This Annual Report highlights the Desert Farming Initiative’s activities in 2022. Positive changes from 2021 to 2022 are noted to identify areas of progress.

Education and Outreach Programs

For-credit Undergraduate and Graduate Internships and Independent Studies

A total of 18 undergraduate and graduate credits were hosted at DFI in 2022 through eight internships. Topics of focus included wildlife and produce safety, perennial crops, annual crops, composting, produce safety, and soil salinity. The eight 2022 internships compare to four undergraduate academic internships in 2021 (eight credits related to produce safety – NUTR 400).

Competitive Paid Internships

DFI hosted a total of eight paid undergraduate internships in 2022. Topics of focus included food sovereignty, climate-smart farming, food security, conservation agriculture and melon research. DFI is very grateful for the support for these internships from the Nevada Career Center, Intertribal Agriculture Council, the University’s Foundation, the College’s Extension unit, and the Nevada Department of Agriculture.   

Class Engagement

Four academic classes (about 80 students) were engaged at DFI in fall 2022, as well as about 200 CABNR Fit and NevadaFIT incoming freshmen. A horticulture class was active weekly at the farm, managed a hoop house bed and periodically worked alongside the farm crew. An environmental science class focused on climate-smart farming and conservation practices. Three nutrition classes toured DFI, and one of those harvested produce and linked it to nutrition curriculum and lab work. The engagement of four classes and a total of 280 students in 2022 (including incoming freshman events) compares to three undergraduate classes and about 60 students active at DFI in 2021.

Volunteer and Service Programs

AmeriCorps

DFI hosted one full-term and one half-term AmeriCorps position in 2021-2022. The positions included food system development assistant and plant propagation assistant, respectively. Together, the two members served 2,120 hours at DFI through the AmeriCorps program and acted as a core part of the farm crew and DFI team. AmeriCorps is a service program that places volunteers in full-time service rolls with participating organizations. DFI began hosting AmeriCorps members in 2019. The members’ contracts are administered through the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation.

Work-Trade

DFI hosted seven work-trade volunteers in 2022, and all were students at the University. This was a slight decrease in comparison to 2021, due to staffing changes in the farm management team. Work-trade volunteers commit to a consistent four hours per week of farm work and receive a produce box (about $20 value) each week. Volunteers participating in this program are exposed to and trained in a diverse array of farming tasks.

Community Connection and Tours

DFI hosted a Saturday Community Connection event about every other week in March through October in 2022, with about 120 participants. Tours were hosted once per month midday on a Thursday, with 75 people registered. This was a strategic effort to streamline engagement and encourage more participation. COVID affected DFI’s ability to host events for volunteers in 2021, though community connection events were initiated on Saturdays in fall 2021.

2022 Special Events

• Walker Basin Conservancy Collaboration Field Trip – January 2022
• Red Wine Blending Event – February 2022
• Visit to Demlu ‘uli Mongil Native Foods Garden – February 2022
• Training for DIGG gardening group (Lake Tahoe area) on seed propagation – March 2022
• Sierra Garden Club Dinner at DFI – March 2022
• Intern Collaboration with Custom Gardens Farm – March/April 2022
• Peri and Sons Food Safety Field Trip – April 2022
• Nevada Farm Network presentation to Soil and Water Conservation Society – April 2022
• Orchard Grafting and Planting – April/May 2022
• Climate Outlook for Fruit and Vegetable Growers – May 2022
• SNAP Farmers Market Manager Forums – May/October 2022
• Vineyard Network Tour – June 2022
• SNAP presentation to Food Bank of Northern Nevada – June 2022
• Garlic Braiding with Be the Change and Reno Food Systems – July 2022
• Garlic Festival vendor booth – July 2022
• NevadaFIT and CABNR Fit for Nutrition – August 2022
• Hoop House Vegetable Production presentation for FRTEP extension work  – September 2022
• Food Security and Racial Justice Panel with the Gender, Race and Identity Program – September 2022
• Orchard Commissioning (installed sign and labeled trees) – October 2022
• Wine Tasting at Mackay Stadium Ag Day – October 2022
• Paba Tuka (Big Eat): Food Sovereignty Dinner – October 2022

Several 2022 events were canceled due to adverse air quality or COVID, including an event with the Davidson Institute and the College’s Field Day. 

External Educational Organizations

Visits from other educational organizations in 2022 included:

• Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, hosted by the University’s College of Business (summer 2022) – 25 participants
• CAL Conference Tour including from California community college agriculture programs (fall 2022) – 100 participants
• Future Farmers of America (spring 2022) – 12 participants
• AmeriCorps professional development event for members serving in the region through the Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation (summer 2022) – 40 participants

Nevada University Leadership

Visits from University leaders in 2022 included:

• UNR President Brian Sandoval
• Executive Vice President and Provost Jeff Thompson
• Vice President of Government and Community Relations Michael Flores
• College Dean Bill Payne
• Experiment Station Director Chris Pritsos
• Extension Director Jake DeDecker
• University federal lobbyists

Visits from the Nevada System of Higher Education in 2022 included:

• Board of Regents Chair Cathy McAdoo
• Regent Patrick Carter
• University’s federal lobbyists

Social Media and Web-based Education

Educational articles, blogs and reports were developed on the DFI website throughout 2022. Topics touched upon included climate-smart farming, food security and food sovereignty, all featuring ground work in these areas from the DFI farm and in the community. The web areas with the highest number of 2022 views were the DFI home, team and career, events, and projects pages. This is fairly similar to web traffic in 2021. The pages that people spent the most time on in 2022 (indicating reading and utilizing the resource) were primarily on team, events and projects pages. In 2021, people spent the most time on the food safety resource, a grant funded program that year. These patterns generally correspond to the focus of social media outreach. DFI heavily utilized Instagram and Facebook to connect with students, community members, customers and farmers. Instagram outreach was most effective, and all social media outreach was most effective when linked to partner pages or broader personal networks. The Facebook page has 1,000 followers (16% increase from 2021), while Instagram has 1,715 (18% increase from 2021). Both pages are used to share events, job postings and links to technical information on the website.  DFI’s email list has 751 subscribers (12% increase from 2021).

Media Coverage

Media coverage of DFI in 2022 continued at about the same level as in 2021 but on a broader range of topics, including those listed below. Key areas of media interest were food sovereignty, vineyard and winemaking networks, and farm-to-food pantry.

• Edible Reno-Tahoe article on food sovereignty
• Two radio spots (interview on campus farm stand, NPR radio show on vineyard partnership)
• Two TV news interviews (KRNV on the campus farm stand, KOLO news spot on farm-to-food pantry work)
• Four Nevada Weekly/Today articles and 1 NSights blog (Pack Provisions partnership, vineyard partnership, food sovereignty harvest and internship)
• One livestream video event (“Working Towards Regional Food Sovereignty”) presented by the Gender, Race and Identity Program in the sociology department
• DFI featured in nutrition department promotional video and  the College’s newsletter
• DFI mentions in multiple news stories (including The Nevada Independent on vineyard partnership)

Farm Production

Produce

More than 11,600 pounds and 60 varieties of produce were harvested in 2022, with the top crops by weight being tomatoes, melon, lettuces and kale (see chart below). An intentional reduction in the number of varieties produced helped to focus and streamline crop management. For comparison, 13,000 pounds were produced in 2021, and 31,408 pounds were produced in 2020. DFI was without a farm manager for the majority of the peak season. This significantly affected 2022 production. It was evident that 2021 and 2022 production approaches did not result in the yields seen in 2020, but revenue per pound was higher. There continued to be very minimal on-farm food waste in 2022.

Plant Propagation

A total of 114,275 plants (864 trays) were produced in the DFI greenhouse in 2022. This is an 8% reduction from 2021 greenhouse production. In 2022, 80% of plants were produced for the DFI farm, and 20% were for wholesale customers and retail. This compares to an even split between plants for sale and DFI plants in 2021.

Research

DFI conducts formal research with external funding and academic faculty collaboration, and with anecdotal research driven by current issues of agricultural interest or student projects.

Formal Research

Melon Variety Trial (GR12587, Nevada Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant)

Three honeydew and three cantaloupe varieties were trialed in 2022. Complete data was collected and analyzed by the research team, including assessment of plastic versus more sustainable paper mulch. An Extension paper will be published, and DFI’s crop research webpage will be updated to share results in spring 2023.

Jessica Younger Dickens Memorial and Research Orchard

Tree survival in 2022 was 75%. A small nursery of rootstock trees was established for replacement plantings in 2023. Beehives were established in the orchard in partnership with Bees4Vets. An event to place a commemorative sign and label memorial trees took place in October 2022.  

Anecdotal Research

Conservation Agriculture

Soil Health Practices – Reduced Tillage, Mulching, Winter and Summer Cover Crops, Biodiversity

Informally trialed conservation practices, which will be further refined in 2023. Also see Composting below.

Native Hedgerows and Insectaries

DFI has been testing varieties and mixes of annual insectary species in full rows in the field and in hoop houses since 2018 and intermixed with crops since 2021. Species have included commercial organic seed mixes, culinary herb left to flower and transplanted flowering plants such as borage. When these annuals are adjacent to or intermixed with cash crops and complemented by the release of beneficial insects, DFI has observed some reduction in pest insect pressure (a good example is in 2021 and 2022 spring kale). DFI will expand on this practice going forward.

Intermixing flowers with cash crops within one bed demonstrated potential for additional cash flow from flower sales, but the flowers (primarily flowering dill) interfered with cash crop development in mid- and late season. Plantings will be continued and adjusted.

Vineyard Network

DFI coordinated the establishment of a network of more than 640 Riesling grapevines on six sites through the Nevada Grape Growers and Winemakers partnership. This network will be expanded in 2023 and provide a platform for research. The College is considering which academic faculty will take over coordination of the vineyard network going forward.

Related activities included making six University varietals in partnership with Nevada Sunset Winery, collaboration with the University’s graphic design program on label design, two events (see list above) and collaboration with the Lenox Family Vineyard and Extension staff with the Las Vegas Research Center & Demonstration Orchard on wine grape harvest and procurement.

Composting

DFI initiated a food-safe compost making process in 2021, including source material, turns and temperature monitoring in compliance with Food Safety Modernization Act and California Certified Organic Farmers certification requirements (although questions remain regarding the proper carbon-to-nitrogen  ratio in pile making). A paid intern continued and expanded composting in spring 2022.

Irrigation Water Monitoring

DFI monitored water use for melons in 2022. A study looking at the relationship between irrigation and soil salinity over winter was initiated in fall 2022. Monitoring methodologies and data will be used to refine the irrigation approach in 2023, along with efforts to reduce water waste and automate DFI irrigation systems.

Potatoes

DFI partnered with High Mowing Seeds to trial four specialty potatoes in the high desert. The big winner for yield was Elba, with Huckleberry Gold and Red Chieftain as close seconds. We are grateful to High Mowing Seeds for supporting work on seed for this climate.

Finances

DFI Revenue

DFI farm revenue is related to produce sales and nursery sales. Farm revenue made up 17% of DFI’s funding in 2022. All farm revenue is tracked via DFI’s Clover and QuickBooks’s accounts, and reports are generated from those applications. In 2022, revenue decreased by 10% in comparison to 2021 due to changes in farm management during the peak season. 

Produce Revenue

Produce pricing is based on market review of what other organic farms in the region are charging in wholesale and retail venues and negotiation with wholesale buyers. As an educational farm, DFI maintains pricing as high as possible so as not to compete with or displace other farms in the market. Produce pricing is annually evaluated and adjusted.

Retail Markets

Retail markets yielded about 30% of produce revenue. DFI intentionally directed more produce to wholesale markets to account for a gap farm management staffing gap in 2022.

Farmers Markets

DFI was a vendor at the Sparks United Methodist Church Farmers Market for the third full season in a row (June to mid-August 2022). This market has brought in the most revenue in comparison to others. DFI has tried, and it particularly serves people struggling with food insecurity (SNAP beneficiaries, WIC recipients and people participating in the Seniors Farmers Market coupon program). DFI accepts all subsidy program payment types. There is a significant overhead cost associated with the equipment and administrative time to handle those programs, but participation helps us better advise and serve other growers and market managers on usage. DFI also participated in the summer Riverside Farmers Market in Reno during that same timeframe.

Farm Stands

DFI continued the weekly spring and fall farm stand at the Joe Crowley Student Union in 2022 (about six weeks each season). These farm stands provide a meaningful platform for interacting on campus and increasing faculty, staff and student engagement with DFI, and we also offer reduced pricing for students at these stands. Pass-through fruit from Fallon Food Hub/Veritable Vegetable was included in the fall farm stand. This practice will be continued until DFI orchards are in production.

Wholesale Markets

Wholesale markets and pantry subscriptions yielded about 70% of produce revenue. Wholesale buyers in 2022 were the Great Basin Community Food Co-op and Fallon Food Hub. These have been consistent buyers in previous years.
DFI delivered wholesale produce to Pack Provisions and Community Health Alliance pantries, with a 117% increase over 2021. These Farm to Food Pantry deliveries were all funded by donations or pantry organization funding. These partnerships and funding sources were developed in 2020 and expanded in later years.

Plant Propagation Revenue

Plants are propagated for the DFI farm as well as other growers/customers. Revenue from plant sales was 25% of overall revenue. General feedback from customers was more positive in 2022. DFI is the only source of wholesale organic plant starts in northern Nevada.

Grants

Grants and donations made up 43% of DFI’s funding in 2022. Grants carried over from 2021 include SNAP-Ed, Specialty Crop Block Grant Melon Trial, National Institute of Food and Agriculture Tribal Students (Food Sovereignty), Beginner Farmer Rancher and Specialty Crop Block Grant for Nevada Farm Network. Three new awards in 2022 brought in about $300,000, including:

• USDA Agricultural Marketing Service award for the Nevada Farm Apprenticeship Program
• University Foundation award for Innovative Student Internships
• USDA Agricultural Marketing Service  award for Meet Me At #NVFarmersMarkets in partnership with the School of Public Health

College and Experiment Station Support

The College’s Experiment Station supports DFI with portions of three administrative faculty salaries, land, water, electricity, office space, farm facilities and shared equipment. This support makes up about 40% of DFI’s funds in 2022. The College also supports DFI with marketing, administrative and human resources services.