Specialty Crop Institute, NevadaGrown provide agricultural resources

Diversification is a word that would describe Rick Lattin of Fallon, and he brought his message to an economic development meeting of the Walker Basin Project last Thursday, Dec. 11.

 The main focus of his report centered on the recent formation of the Specialty Crop Institute at the Western Nevada College, Fallon campus, but he also talked of other agriculture diversification.

Lattin is involved with institute along with the Churchill Economic Development Authority, NevadaGrown, a marketing initiative, and an owner of Lattin Farms, which has diversified with such steps as agritourism with their corn maze (which also features pumpkins and hay rides), a roadside produce stand, growing red rasberries and organic farming.

Bus Scharman, dean of WNC Fallon campus, said it had always been his desire to get WNC more involved with the agriculture realm, providing education and training. So he jumped at the opportunity to establish the Specialty Crop Institute (SCI) with Lattin.

He noted they received a grant from the Nevada Department of Agriculture to start the institute and to hold four workshops on specialty crops.

The institute conducted its first workshop in Fallon in early November, with 70 growers attending, over twice as many as they expected. The speaker there was John Caldwell of Caldwelll Vineyard in Napa, CA, who spoke about what farmers need to do to make a "$100 bottle of wine."

Another speaker at the Dec. 11 meeting was Kathy Halbardier, who told of the many years and efforts she and her family have taken to develop wine grape production and a winery based in Carson Valley. She and her husband Rick founded and developed the Tahoe Ridge Winery and Marketplace, which also has grape production in Amargosa Valley in southern Nevada.

She related she began in 1990 while in graduate studies with the Desert Research Institute also involved. She also is also a counselor with the Nevada Small Business Development Center.

The first SCI workshop lasted four hours but future sessions are planned for 8-16 hours and held at different farms to provide participants hands-on experience. Scharmann said they'd like to hold eight workshops next year.

"We don't think we have all the answers," he said, "that's not what we're trying to do."

The workshop cost is nominal since SCI is grant funded (first one was $20 to cover the cost of the catered lunch). Workshops are planned in the spring and fall to avoid the busy growing season.

The grant lasts through 2010 but organizers hope to make it a permanent, self-sufficient arm of WNC Fallon.

Scharman said a community college has more flexibility and University of Nevada can't do some of the things WNC can do. He said Lattin brought the grant to WNC, which wrote it. "We have more time to write."

He noted a website for the institute is set to launch on Jan. 10 and people can learn about future workshops there.

SCI has two target audiences, farmers wishing to transition from row crops to speciality crops and entrepreneurs with one to 40 acres seeking to farming of the future.

Lattin also spoke of NevadaGrown and the NevadaGrown Marketing Project, which work with the SCI. A few years ago NevadaGrown received $50,000 from the Nevada Legislature to use for marketing purposes. It provides banners for farmers who join farmers markets, among other functions.

He said NevadaGrown has a mailing list that can tell about workshops and Nevada Farm Bureau has agreed to publicize the SCI in its publications.

Lattin noted there is a group of people in the Reno area who've formed a cooperative of sorts that wants to only eat food grown in Nevada.