ARTOIS, Calif. — A showcase event was held on Thursday at California Olive Ranch in Artois, featuring officials from Chico State’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems Program and the American Olive Oil Producers Association.
The event featured the creation of new pollinator habitat hedgerows at the farm. Nearly 50,000 feet of hedgerows have been planted, designed to provide essential habitats and reliable food sources for a diverse array of native and beneficial insects, especially pollinators. The hedgerows not only enhance the biodiversity of the area but also contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem.
It also creates protective buffers alongside the roadways, providing safety for insects against strong winds and environmental conditions.
The project was made possible through financial assistance from a grant program provided by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The funding supported the project to develop into a collaborative effort between California Olive Ranch, Chico State’s Regenerative Agriculture Program, and the American Olive Oil Producers Association.
“For California Olive Ranch, we’re so excited to bring in the environmental benefit of the pollinator habitat, so having these partnerships and having the funding to do this work has been awesome,” said Toni Longley, Ag Project Manager at California Olive Ranch.
The Chico State Regenerative Agriculture Program is also using the project to conduct research and data analysis while incorporating it into the curriculum.
Officials hope to share the findings with the broader agricultural community to promote the growth of sustainable and regenerative agriculture in the Northstate and beyond.
“We already have people from other parts of the world, in South America, who are looking at how they integrate these types of processes into their cropping systems. From just what we consider to be our little heartland to go out so far is pretty impressive,” said Elizabeth Boyd, Professor at Chico State’s College of Agriculture and an associate with the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilience Systems.
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