See Ag presents the 4th Annual Santa Barbara County Farm Day.

See Ag’s Mission, “Educating students and the greater community about the farm origins of our food and agriculture’s contribution to our nutritional well-being,” ring valid with the behind-the-scenes tours of farming facilities in the Santa Maria Valley.

Saturday, September 17th Erin and I embarked on an epic journey to learn about our food, how it grows, is harvested, cooled, stored, and delivered to stores across the United States. Out of 14 participating entities, we visited six sites for tours and met the employees that keep them running throughout the day.

We arrived promptly at 10:00 am at our first location, Babe Farms, on North Blosser Road in Santa Maria. The owners greeted us as we strolled through the various booths of seeds, colorful vegetable displays, homemade pizzas, transplants, and Crudites demonstration by Amazing Grazing. I partook in the free vegetable transplants from Bejo Seeds to test my green thumb and grow a garden. Available plants were two types of Kohlrabi, fennel and kale.  

Our second stop was Bonipak Produce on West Stowell Road in Santa Maria, where we learned the entire process of farming vegetables. Our tour began with transplants at the field with the tractors used to insert the transplant into the ground. Then, we walked to the weigh station to learn about the weighing, cooling, and transportation of freshly picked produce and berries. An interesting fact we learned was the license plate on the side of the produce boxes. The plate has pertinent information about the crop coming into the cooler to use in their delivery schedule. As produce comes in, produce must go out. They have a short window of time to keep the production moving to its final location; the grocery store.

The tour included a harvesting rig, a field bus, and the semi trucks used to transport the chilled produce. Technology advancements are so modern that with a touch of a finger on a phone, you can change the cooling temperature of a truck traveling en route to its final destination. I was uberly impressed by this operation and its informative ag tour.

Our third stop along the Ag trail was Engel & Gray Inc on West Betteravia Road in Santa Maria. We dipped our hands in different soils, learned about compost, and spun the wheel of fortune, gifting me a pink flamingo for my yard. This hands-on, interactive display was perfect for the child’s immersive play.

Heading down Highway 101 a little bit, we stopped at the Mark Richardson Career Education Center and Agricultural Farm on Founders Avenue in Santa Maria. Off the beaten path and nestled in the hills, this brand new school offers students a future in construction, agriculture, machining, diesel systems, and culinary arts. Our site tour was conducted by a student named Alberto, who was informative, interesting, knowledgeable, and friendly as we walked the different departments and classrooms. He then drove us to the fields, explaining the irrigation systems, the crop rotations, the site’s future, and what he liked most about the opportunities he had learned at this site. Erin and I gave him a thumbs up upon review of his performance. A+ performance!

After a quick bite to eat, we drove South to Las Cumbres Ranch on Highway 135 in Los Alamos to learn about the wild mustang rescue. Las Cumbres Ranch rescued nine horses from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to use them to move their herd cattle for rotational grazing of Bonsmara Cattle. They perform old-world techniques to gentle the herd and horses to co-mingle during the day. The ranch demonstrated their practices with the cattle and horses for our enrichment. The five-year-old horse wanted to be dominant, but with gentle persuasion and the rope switch, the horse succumbed to the trainer’s request and began to follow her lead. As an on-looker, watching the teachings of the Wild to Willing Horsemanship was fascinating.

Our final stop for the day was RiverBench Vineyard and Winery on Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. We caught the tail end of vineyard manager Jim Stollbergs educational talk about their vineyard’s climate and terroir. As our day concluded, we sipped on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the vines we learned about and enjoyed a relaxing moment in the beautiful gardens of their tasting room.  

I can honestly say that a day on the farm trail with See Ag was well spent. I am already looking forward to next year.