Sustainable Agriculture

Healthy Farming, Healthy Food, A Healthy Future!

If you are interested in exploring how agriculture helps protect our environment and developing the skills and knowledge that will help you gain a strong and competitive position in the marketplace, Santa Rosa Junior College offers an outstanding Sustainable Agriculture Program.

As a growing and vital industry that impacts the health and well being of our community and state, Sustainable Agriculture Helps both aspiring and experience growers plan and manager profitable food production systems.  Even if you aren't passionate about becoming a farmer, SRJC's Sustainable Agriculture Program prepares students for entry into the emerging career field of sustainable and organic agriculture, which offers diverse and exciting jobs.

SRJC at the Forefront
Santa Rosa Junior College is the only community college in California that offers an A.S. degree and two certificates in Sustainable Agriculture.  At SRJC we recognize what an important issue the sustainability of agriculture is to growers, researchers, policy makers, corporations, and especially consumers.

The excellence of SRJC's Sustainable Agriculture Program has garnered increasing support and acceptance by the mainstream agriculture industry, environmentalists, food enthusiasts, home cooks, health-care providers, and local communities because people are beginning to understand that sustainable farming not only contributes to our health and well being, it is also an important part of a community's economy.

SRJC's hands-on Sustainable Agriculture Program gives students the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the many agricultural and environmental challenges facing agriculture in the 21st century.  Students enrolled in SRJC's Sustainable Ag Program emerge at the forefront of this critical field, and are in demand as innovative problem solvers and catalysts for positive change.

Instruction and Hands-On Learning - Shone Farm
SRJC's Sustainable Agriculture classes give students a foundation in plant and soil science, integrated pest management, crop production, while emphasizing the ecological principles of agriculture.  Courses emphasize the how-to aspects of organic gardening and farming, including tillage, compost production, crop planning and production.  Specialty areas include: organic viticulture, specialty crops for the culinary market, organic apple and olive production, direct farm-marketing, setting-up and managing a community-supported agriculture (CSA) system.  There's even a class on how to drive tractors!

When you enroll in SRJC's Sustainable Ag courses you will experience a variety of unique, hands-on sustainable agriculture techniques at the College's beautiful 365-acre Shone Farm - a diversified college farm that is literally an outdoor field laboratory and learning environment featuring:

35-acre Sustainable Agriculture Unit: 5-acre market garden Greenhouse, shade house, office, equipment shed Perennial beneficial insect landscapes Compost production Medicinal & Culinary herbs Vegetable fields, fruit orchard, cut flowers 4-acre high-density olives and apples 1-acre food pyramid garden 10-acre organic vineyard Native hedgerow 15-acre expansion land for student enterprise projects

Employment Outlook
Agriculture supports 1.1 million jobs, nearly eight percent of all jobs in California.  California agriculture and related industries directly account for seven percent of the gross state product.  Current production and market indicators suggest that the sustainable agriculture industry will continue to experience substantial growth.  Now that organic food has a nationally recognized production standard and is overseen by the United State Department of Agriculture, organic food has become legitimized in America as sales steadily climb.

With such a rapidly growing job market in Sustainable Agriculture, there are multiple areas that offer interesting employment options to students who are prepared in SRJC's Sustainable Agriculture Program, including:

Earn a Certificate or Degree
By earning a certificate or an associate in science (A.S.) degree at SRJC, your knowledge and skills will be valued by prospective employers.  To meet the needs of the student, SRJC's Sustainable Agriculture Program has developed three options.  Each option is a subset of the next to form an educational ladder than encourages students to maximize their educational achievements.

• Sustainable Agriculture Major
• Sustainable Agriculture Career Certificate
• Sustainable Agriculture Production Competency Certificate