New Governor Recommendations

CalCAN Bill Passes

Agriculture & the
Global Climate Action Summit

SWEEP Policy Brief

New Healthy Soils
Program Guidelines

Dairies Tackle Methane Emissions

Climate Leader Spotlight:
McClelland Dairy

CalCAN Events

Additional Events

Funding

Jobs

 

In a new report, farmer leaders and agriculture experts call on the next Governor of California to embrace sustainable agricultural solutions to climate change. CalCAN released the report leading up to the Global Climate Action Summit hosted in San Francisco, bringing attention to the pressing need for state action to scale up transformative agricultural solutions to climate change.

The report offers policy recommendations to the new Governor, who will take office in January, to address the threat of climate change to the state’s agriculture. Read the report, Climate Threats, Abundant Solutions: Climate Change and Agriculture Recommendations to the New California Governor.

“A changing climate puts the future of California agriculture and our food security on the line,” said Jeanne Merrill, Policy Director with CalCAN. “To keep farmers on the land, meet our climate goals and maintain our food security, the next Governor must scale up sustainable agricultural solutions to climate change.”

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Thank you! 
Your calls, letters, emails and meetings with members have made all the difference
in advancing AB 2377 with such strong support. 

The state legislature passed CalCAN-sponsored AB 2377 with strong, bi-partisan support. The bill now heads to Governor Brown's desk. Authored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and co-authored by Assemblymember Monique Limón, it recognizes the integral role technical assistance plays in improving Climate Smart Agriculture program participation and project implementation.

The bill establishes a technical assistance grant program at the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) with a dedicated portion of the annual budgets for the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), and Healthy Soils Program. It represents an important step forward in improving the delivery and reach of the state’s Climate Smart Agriculture programs.

Importantly, AB 2377 prioritizes technical assistance for small and moderately-scaled farms and ranches and requires at least 25 percent of available technical assistance funds to be provided to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers as defined by the Farmer Equity Act of 2017.

Read more about the bill and how you can weigh in with Governor Brown asking for his support.

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Last week, four thousand delegates from California and around the world gathered in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit, hosted by Governor Jerry Brown.

CalCAN staff joined the delegation where we listened to international experts, presidents of island nations, indigenous and youth leaders and many more who laid out out the challenges before us: global greenhouse gas emissions must begin to decline by 2020 if we are to avert the melting of tundra and polar ice shelves.  This clarion call was coupled with meaningful reminders of how far we have come in California and around the world to increase our reliance on renewable energy, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and hit “peak” global emissions. We heard from U.S. mayors and governors stepping up to reduce their local and state greenhouse gas emissions in the face of a recalcitrant White House that wants to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement.

Climate activists protested outside, many of whom are opposed carbon pricing schemes forwarded by California and other subnational and national governments. But those inside the summit and outside seemed well aligned on the need for urgent action to avoid the worst impacts of a changing climate.

“Farmers are ready to do their part on climate change. Technical support is especially important to reach smaller farms,” says CalCAN Advisor Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farm at the Global Climate Action Summit.

One message was clear: that we cannot meet our greenhouse gas emission reduction goals without agricultural solutions to climate change. Read more on our blog about agriculture-related Summit events and highlights.
 

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CalCAN published a policy brief on the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), California's climate change program aimed at saving water and energy on farms and ranches. The brief summarizes SWEEP's impact and shares CalCAN's recommendations for the program based on feedback we aggregated from farmers and technical assistance providers.

Our main takeaways are that the program remains in high demand among farmers and improves irrigation management in ways that save water, energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in strategic locations and at a critical time in the state. But more needs to be done to ensure that SWEEP is part of promoting sustainable groundwater management in the state.

Read a summary of our recommendations and the brief on our blog or read the full brief.

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Farmers and ranchers faced a number of challenges in applying to the first round of the Healthy Soils Program in 2017, resulting in insufficient applications to use the full $7.5 million in the program’s budget.

In response to stakeholder feedback, CDFA has proposed some significant improvements in its latest draft Request for Grant Applications, which was released in late July. These improvements include:

Reflecting our shared vision of a Healthy Soils Program that maximizes producer participation and impact, CalCAN submitted comments on behalf of 25 organizations to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for its draft Request for Grant Applications. CDFA plans to release the official application for the next round of the program in November.

Read more on our blog about the recommendations we submitted in our joint comment letter.

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Forty new dairies will receive a total of $21.6 million in Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) grant awards, recently announced by the CDFA. This was the second round of funding for AMMP, which began in 2017 with 18 funded projects.

AMMP is the first climate change program in the country to provide financial assistance to dairy and other livestock producers to reduce potent methane emissions through non-digester practices. AMMP incentivizes manure management projects that reduces wet, anaerobic conditions of manure handling to dry manure practices, like solids separation, composting and pasture-based systems, including compost pack barns.

Read more on our blog about the recent awards and how farmers in the Central Valley and North Coast will use them. We also give an update about CalCAN's participation in a work group that has prepared recommendations to the California Air Resources Board about how alternative manure management can help the state meet its ambitious methane reduction targets.

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McClelland Dairy is a third-generation family farm business dating back the 1830s that transitioned their 1,100-head dairy to organic in 2003. With recently-awarded AMMP funding, they will implement changes to their operation to significantly reduce methane emissions.

“We all have a part to play. Some people drive a hybrid car. Some people recycle. Farmers can play a huge part by managing our operations to the benefit of the environment and climate.”

       — Jana McClelland,  third-generation co-owner,
            McClelland Dairy

Read the McClellands' story.

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