- Author: Michael D Cahn
- Author: Valerie Perez
CDFA's Healthy Soils Program (HSP) and the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) are currently accepting applications! If you are an agricultural operation looking to save water and/or improve your soils then these programs might be for you. Below is a list of things to consider for the grants.
CDFA's State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP): Apply for up to $200,000 for irrigation management practices that reduce water and greenhouse gas emissions (by conserving energy).
What is CDFA's SWEEP grant? CDFA's SWEEP provides grant funding to California agricultural operations to incentivize activities that reduce on-farm water use and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from irrigation systems.
How is SWEEP funded? SWEEP is funded from the Budget Act of 2021 which allocated $50 million this round.
Who can apply? The irrigation project must be located on a California agricultural operation and cannot build upon previously funded SWEEP projects directly affecting the same Assessor's Parcel Numbers (APNs).
What are the exclusions from applying to SWEEP?
- You cannot apply to expand existing agricultural operations.
- You cannot apply to install new groundwater wells or increase well depth.
- You cannot test new technology or perform research.
Which practices are eligible for funding? Some of the practices that are eligible for funding are replacing pumps,v variable frequency drives, using soil moisture or plant sensors, converting to a more efficient irrigation method, or adding equipment for irrigating more efficiently such as pipes, flowmeters, and pressure regulators. CDFA is open to a variety of practice, including solar conversions, as long as the overall project will save water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Request for Grant Applications has a sample list of practices on page i-iii (https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/sweep/docs/2021_SWEEP_RGA_-_October_19_Release.pdf).
How long is the project duration? The project duration is 24 months.
What information or documents do I need to apply?
- Pump efficiency test for all pumps that will be included in the project. The information you will need on the pump test is overall pumping efficiency percentage, horsepower, discharge pressure and pumping depth.
- 12 consecutive months of utility bills, actual fuel receipts and/or field operational logs.
- If applying for a solar project, you are required to get a quote from the solar company. All other projects are not required to have quotes, but it is highly recommended.
For more information please go to: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/sweep/
Also Attend the CDFA hosted online workshop on Monday 11/15/2021 from 1-3pm.
Sign up for upcoming workshop here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vIYKUkfOQbeUSsJ3ycVxpw
CDFA's Healthy Soils Program (HSP): https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/
Apply for up to $100,000 for soil practices that improve soil health and sequesters carbon.
What is CDFA's Healthy Soils Program? CDFA's Healthy Soils Incentives Program provides financial incentives to California growers and ranchers to implement agricultural management practices that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil health.
How is the Healthy Soils Program funded? The Healthy Soils Program is funded from the State's cap and trade also known as the California Climate Investments and the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access for all Act of 2018. This round the Healthy Soils Program was appropriated $50.5 million.
Who can apply? California agricultural operations who will have control of the land during the duration of the grant can apply.
What are the exclusions from applying to the Healthy Soils Program?
- You cannot apply for practices other than those that are listed on the Request for Grant Application (https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/docs/2021_HSP_Incentives_RGA.pdf).
- You cannot apply for practices that you have implemented in the previous year.
- You cannot apply if the practices will be implemented in potted plants or other plant growth media.
Which practices are eligible for funding? Some of the practices that are eligible for funding are cover cropping, reduced-till, compost application and conservation plantings. The complete list of practice can be found on the Request for Grant Applications on pages 30-50 (https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/docs/2021_HSP_Incentives_RGA.pdf).
How long is the project duration? The project duration is three years long starting in 2022 and ending in 2025. Depending on the practice chosen, you will likely implement the practice once a year for three years.
What information or documents do I need to apply?
- A list of practices you wish to apply for, examples include cover crop, compost, hedgerow planting and mulch application.
- Information regarding the last three years of crop history and management practices. No documentation is required just a written statement.
- If you lease land, a statement signed from your landowner stating that you will have control over the land for the duration of the grant.
Attend the CDFA hosted online workshop for the healthy soils program on Thursday 11/18/2021 from 9-11am. The workshop agenda can be viewed here:
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/docs/2021_HSP_Incentives_Workshop_Agenda.pdf
Sign up for upcoming workshop here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p6Kxg55GTbSdXU5ddpsNGw
For FREE technical assistance in filling out the application please contact Valerie Perez, valperez@ucanr.edu or (831) 595-8545
For FREE technical assistance with equipment and irrigation system design ideas, please contact Michael Cahn, mdcahn@ucanr.edu or 831-214-3690
/span>- Author: Dana Yount
- Contributor: Emily Lovell
- Contributor: Caddie Bergren
- Contributor: Nicki Anderson
- View More...
UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team assisted growers to win CDFA grants that reduced greenhouse gases equivalent to removing roughly 7,000 cars off the road, supporting UC ANR's public value of building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.
The Issue
Increasingly extreme and erratic weather patterns caused by climate change threaten crop yields and farm profits across the state. Growers must continue to adapt to climate stressors, such as increased temperatures and occurrences of drought, and can aid in reducing climate change through their farming practices.
How UC Delivers
A collaborative partnership between the Strategic Growth Council, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) teamed up to support 10 Climate Smart Agriculture Community Education Specialists (CSA CES) throughout the state to provide technical assistance and outreach to promote Climate-Smart Agriculture Incentive Programs. These programs include:
- The Healthy Soils Program, which incentivizes the implementation of climate-smart agriculture practices such as cover cropping, composting, crop rotation, and mulching which reduce erosion and greenhouse gases
- The State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), which encourages farmers to install more efficient irrigation systems that decrease water consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and
- The Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), which awards funds to livestock producers who decrease their methane emissions by changing the way they manage manure.
Since establishing this partnership in 2019, the UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team has provided hands-on assistance to over 200 farmers and ranchers through the complex application process. Collaborating with other CDFA technical providers to host workshops, field days, and events has expanded reach to a greater number of growers, over 120 of whom were able to receive funding after receiving technical assistance. UC CSA CES efforts don't stop at the outreach or application phase; educators work year-round to ensure successful implementation of climate-smart projects.
After the award process, educators assist awardees in completing grant invoicing and contract reporting requirements and connect them with vendors, industry experts, and service providers. UC CSA CES also engage in a variety of additional support activities. For example, to help establish successful cover crop adoption, one educator created a cover crop decision-making tool. A different educator started a small compost spreader rental program to assist small growers in spreading compost. Another facilitates full project management through translation services to a cooperative of Cantonese-speaking awardees.
The Impact
Through assisting awardees in the adoption of practices such as cover cropping, installing solar panels, and installing dairy manure solid separator systems, the 10 UC CSA CES have collectively supported growers in reducing 33,000 MT/CO2 per year, as measured by California Air and Resources Board (CARB) Green House Gas Emission reduction calculator (SWEEP GHG Calculator on CDFA's website), and the HSP Comet planner tool. That's equivalent to removing 7,000 cars from the road per year.
Table A provides an overview of how much GHG has reduced in counties where the UC Climate Smart Agriculture Educator team has helped farmers implement climate-smart practices. Totals for all projects are much higher.
UCCE-County Location |
Total CO2 equivalent in MT/year |
Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake County |
314.2 |
Merced, Madera, Stanislaus |
5263.31 |
Glenn, Butte, Colusa, Tehama County |
4545.785 |
Yolo, Solano, Sacramento, San Joaquin, El Dorado, Sonoma, Colusa, Sutter |
11716.4 |
Santa Clara County |
58.85 |
Fresno County |
1353.924 |
Kern & Tulare Counties |
7060.283 |
Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura County |
630.5 |
San Diego and Riverside Counties |
300.18 |
Imperial County and Riverside County |
3689.1 |
Glenn County grower, Shannon Douglass says, “When producers have the support from the UCCE office that they already know and trust, they are more willing to implement new practices. The application process is intimidating, but with the help from UC, soil healthy practices are becoming much more widely adopted.”
Research shows that Healthy Soils Program practices such as compost application increases the amount of organic matter in soil, amongst numerous other benefits such as increasing the water and nutrient retention capacity of soils, providing a reservoir of nutrients for plants, improving aeration, improving water infiltration, reducing soil erosion, and supporting the abundance and diversity of soil organisms, which can improve plant health. Compost application is just one fundable practice farmers can implement to help reduce greenhouse gases on their operation.
Thanks to this unique partnership with CDFA, UC ANR is able to provide hands-on support to farmers statewide so that they can improve the health of their soils, reduce livestock methane emissions, and improve water use efficiency. In this way, the Climate-Smart Agriculture program contributes to UC ANR's public value of building climate-resilient communities and ecosystems.
/h3>/h3>/h3>The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting public comments on Requests for Grant Applications (RGA) for the $6.75 million Healthy Soils Program, authorized by the Budget Act of 2016, and funded through California's cap-and-trade program.
The Healthy Soils Program offers grants to farmers who take action to capture greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, in the soil to help combat climate change.
The program is part of California's cap-and-trade California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities. The cap-and-trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution.
The Healthy Soils Program will be implemented under two separate components: 1) the $3.75 million Incentives Program and 2) the $3 million Demonstration Projects. For the Incentives Program, an estimated $3.75 million in competitive grant funding will be awarded to provide financial assistance for implementation of agricultural management practices that sequester soil carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
For the Demonstration Projects, an estimated $3 million in competitive grant funding will be awarded to projects that monitor and demonstrate to farmers and ranchers in California, specific management practices in agriculture that sequester carbon, improve soil health and reduce atmospheric GHGs.
The RGA for both the Healthy Soils Program Incentives Program and Demonstration Projects can be found on the CDFA Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation webpage: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils.
Comments regarding the draft RGA can be submitted to cdfa.oefi@cdfa.ca.gov no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.