carbon Cycle Institute: apply by 5/14
45. Civic Spark Fellow applications due: 5/22
46. AgWest New Producer Grant: apply by 5/31
47. 2027 EcoFarm Conference Content Proposals: due 6/5
48. USDA Local Food Promotion Program & Farmers Market Promotion Program: apply by 6/5
49. Leopold Conservation Award nominations due: 7/17
50. Seeds for Bees Program application for free seeds open through 8/31
51. Compost Connector, Rebates for CA growers, Zero Foodprint
52. Summer Internships, Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF)
Resources
53. CDFA Climate Resilience Strategy for California Agriculture
To request to have your sustainable food and farming announcement included,
please send information and link to cfs@calpoly.edu
