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Supporting Climate Smart Agriculture Across California
Technical assistance, education, research support, and outreach helping farmers and ranchers strengthen climate resilience, improve water-use efficiency, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Program is a statewide program established through a partnership between UC ANR and CDFA to improve the adoption of science-based climate smart agricultural practices.
What Is Climate Smart Agriculture?
Agricultural systems are vulnerable to climate change and are also contributors to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) helps producers who manage agricultural systems respond to climate change and balance agricultural productivity with climate risk and adaptation
In California, many of these practices are supported through state incentive programs that help producers invest in soil health, irrigation efficiency, manure management, and other strategies that improve long-term farm and ranch resilience.
Climate-Smart Agriculture Supports
Soil Health & Carbon Sequestration
Water-Use Efficiency
Greenhouse Gas Reduction
On-Farm Climate Resilience
UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture Team
The program is housed within the California Institute for Water Resources at UC ANR and brings together program leadership, Regional Advisors, and statewide Technical Assistance Providers who provide locally relevant support across California.
The Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) program serves counties across California and provides technical support, education, and outreach to increase adoption of climate smart agriculture practices.
CDFA Climate Smart Agriculture Incentive Programs
The UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture team partners with CDFA’s Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS) and statewide block grant providers to provide technical assistance to farmers and ranchers for climate smart agriculture incentive programs.
Healthy Soils Program (HSP)
Supports soil-health practices that build organic matter, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon, and strengthen on-farm resilience.
State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program (SWEEP)
Supports irrigation improvements and technologies that increase on-farm water-use efficiency while reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP)
Supports alternative manure management practices that reduce methane and other greenhouse gas emissions from dairy and livestock operations.
What We Do
The UC ANR Climate Smart Agriculture team connects incentive programs, research, education, and practical support with farmers, ranchers, and partners across California.
Technical Assistance
Provide technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, and CDFA block grant providers to support climate smart agriculture project planning, applications, implementation, monitoring, and verification. Support includes multilingual assistance for small-scale and historically underserved producers.
Education & Outreach
Engage farmers, ranchers, and partners through consultations, site visits, workshops, field days, and trainings. We share science-based information to help producers understand climate smart agriculture practices, evaluate opportunities, develop projects, and strengthen adoption.
Research Support
Participate in field studies, demonstrations, data collection, soil-health assessments, and research collaborations that connect science with on-farm practice and help evaluate climate smart agriculture practices and outcomes.
Resources & Tools
Develop and share practical resources including fact sheets, implementation guides, templates, case studies, videos, and other educational materials that help producers and partners understand, plan, implement, and verify climate smart agriculture practices.
Climate Smart Agriculture by the Numbers
Cumulative program impacts reported through 2025.
27
Counties served
520
Projects awarded
$47M+
Awarded to producers
239
Outreach & education events
10k+
Attendees reached
1.7k+
Underserved & small-scale producers supported
Explore the Climate Smart Agriculture Program
Find program resources, research, reports, and technical assistance contacts.
Resources
Bilingual farmer case studies, factsheets, videos, practical tools, field studies, impact reports, and the CSA Blog.
Team
Meet program leadership, Regional Advisors, Community Education Specialists, and Technical Assistance Providers.
Connect with the Climate Smart Agriculture Program
Questions about technical assistance, climate-smart agriculture practices, CDFA incentive programs, or program resources?