Natural Agriculture Analysis in Motion: Navigating City Farming with Little Lighthouse Farm

Written by Rebecca Champagne, PhD, OFRF Conservation Scientist

Meet Little Lighthouse Farm

Little Lighthouse Farm is a half-acre, certified-organic city farm based in 2022. Situated in central Phoenix, Arizona, Rachel Opio runs the farm on the home she was born and raised in. She goals to develop every little thing that’s in season: produce, leafy greens like collards, dandelion greens, and swiss chard, in addition to herbs, pasture-raised chickens for egg manufacturing, and a beehive for honey. She additionally cultivates native crops that many individuals don’t notice they’ll eat, like purslane.

Rachel sells her produce and different merchandise on the native farmer’s market, on the farm stand proper on the farm, and on the meals financial institution. She accepts SNAP, WIC, and the Senior Vitamin Program, and he or she’s one in every of just a few locations within the space to take action.

“As a black feminine farmer, I need to guarantee my neighbors of all races, backgrounds, and ethnicities have nutrient-rich meals,” Rachel stated. “I additionally provide backyard consulting for my neighbors who need to learn to develop their very own edible landscapes.”

Little Lighthouse Farm gained USDA natural certification in February 2025. It’s at present the one black-owned, licensed natural city farm in Arizona. Given the historical past of discrimination in federal lending packages in opposition to black farmers by the USDA, it was necessary to Rachel to hunt certification and construct belief in what she produces.

(Beneficial studying → USDA points funds to handle discrimination in opposition to Black farmers; Racial Fairness in Natural)

Though Little Lighthouse Farm is just half an acre in dimension, producing crops on even a small scale comes with its challenges. Moreover, there are distinctive challenges to city farming. That’s why federal funding for natural agriculture analysis is so necessary and helps producers of all sizes.

The Significance of Natural Agriculture Analysis

Rachel was motivated to implement conservation practices to cut back the dangers related to irrigation prices, one of many largest issues on her farm. Throughout the extremely popular Arizona summers, Rachel can spend as much as 4 hours a day hand-watering her crops. Not solely is that this time-consuming, however as a result of she operates an city farm that’s reliant on metropolis water, it may be costly. She can be captivated with soil well being and offering habitat for helpful bugs, like pollinators.

Rachel is already seeing the advantages of implementing conservation practices. She started utilizing cowl crops and arrange a pollinator backyard when she began the farm three years in the past. Cowl cropping, particularly, has helped alleviate compaction that’s typical of the soil in Phoenix.

“If I hadn’t used cowl crops, I’d have by no means been in a position to develop something on this soil. The primary day I put a trowel within the soil after amending it for over a 12 months, the trowel simply slid in like a glove. After which I noticed the worms. I used to be crying. Soil life is superb.”

Investments in natural agriculture analysis will help farmers of all backgrounds and farms of all sizes. City farms face distinctive challenges of their very own however can implement conservation practices similar to larger-scale farms, which implies they profit from analysis findings, too. Natural analysis initiatives centered on city agriculture have revealed research that may assist with conservation targets similar to guides about water administration and entry and methods for hydroponic strawberry manufacturing.

At Little Lighthouse Farm, soil well being was restored due to the years of analysis on the advantages of canopy cropping. Higher soil well being permits Rachel to develop higher crops, which give nutritious merchandise to neighborhood members. Analysis funding makes this all attainable and demonstrates that improvements in natural agriculture analysis can lead to widespread adoption of helpful practices, serving to farms of all sizes and manufacturing sorts meet conservation targets. And the advantages of analysis prolong past the farm, too. Based on an evaluation finished by the USDA Financial Analysis Service (ERS), each $1 invested into agricultural analysis triggers a $20 financial profit. This gives long-term advantages in addressing agronomic points, will increase farm productiveness and profitability, and finally advantages the economies and resiliency of communities.