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A Successful Partnership Between Sustainable Agriculture & Nature

by Gwen Huff

Cindy Lashbrook and Bill Thompson farm 70 acres along the Merced River in the San Joaquin Valley. Next to their place is a state park and wildlife refuge where deer, fox and bobcats roam. From their kitchen window, the couple can see a red-tailed hawk’s nest.

In this idyllic location, they grow almonds, walnuts, lavender, new plantings of pecans and blueberries, and 15 acres of organic oats for a local organic dairy. Their farm plans include cherries and other stone fruit, red potatoes, citrus, more herbs and possibly table grapes — all certified organic by CCOF.

But farming and caring for their land isn’t all they do. Cindy and Bill are successful, cutting-edge, independent pest control advisors. In a field historically dominated by chemical company sales representatives, they advise their client-farmers how to reduce chemical use and manage cover crops and beneficial insects.

Cindy also runs a retail business of her own, Living Farm Systems, that distributes and sells compost, cover crop seed, beneficial insects and other farm supplies. The impetus for the business came when Cindy had difficulty finding beneficial insects and cover crop seeds for her own farm. She saw a need and began the business in 1992.

The couple’s commitment to environmentally friendly practices is reflected in their involvement with the Merced River Stakeholders. This group of agencies and landowners came together to restore the river, which has been substantially altered by dredging and mining. Most of the group’s work is to improve conditions for salmon spawning, such as restoring gravel beds and ensuring adequate water flow.

No Place for a Woman?

Cindy lived in Minnesota until she was seven, when she moved to the urban-rural fringe of the Sacramento and Calaveras county foothills. There she spent her playtime in natural surroundings, digging in the dirt for earthworms and observing the changes in seasons.

When it came time for college, she attended CSU Fresno. At the time, environmental and social movements were experiencing tremendous growth. Mother Earth News and the back-to-the-land movement exerted a strong influence on young people. This new consciousness spurred Cindy to take courses in science and horticulture.

Seeing no place for herself — a woman with no farming background — in production agriculture, she decided to incorporate her love of nature into horticulture and nursery pursuits.

The love of farming was in her heart, though. In 1987 she and her first husband bought an 18-acre almond farm in Atwater. That first year they did everything their chemical pest control advisor told them to do, including spray Parathion as the orchard’s winter dormant treatment. They both abhorred the sprays and were unsure about the safety of their family, so they closed and covered the children’s windows with blankets.

Their chemical salesman/advisor, however, kept encouraging them with estimates of above average yields. When the actual crop came in below average, Cindy decided that she was going to learn — really fast — how to make a good crop. Her background in horticulture and her interest in ecology helped her get an overview of the farming system. By 1990 they converted to organic farming.

Pest Management Philosopher

Bill grew up in Livermore, which was then an agricultural area. His father was a pharmacist, but the field of pharmacology held little appeal for Bill. During high school he held jobs such as bucking hay, working with horses, putting in fence posts and the like. A teacher in one of his agricultural classes encouraged him to pursue a career in agriculture.

His college education began at Modesto Junior College in agricultural business and was completed at Chico State where he studied agricultural business and pomology. Bill began his professional career working with Ortho/Chevron chemical in Oxnard and Santa Maria as district sales representative for row crops. Then he moved to Modesto to work in tree fruit, his real love.

During his stint at Ortho, he began developing his philosophy about integrated pest management. He was discovering some principals of pest control that he could use to reduce inputs. After Ortho, Bill joined Ag Advisors in Yuba City as a consultant, though he remained in Modesto. Because Ag Advisors is strongly focused on reducing inputs, he had the opportunity to put his philosophy into practice.

Bill became an IPM practitioner, advocating the use of beneficial insects and helping farmers obtain the same yields with less detrimental pesticides. In 1979, after ten years in the industry, Bill started his own consulting business, Four Seasons Ag. Consulting, Inc.

Bill and Cindy met at a conference on alternative approaches to walnut production. They were both pest control advisors at the time, Bill with his own company and Cindy working for a chemical company. Cindy was impressed with Bill’s enthusiasm for and knowledge of sustainable agriculture and she joined him in his consulting business. After some time, the two blended business with life, and purchased their farm on the river.

Refining Riverdance Practices

Bill is committed to continually learning more alternatives to conventional farming methods, using his own organic farm as a training ground. “It’s easy to advise somebody to do something. But unless you’ve tried it yourself, there’s a little gap there,” says Bill. “Growing organic is definitely a learning process.”

He acknowledges the contributions that the front-runners in the organic movement made. Because those farmers were willing to take chances and experiment, they provided much needed information for others who want to farm sustainably.

Two of Riverdance Farms’ main pest problems are the result of their riverside location. The first is ground squirrels, who seem certain the orchards were planted just for them. Conventional treatment is poison bait and keeping the riverbanks weed-free. Because these practices could harm all the farm’s wildlife, neither method is acceptable to Cindy and Bill. Instead they trap the gophers and are trying out a homemade bait of almonds and oleander leaves which they doubt will attract other animals.

The walnut husk fly, which breeds in the native black walnut trees along the river, is another major problem for the farm. Conventional treatment would be to spray with poison bait or remove the wild trees. But Cindy and Bill use sticky traps to catch the fly as it emerges from the ground, where it spends its larval stage. They also spray a clay whitewash on the trees to disguise the green-hulled nuts.

Cover crops play a major role in the farm’s soil fertility management plan. “Living soil is very important and agricultural soils have been mined out. There is a need to replenish them in a biologically active manner. That’s why I believe in cover crops,” says Cindy. “And for the organic farmer, cover crops are one of the chief sources of nitrogen.” When amortized over time, a cover crop is cheap, she explained. It can reseed itself and will continue to build soil for many years.

Organic farming always dictates a “soft” approach to pest management. But because they farm along the Merced River, Cindy and Bill are especially concerned about protecting the natural systems on their land. The edges of their fields and orchards are corridors for wildlife moving across the valley and into the foothills. On their property are stands of elderberry bushes, which sustain the longhorn elderberry beetle, an endangered species. Many farmers are afraid of having endangered species on their farms because of potential land use restrictions. But Bill and Cindy are proud to provide shelter for the beetle.

The two of them look forward to increasing native plant populations and wildlife habitat on their farm. They want to learn more about the natural history and anthropology of the area, including Native American history. Over time they would like to have school programs, family groups and the public come to visit the farm. Riverdance Farms will showcase the possibilities for incorporating farming and nature, and how the two systems can enhance one another.

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