- Author: Britta Leigh Baskerville
Just North of Fort Bragg, down a country road, sits a small community with a big mission. “We strive to ameliorate the suffering and other negative impacts of climate disasters” it's stated on their website. Applying for a California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Climate-Smart Healthy Soils Program grant was a part of that mission.
The Meadow Farm Community Land Trust (MFCLT) is a 501(c)3 with a conservation easement obtained by the late founder and property owner, Joanna Becker, in 2013. This easement protects the land from non-farming development, and the organization's board have continued with that legacy since Becker's death in 2016. The property is a total of 28 acres, though only 3 acres are currently devoted to fruit and vegetable production. So far.
Their website, https://www.meadowfarm.org/, details the remarkable journey the residents of this land have taken to get this far, as well as their vision, mission, and aims. Building affordable housing for their resident farmers is an important goal of theirs.
“Farming doesn't make much money, and some of us don't need a lot, but we still need a place to call home.”says resident, Sojourna Lee.
On my recent visit to the farm, Lee described the frequency of farming volunteers falling in love with the place and staying on to build small housing for themselves with the potential of obtaining a 99 year lease. They're permitted to build 4 more community houses on the land, something that will allow for greater expansion of the farming projects with enough hands to achieve this.
As a Community Education Specialist (CES) for the University of CA Cooperative Extension, I first reached out to MFCLT to congratulate them on being selected in the latest round of Healthy Soils Program awards. They were one of the 9 Mendocino County farmers selected, demonstrating a dedication to improving the soil quality on farms in the North Coast! Their award is for $17,765.11 going toward compost, mulch, and cover crop seed application and establishing a perennial hedgerow on a beautiful 6 acre meadow, which includes their 3 acre vegetable plot. In addition, MFCLT is contributing over $5500 in matching in-kind funds to complete this project.
To apply, MFCLT's board member and resident, Ohi Vidaver, worked with conservation organization Fish Friendly Farming to complete the application process. This organization was a valuable Technical Assistance Provider (TAP) for many of the farmers in the area who were interested in applying. As our TAP contracts with the CDFA were not conflicting, I was able to supplement assistance once the applications were submitted and the award winners selected. This proved beneficial in the case of MFCLT, who had many questions and concerns around implementing their project now that they've been given the go-ahead to start.
Last week, I was invited to a delicious vegan curry lunch, prepared by members of their small crew, and was able to chat more with Lee and Vidaver about what was needed to get their project off the ground. As what is considered a Severely Disadvantaged Community, defined by the State Department of Parks and Recreation, they are eligible for up to 25% of the grant award to be paid in advance (as opposed to the standard invoice reimbursement). This is necessary, as the small non-profit is not able to pay the full cost of the project up front, but it is also a lengthy process to receive approval. Due to some delays with the CDFA's Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, award winners were forced to wait over a month and a half from the advertised start date (July 1st) to receive their contracts that would allow them to start. On top of this, the deadline to implement year 1 of the project's practices is December 31st, 2019, giving them only 4.5 months, which will surely be hampered once the rains make it impossible to work the fields. This is an example of why some farmers hesitate to take advantage of government grants, as it will take a lot of time, feedback, and alterations before this program becomes practical to anyone except large-scale farmers with the resources available to work quickly. Still, Meadow Farm is determined to improve the soil quality of their land, and they are going to try their best with limited time, labor, and machinery. We discussed the local resources available for tool and labor sharing to make the daunting task of spreading compost, mulch, and seed over 6 acres less intimidating. This need, plus a mission to provide “an opportunity for enriching lives through affordable accommodations, permaculture, organic farming, education and other creative endeavors”makes it a great spot for workaways and volunteers to be a part of the magic of soil remediation and carbon sequestration. Touring the 6 acre meadow and seeing the potential of the land and of the community, I can see why some people choose to stay on as permanent residents.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Healthy Soils projects as they unfold in the coming years! If you are near the Mendocino Coast, be sure to look up Meadow View Community Land Trust and take home some nutritious and diverse veggies exchanged on a donation-basis! There will likely be some organized volunteer work days in the coming months, which would be a great opportunity to get involved.
Climate smart agriculture encompasses management practices that increase soil carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve yields and efficiencies, and promotes climate resilience. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) supports three funding opportunities in climate smart agriculture: the Healthy Soils Program, the State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program, and the Alternative Manure Management Program.
In a collaborative partnership, CDFA and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources have teamed up to support 9 community education specialists throughout the state to provide technical assistance and outreach for the climate smart agriculture programs. To learn more and locate a specialist near you, visit http://ciwr.ucanr.edu/Programs/ClimateSmartAg/.
- Author: Caddie Bergren
- Author: shulamit Shroder
Dairies produce lots of milk – and manure. The ingenious dairymen of the Central Valley often use one to produce the other. They grow forage crops like alfalfa and corn that they then feed to their cattle. To provide key nutrients to these crops and deal with the natural waste of a livestock operation, they can spread manure straight onto their fields or they can use effluent water to simultaneously irrigate and fertilize those fields.
To apply that dairy effluent water, many farmers use flood irrigation systems. This is a cheaper, low-tech option, but it can require more ongoing labor and risks overwatering and nitrate leaching.
Subsurface drip irrigation is ideal for many forage crops and can significantly reduce water use, but dairy effluent water tends to clog up these systems.
A recent partnership between the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, Netafim, Sustainable Conservation, and three dairy producers in the Central Valley teamed up to solve this problem. After three years of research and testing, they were able to share their success at two recent field days held on the dairies in Chowchilla and Buttonwillow.
To achieve success, the partners found they needed to customize the systems to each dairy's size and physical layout between lagoons and fields. To prevent clogging, they needed twice as many filters as they'd need for filtering canal or groundwater and they need to be flushed more frequently than other drip systems. But after three years of using and adjusting their system, the managers at DeJager Dairy in Chowchilla reported steady crop yields with significantly lower water use. The best part was the ability to monitor nutrient levels and schedule irrigation sets remotely from the comfort of their office.
At one pilot farm in the Buttonwillow area, the dairyman found that he reduced his water usage from 55 inches per corn crop under flood irrigation to 34 inches under subsurface drip. He also recorded a slight increase in yield. This enabled him to drastically increase the amount of crop he produced per drop of water he used. In addition to the increased water use efficiency, the farmer managed to save on labor costs by automating his irrigation system.
For an added bonus, UC Davis researchers measured a 90% decrease in the emission of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.
With all the benefits of this new system comes one significant obstacle for dairymen: high upfront cost. But starting next year, NRCS will cost share up to 75% of the installation price for a limited number of years. Dairymen can also apply for the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Alternative Manure Management Program to help them better separate their solid and liquid wastes.
Climate smart agriculture encompasses management practices that increase soil carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve yields and efficiencies, and promotes climate resilience. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) supports three funding opportunities in climate smart agriculture: the Healthy Soils Program, the State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program, and the Alternative Manure Management Program.
In a collaborative partnership, CDFA and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources have teamed up to support 10 community education specialists throughout the state to provide technical assistance and outreach for the climate smart agriculture programs.
- Author: Kristian M Salgado
You know you have reached the Imperial Valley, located on the southeastern bottom corner of California, when you begin to smell (not carne asada, but you're close) the distinct aroma of cow manure. This smell isn't manure coming from dairy cows as you might think though Imperial County does have two dairies. For the most part, the odor is coming from feedlots spread across Imperial County raising Holstein steers for beef.
With an estimated total of 344,937 cattle[1],and the distinct smell as a reminder, you would imagine that Imperial County ranchers are managing a whole lot of cattle manure. “How are ranchers managing dairy and livestock manure?” has become a top concern for the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) over the past two decades. This is because 8% of California's Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, mostly methane and nitrous oxide, comes from agriculture, and approximately two thirds of those emissions come from enteric fermentation and manure management of livestock[2].
On the manure management side of ranching, greenhouse gas emissions are largely due to the anaerobic (absent of oxygen) decomposition of volatile solids stored in a lagoon or other predominately liquid anaerobic environments that produce excess methane. In other words, methane is produced in greater quantities when exposed to these wet conditions of collection, treatment, and storage. California, especially in the Central Valley (where 91% of the state's dairy cows are located), utilize freestall barns with flush systems, settling basins, lagoons, and processing pits[3]. According to California Air Resource Board (CARB), by converting these systems to lower sources of manure methane, such as pasture-based management, compost-bedding pack barns, or solid separation, these dairies can reduce that amount of methane released into the atmosphere.
Manure management methods widely used by Imperial County ranchers are considered “alternative manure management methods” by CDFA and other government agencies. Due to the arid-low desert climate and low annual rainfall, Imperial County ranchers already manage dry manure systems that are considered low emissions by Methane Conversation Factors standards. For, instance a 30,000-cattle feedlot using (which is the average size for Imperial County feedlot) using a dry lot manure scraping system, with minimal tractor diesel fuel consumptions for scraping corrals produces about 2,509 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide (MTCO2e/yr). Which is equivalent to 6,134,474 miles driven by an average passenger car[4]. In addition to using a scraping manure system, it's also common practice for ranchers to haul their manure to a local compost facility or compost in-house using open solar windrows drying, depending on the feedlot. Composted manure is than often utilized locally or sold as a soil amendment for the farming of forage crops and other commodities.
Cattle will always be a source of methane, however how rancher's management dairy and livestock operations could reduce the overall production of methane. On a regional scale, its fair to say that the Imperial County ranchers are implementing the best low methane manure management practices, while still producing a significant amount of cattle. Imperial County ranchers are always looking for better ways to improve their management, however many ranchers don't fall under the CDFA Alternative Manure Management Program guidelines (because they already use these practices) limiting their ability to access these funding opportunities.
Climate smart agriculture encompasses management practices that increase soil carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve yields and efficiencies, and promotes climate resilience. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) supports three funding opportunities in climate smart agriculture: the Healthy Soils Program, the State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program, and the Alternative Manure Management Program.
In a collaborative partnership, CDFA and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources have teamed up to support 10 community education specialists throughout the state to provide technical assistance and outreach for the climate smart agriculture programs.
[1]https://www.co.imperial.ca.us/ag/docs/spc/crop_reports/2017_Imperial_County_Crop_and_Livestock_Report.pdf
[2]2018 Edition, California Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory: 2000 – 2016
[3]https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/cc/dairy/documents/08-21-17/dsg1-dairy-101-presentation.pdf
[4]https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
- Author: Shulamit Shroder
Can compost help me with my salt problems?
Increasing soil salinity poses an existential threat to agriculture in many parts of California. Due to decades of irrigation and low rainfall, areas like the Central Valley suffer from increasing salinity in both their soils and their groundwater, resulting in diminished crop yields and contaminated drinking water.
According to the nonprofit Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long Term Sustainability, the Central Valley has already lost 250,000 acres of farmland to salinity problems. Another 1.5 million acres remain in production but suffer decreased yields due to the negative effects of salinity (CV SALTS, 2017). Like us, plants do not appreciate salty drinking water. Most of them can't thrive if the sodium levels in the soil are too high.
However, this area still produces many of the agricultural products upon which we depend, like nuts, fruits, and vegetables. In order to continue farming, producers in these areas must continue to improve their farming practices. One possible way is by applying compost. This can help to mitigate the terrible effects of soil salinity on crop and soil health.
Scientists have studied the use of organic amendments like municipal solid waste as a means of combating soil salinity since the 1980s and ‘90s. In 1994, Israeli researchers reported that not only did applying municipal solid waste compost improve soil stability and plant growth, but also that amending saline soil withboth compost and gypsum increased yields to the level expected from a normal, non-saline field (Avnimelech et al, 1994).
In 2011, scientists in India published their results after 15 years of treating sodic water irrigation with gypsum, farmyard manure, green manure, and wheat straw. The high sodium water they applied caused the soil structure to disintegrate and the water infiltration rate to plummet. However, the organic amendments all mitigated those effects to varying extents. Farmers thus can add both organic amendments and gypsum in order to improve the yield of their salty soils (Choudhary et al, 2011).
So, if you've got salty soil or irrigation water and gypsum alone isn't enough, then applying compost could be another salt-fighting tool to add to your toolbox.
Plus, the California Department of Food and Agriculture will help pay for it through the Healthy Soils Program.
The most recent round of solicitations closed in March 2019, but keep an eye out for future announcements. In the meantime, check out the UCANR climate smart ag page.
Reach out to your closest Community Education Specialist II with any questions and for help applying for the program.
References
- Avnimelech, Y., Shkedy, D., Kochva, M., & Yotal, Y. (1994). The use of compost for the reclamation of saline and alkaline soils. Compost Science & Utilization, 2(3), 6-11.
- Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-term Sustainability. (2017). CV Salts [pdf]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.cvsalinity.org/docs/committee-document/pubic-education-and-outreach-docs/3963-outreachbrochure-high-resolutionenglish-revised-82718/file.html
- Choudhary, O. P., Ghuman, B. S., Thuy, N., & Buresh, R. J. (2011). Effects of long-term use of sodic water irrigation, amendments and crop residues on soil properties and crop yields in rice–wheat cropping system in a calcareous soil. Field Crops Research, 121(3), 363-372.
- Diacono, M., & Montemurro, F. (2015). Effectiveness of organic wastes as fertilizers and amendments in salt-affected soils. Agriculture, 5(2), 221-230.
- Rao, D. L. N., & Pathak, H. (1996). Ameliorative influence of organic matter on biological activity of salt‐affected soils. Arid Land Research and Management, 10(4), 311-319.
- Author: Alli Rowe
- Author: Shulamit Shroder
What exactly is climate smart agriculture? The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations coined the term climate smart agriculture as “an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support development and ensure food security in a changing climate.” In short, climate smart agriculture addresses how to manage agricultural systems to meet the nutritional needs of a growing population while both building resiliency to climate change and using agriculture as a solution to our climate crisis.
To be effective, climate smart agriculture must meet three main objectives:
1) Increase agricultural productivity and incomes;
2) Adapt to and build resiliency to climate change; and
3) Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Climate smart agriculture addresses the risks that agricultural production faces under a changing climate, underscores agriculture's role in solving climate change, and focuses on the importance of intensification of agriculture required to feed a global population.
Agriculture and working lands play a significant role in climate change. According to the EPA's recent inventory, agricultural management practices contribute 8.4% of the United States' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Interestingly, and encouragingly, agriculture can also act as a greenhouse gas sink by removing atmospheric carbon and storing it in plant tissue and soils. Through effective management, agriculture provides a significant solution to climate change.
California's agricultural industry is at extreme risk to the impacts of climate change. Changes in temperatures, precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and water availability all pose a threat to the viability of agricultural production. Warming temperatures throughout the state will result in a decline of winter chill hours, increased water demand by crops, and the promotion of various pests. Projections show an increased tendency of heat wave events and an increase in duration and intensity of drought. In addition, California expects to see earlier snowmelt, resulting in increased flooding and a decrease in year-round water availability. This is a doom and gloom scenario we can look forward to unless we decide to act today to plan for tomorrow.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture administers 3 programs to help farmers, ranchers, and dairy operators implement climate smart agriculture practices:
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The State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) encourages farmers to install more efficient irrigation systems that decrease their water consumption as well as their greenhouse gas emissions. You can apply for a SWEEP grant for up to $100,000.
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The Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) awards funds - up to $750,000 - to livestock producers who decrease their methane emissions by changing the way that they manage manure.
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The Healthy Soils Program takes a two-pronged approach. For the Incentives Program, there is $75,000 available per project. There is also the option to coordinate with your local resource conservation district or university on a Demonstration Project, which can award up to $250,000 for the research and demonstration of new healthy soils practices. The Healthy Soils Program encourages the implementation of conservation agriculture techniques that decrease erosion and greenhouse gas emissions, like cover cropping, compost, crop rotation, and mulching.
In October 2018, CDFA and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources agreed to work together to enhance access to information and technical assistance for the state's climate smart initiatives. The ten Community Education Specialists scattered throughout the state can help growers and producers with the grant application process, at no cost to the farmer.
Keep an eye out for future announcements about grant deadlines - they all passed in March and April 2019 but should reopen within the next year, pending further funding.
For more information about these programs and for help applying for these grants, contact your local Community Education Specialist:
| County | Contact | Phone | |
| Mendocino | Britta Baskerville | blbaskerville@ucanr.edu | (707) 463-4158 |
| Caddie Bergren | cmbergren@ucanr.edu | (209) 385-7403 | |
| Glenn | Dana Brady | dmbrady@ucanr.edu | (530) 517-8187 |
| Yolo, Solano & Sacramento |
Emily Lovell | ejlovell@ucanr.edu | (530) 405-9777 |
| Santa Cruz | Valerie Perez | valperez@ucanr.edu | (831) 763-8028 |
| Kern | Shulamit Shroder | sashroder@ucanr.edu | (661) 868-2168 |
| Alli Rowe | amrowe@ucanr.edu | (805) 645-1464 | |
| Esther Mosase | enmosase@ucanr.edu | (605) 592-0275 | |
| Imperial | Kristian Salgado | kmsalgado@ucanr.edu |
(442) 265-7700 |
Climate smart agriculture encompasses management practices that increase soil carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve yields and efficiencies, and promotes climate resilience. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) supports three funding opportunities in climate smart agriculture: the Healthy Soils Program, the State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program, and the Alternative Manure Management Program.
In a collaborative partnership, CDFA and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources have teamed up to support 10 community education specialists throughout the state to provide technical assistance and outreach for the climate smart agriculture programs.
