Jeanne Merrill

The Facts About Working Lands Conservation in the House Draft Farm Bill

April 16, 2018 by Jeanne Merrill Leave a Comment

CalCAN is a member of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). We occasionally repost their blogs on key federal policy issues. Last week, the House Agriculture Committee Chair released a draft farm bill. Below is NSAC’s analysis on the working lands conservation provisions in the House bill. NSAC has a series of important blog posts on the proposed farm bill, found here.

Washington, DC, April 13, 2018 – Yesterday, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-TX) presented a draft farm bill to America’s farmers and ranchers that would eradicate the nation’s largest voluntary working lands conservation program, the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.

The Chairman’s press materials claim that the bill is prioritizing working lands conservation by “folding the best features of the Conservation Stewardship Program into the nation’s flagship incentive-based program for voluntary conservation – the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).” However, this is simply not true.

In total, the draft bill proposes to cut funding for working lands conservation programs by 25 percent ($4.3 billion) over five years and 20 percent ($7.1 billion) over 10 years, exclusive of final payments to existing CSP contracts. To put that figure in contrast, the 2014 Farm Bill cut the entire conservation title by $4 billion over 10 years.

CSP and EQIP are separate programs for a reason – they each have unique roles to play in enhancing the sustainability of American agriculture. CSP helps farmers and ranchers implement advanced conservation stewardship systems to address priority resource concerns on their land. EQIP, in contrast, is more of an “on-ramp” to working lands conservation, and provides cost-share assistance on a one-time basis to help producers implement specific conservation practices.

The draft bill proposes to add “stewardship contracts” into EQIP, with the purported intention of retaining the core elements of CSP. However, the proposal eliminates nearly all of these core elements – the comprehensive conservation approach, the inclusion of the entire farm in stewardship efforts, and the eligibility requirement to reach a decent environmental stewardship level before enrolling. Furthermore, the bill would cut funding for stewardship practices by as much as 100 percent by placing a ceiling, rather than a minimum floor, on the amount of total funding that must go to stewardship contracts within EQIP.

Adding insult to injury, in addition to eliminating incentives for the most effective conservation activities, the Chairman’s bill would also make infrastructure activities for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) eligible for stewardship contracts for the first time, a practice currently prohibited by CSP.

The following chart outlines the devastating effect the Chairman’s draft bill would have on working lands conservation efforts by comparing current CSP standards (“CSP Best Features”) under current law with the draft bill’s plan for an “enhanced” EQIP:

“CSP Best Features”	Current Law	Conaway Farm Bill

Comprehensive Conservation Approach	YES	NO
Whole Farm Conservation Approach	YES	NO
Reach Good Environmental Stewardship Threshold to be Eligible	YES	NO
Designate at Least 5 Priority Resource Concerns	YES	Designates only 3
Payments for Active Management of Ongoing Conservation	YES	NO
Payments for Advanced Conservation Enhancements	YES	NO
Payments Based on Conservation Benefits	YES	NO
Supplemental Payments For Ag Diversification – Resource Conserving Crop Rotation	YES	NO
CAFO Infrastructure	INELIGIBLE	ELIGIBLE
Five Year Renewable Contracts with Continual Improvement	YES	NO Single 5-10 year contract
$40,000/year Payment Limitation	YES	Unnecessarily increased to $50,000
Five Year Funding (2019-2023)	$8.8 Billion	Anywhere from $0-$6.6 billion; a cut of 25-100%
Ten Year Funding (2019-2028)	$17.7 Billion	Anywhere from $0-$14.1 billion; a cut of 21-100%

To learn more about the current structure, terminology, and benefits of CSP, see NSAC’s online publications: Grassroots Guide to Federal Farm and Food Programs and Farmers’ Guide to CSP.

While there is indeed room to make improvements to CSP in the next farm bill, the wholesale elimination of the nation’s largest conservation program is the opposite of a thoughtful approach. Reforms to CSP should focus on increasing conservation benefits and program accessibility, and NSAC remains committed to working to protect and enhance CSP as the farm bill process moves forward.

America’s family farmers and ranchers rely on Congress to deliver a farm bill that gives them the best opportunities to feed their neighbors, earn a decent living, and keep their lands sustainable and healthy – this, sadly, is not that bill. NSAC urges both the House and the Senate to commit to bipartisan reforms in the 2018 Farm Bill, and to producing a bill that offers the best possible future for American agriculture.

In the following days, NSAC will publish a detailed analysis of the Chairman’s draft bill and its potential impact on working lands conservation programs on our blog.

Filed Under: Farmer Resources, Featured - Sidebar, Federal Policy Tagged With: CSP, EQIP, farm bill, House Agriculture Committee

Assemblymember Garcia and Other Legislators Request Reinstatement of Climate Funding for Critical Natural Resources Programs

March 16, 2018 by Jeanne Merrill Leave a Comment

CalCAN recently joined with Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, chair of the Joint Committee on Climate Change Policies, to support his proposal to restore funding for the Healthy Soils and SWEEP programs as part of a larger funding request for climate investments in natural and working lands.

Read below for more on the proposal and take action! Please call or write to your Assemblymember asking them to sign on to proposal for $400 million for natural and working lands climate change investments.

The message is simple: “I am calling from my town/city. I would like my Assemblymember to support $400 million for natural and working lands climate investments. I support Assemblymember Garcia’s proposal.”

Find your Assemblymember here.

(SACRAMENTO, CA) — Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies and about a dozen other California legislators submitted a letter requesting that critical natural resources programs receive funding in this year’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) budget allocations. Earlier today, they were joined by several advocacy groups to announce their list of priorities for the 2018-2019 GGRF Expenditure Plan.

“Following the success of our work with AB 398 (E. Garcia), which extended our state’s cap-and- trade program, it is essential that the legislature continues to ensure the equitable appropriation of these revenues into programs proven to provide significant health, environmental and economic benefits. I have made it a point to follow these Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund dollars through the budgeting process, until we see these investments allocated and at work advancing California communities, like those in my district, most impacted by pollution,” stated Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia.

The 2017-2018 expenditure plan for GGRF adopted in August 2017 appropriated $1.521 billion. That appropriation was made when only $811 million was technically in the GGRF account, and relied on estimates of auction revenue for the rest of the 2017-2018 auctions to fulfill the remainder of the expenditure plan. Auctions conducted since the expenditure plan was adopted have performed better than expected, resulting in an approximate surplus of $450 million for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

The letter submitted to Budget subcommittee Chair Bloom requests that the Legislature appropriates $400 million from the GGRF for the following programs:

Urban Forestry Program under Cal Fire
Urban Greening Program under the California Natural Resources Agency
State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) under the California  Department of Food and Agriculture
Healthy Soils Program under the California Department of Food and Agriculture
Wetlands and Watershed Restoration Program under the California Department of Fish  and Wildlife
Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Programs under the Wildlife Conservation Board, California State Coastal Conservancy, California Coastal Commission, and San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission

These programs had previously been funded by GGRF but had not been included or were not fully represented in the current proposal.

“Greening our communities is essential to the health, wellness, and safety of Californian children and families. The Urban Greening program transforms local infrastructure to clean our air and water, create safe places for kids to play outside, and protect neighborhoods from severe weather events,” said Mary Creasman, California Director of Government Affairs for The Trust for Public Land. “Communities all over the state are feeling the impacts of fires and flood, particularly in low-income areas and communities of color. California should increase these programs, not cut them. We are committed to working with the Legislature to restore funds for these critical programs.”

“We can plan for a climate resilient future by funding natural resources programs with the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” said Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-Marin County). “Continued investment is the best way to sequester carbon, reduce GHG emissions, and fight climate change while realizing economic benefits for California.”

Assemblymember Garcia maintains that, “These climate investment tools wield immense power to transform our most vulnerable populations. Green infrastructure, like that supported through the Urban Greening and Urban Forestry grant programs, is a critical component of creating healthy and resilient communities. Last year, we were able to utilize a collective $4 million of these cap-and-trade dollars to break ground and set out to construct new local park projects in North Shore and El Centro. Creating green space, safe recreational opportunities where there was none.”

“Imperial County agriculture contributes more than $4.5 billion to the local economy. Likewise, the economies of the Coachella Valley and Blythe are also predominantly driven by this industry. Farmers rank amongst our state’s largest employers. For these reasons, we have been vehemently advocating for additional investments into resources like the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). Upon our encouragement, several local farmers have already been able to take advantage of this assistance. In fact, this week, Ronald C. Leimgruber Farms will be celebrating the completion of an energy efficient conservation project that was supported by SWEEP funding,” commented Garcia. “By keeping these programs alive, we can help our vital agricultural industries meet our emission reduction targets while cleaning our air and improving our region’s overall health and prosperity.”

“Coming from the world’s leading region for sustainable agriculture practices, I’m proud to join this effort to fund the state’s environmentally responsible agriculture and forestry programs, said Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters). “We must do a better job of providing incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, runoff, and the use of water and soil additives in rural California. This initiative will help us protect our land and water.”

Jeanne Merrill, Policy Director with the California Climate and Agriculture Network added, “Turning our farms into carbon sinks is not only good for our climate, but good for the bottom line. The high demand for the Climate Smart Agriculture programs demonstrates that. Mr. Garcia’s proposal today acknowledges the importance of California farms and ranches in meeting our climate change goals.”

California ReLeaf Executive Director Cindy Blain noted, “Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia’s recognition of the critical role all natural resources — including community trees and green infrastructure — contribute to meeting the State’s GHG reduction goals and creating safer, healthier communities is reflected in this bold proposal. We applaud his vision and leadership.”

In addition to Eduardo Garcia, Assemblymembers Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), Arambula (D- Fresno), Caballero (D-Salinas), Friedman (D-Glendale), Kalra (D-San Jose), Levine (D-Marin County), McCarty (D-Sacramento), Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), Stone (D-Monterey Bay), Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) and Wood (D-Healdsburg) signed on in support of this venture.

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Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) serves as the chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. He represents the 56th district, which comprises the cities and communities of Blythe, Brawley, Bermuda Dunes, Calexico, Calipatria, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, El Centro, Holtville, Imperial, Indio, Mecca, Oasis, North Shore, Salton Sea, Thermal, Thousand Palms, and Westmorland.

What They Are Saying About It/Additional Stakeholder Statements:

Michelle Passero, The Nature Conservancy

“California cannot meet its climate goals without improved management and protection of our forests, farms, ranches, wetlands, and coastlines. Meaningful investments in these resources, will not only help us address climate change, but will also help urban and rural communities thrive and be more resilient in response to changing climate conditions and extreme weather events.”

Sarah Rose, Executive Director, Audubon California

“The Golden State’s natural and working lands are vital to our collective identity as Californians, and they’re also a key part of our strategy to address climate change. This proposed investment in wetlands, working farms, forests, and urban greenery will not only have immediate benefits for our people and our economy, but it will also provide greater resiliency as our climate changes.”

Laurie Wayburn, President, The Pacific Forest Trust

“Restoring and conserving our natural and working lands is essential to solving the climate crisis, and creating a resilient future. These investments help safeguard our water, protect our California heritage and ensure recreation for future generations. We fully endorse Mr. Garcia’s leadership in this critical effort.”

Filed Under: California Policy, Cap and Trade, Farmer Resources, Featured - Sidebar, Healthy Soils, SB 32, SWEEP Tagged With: Asm Friedman, Asm. Garcia, cap-and-trade, Carbon sinks, Expenditure plan, GGRF, Joint Committee on Climate Change Policies, natural and working lands

California Dairies Seek Alternatives

February 9, 2018 by Jeanne Merrill Leave a Comment

New Funding Supports Methane Reductions, Other Benefits

Seventeen dairies recently received the first round of funding from the new Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP). The program funds innovative manure management projects on dairy and livestock operations that reduce methane emissions and improve air and water quality. CalCAN advocated for the creation of the program as part of the state’s efforts to reduce short lived climate pollutants like methane.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) received 53 applications requesting nearly $30 million in AMMP funding, but only funded 17 projects for a little more than $9.6 million. The greatest number of projects were in the Central Valley with 14 projects awarded out of 45 applications from the region. Three projects out of six applications were funded on the North Coast. Neither of the two applications from Southern California were funded.

According to CDFA, the funded project types include:

35 percent of projects will improve the solid separation of manure solids and liquids (with some form of drying manure or composting)
35 percent of projects will convert from flush to scrape manure management (with some form of drying manure or composting)
18 percent of projects will have a combination of new practices
12 percent of projects will enhance their pasture-based practices (e.g. increased time on pasture or build a compost bedded pack barn)

The tentative timeline for the next round of funding is that CDFA will release the second request for proposals (RFP) in March with applications due in May. Awards will be announced in August. You can sign up for AMMP announcements from CDFA here.

Advisory Group Discusses Pasture-Based Dairying, AMMP Program

On February 5^th, the SB 1383 work group on “Fostering Markets for Non-Digester Projects to Reduce Methane Emissions on Dairies” met to discuss pasture-based strategies for methane reduction and to discuss AMMP. CalCAN’s Jeanne Merrill sits on the advisory group.

Three presenters reviewed pasture-based dairying, including work group member Cody Nicholson Stratton who dairies with his family in Humboldt County; Dr. Al Rotz with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service; and Dr. Randi Black with Cooperative Extension in Sonoma, Marin and Mendocino counties. The presenters discussed additional opportunities for pasture-based practices that could be incorporated into AMMP, among other topics. You can find their presentations here.

Following CDFA’s presentation on the recent AMMP awards, work group members and others who worked with dairy producers shared their experiences with completing AMMP applications. The work group then discussed recommendations for CDFA to improve the program over time. Those recommendations included:

Simplifying the application, going to a two-phased application process
Developing a process for adding new eligible practices to the program
Allowing for more time to apply

Those recommendations will be finalized by the work group before the March RFP.

CalCAN and several of our partners recently submitted comments to CDFA on the program. You can find our recommendations here.

The next meeting of the SB 1383 work group is tentatively scheduled for March 12^th. You can sign up for meeting announcements and updates from the subgroup here. The work group will submit final recommendations to the California Air Resources Board by mid-year.

Filed Under: AB 32 Implementation, Dairy Methane, Farmer Resources, Featured - Sidebar Tagged With: AMMP, dairy methane, sb 1383

Governor’s Proposal Falls Short of Transformative Climate Smart Ag Investments

January 31, 2018 by Jeanne Merrill 3 Comments

Governor Brown recently issued his proposed climate change investments for FY 2018- ‘19, outlining his priorities as he enters his final year as Governor. The plan focuses heavily on transportation-related investments, calling for billions of dollars in zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) incentives.

Governor Jerry Brown offers opening remarks at the Conference on Extreme Climate Risks

The plan also acknowledges the importance of Climate Smart Agriculture, but shifts away from water conservation on farms and cuts funding for the Healthy Soils Program. The plan instead focuses on funding farm equipment replacements ($102 million), food processor energy efficiency upgrades ($34 million) and dairy methane reduction projects ($99 million). Click here for the full plan.

This shift away from transformative sustainable agriculture investments toward helping the industry meet longstanding air pollution regulatory requirements threatens to undermine efforts to support farmers in adopting management practices that have multiple benefits – reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving carbon sinks – all while providing agronomic, economic and public health benefits to our communities.

Among the disappointments of the Governor’s plan is the lack of proposed climate change investment in the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). As farmers and ranchers across the state are bracing for another dry winter and dismal snowpack, we are reminded by what climate science tells us: California faces an uncertain water future where conservation must become a way of life.

The popular SWEEP program funds improvements to on-farm irrigation management to save water and energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Governor’s larger budget assumes Proposition 68, a natural resources bond measure on the June ballot, will pass and fund SWEEP with a one-time investment of $18 million.

However, that funding is dependent upon voters approving the measure and relies on successful future bond sales. As a result, we could be looking at two years of no funding for the program, frustrating farmers and ranchers who were eager to apply, and the state losing out on hundreds of new water-saving, climate smart agricultural projects.

After eliminating funding for the Healthy Soils program in the current fiscal year, the Governor’s plan proposes $5 million for the program in the next fiscal year. Governor Brown initially proposed the Healthy Soils Initiative in 2015 to meet the goals of his fifth pillar of his climate change plan – to increase carbon storage in agricultural lands. But since then, the program has been stymied from taking off with only $7.5 million in the first year and no funding for the current fiscal year. Like SWEEP, the Governor proposes one-time Prop. 68 funding of $9 million for Healthy Soils.

The legislature will now take up the question of future climate change investments. CalCAN will advocate, with our partners, to restore funding for Healthy Soils, the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) and a robust funding allocation for the Alternative Manure Management Program. The Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALCP), an important farmland conservation program, is the only Climate Smart Agriculture Program with continuous appropriations and not part of the annual budget debate.

Farmers and Ranchers Speak Up

Andrea Davis-Cetina, Assm. Jim Frazier, Al Courschesne, Dave Runsten and Rich Rominger. March 2017.

We recently spoke to several farmers and ranchers who participate in the Climate Smart Agriculture Programs. Here’s what they had to say:

Collins Farm and The Cloverleaf Farm, Solano County
“This funding will not only help the environment but allow us to become more efficient producers of better crops.” —Rich Collins, Owner
These two adjacent organic vegetable and fruit farms received a SWEEP grant to install solar pumps, a greywater irrigation system and soil moisture sensors. They also received a Healthy Soils grant to improve their carbon sinks and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Alexandre EcoDairy Farms, Del Norte County
“This is a win-win for our business and the environment. It supports our goal of increasing pasture productivity as well improving watershed health and providing climate benefits.” — Blake Alexandre, Co-owner
With their Healthy Soils grant, this organic dairy will apply compost, plant cover crops and install riparian buffers to improve carbon storage in soil and woody plants and improve overall all soil health.

Pauma Band of Luiseno Indians, San Diego County
”We will bring together farmers, tribal representatives and other stakeholders to learn about carbon farming.” — Miguel Hernandez, Project Coordinator
This Healthy Soils project will support the conversion of a vegetable operation to a no-till orchard, increasing soil carbon sequestration and reducing fuel and chemical inputs.

Sharyne Merritt, Santa Barbara County
“This grant allows us to irrigate precisely and when necessary. It is not only saving water, it has helped reduce crop damage from weather extremes.” — Sharyne Merritt, Owner
This SWEEP grant funds a variety of water efficiency measures on an avocado orchard near Santa Barbara where water shortages have been severe. It will fund state-of-the-art weather and soil moisture monitoring equipment, improve irrigation efficiency, and fund the application of mulch to preserve soil moisture.

Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, Monterey County
“With this grant, we will integrate renewable energy and water conservation concepts in our training program for new farmers. It is challenging to get funding for capital improvements, so this is really impactful.” — Nathan Harkleroad, Program Manager
With a SWEEP grant, this training center for limited-resource and aspiring organic farmers will install solar power for the pump on its agricultural well, soil moisture sensors and a weather station.

Filed Under: California Policy, Cap and Trade, Dairy Methane, Farmer Resources, Farmland Protection, Featured - Sidebar, Healthy Soils, SB 32, SWEEP, Water Tagged With: Budget Proposal, Climate Change Investments, Governor Brown

Farmland Conservation: New Awards Give Ag Climate Strategy a Boost

December 18, 2017 by Jeanne Merrill Leave a Comment

The Strategic Growth Council recently approved nearly $34 million in new grants for the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALCP).

Source: DOC

SALCP is one a suite of Climate Smart Agriculture programs developed in California to meet the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. The state program aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with urban sprawl and rural ranchette development by protecting at risk agricultural lands. SALCP is part of a larger effort to promote in-fill, transit-oriented development by the Brown administration.

The Council funded 25 agricultural conservation easement projects and 2 Strategy and Outcome grants for local governments to improve farmland conservation planning and policy development. The latest round of funding brings the total number of awarded conservation easement projects to 52 and 8 local government farmland conservation projects since the program began in 2014. The Council has invested nearly $76 million since the inception of SALCP.

The current round of conservation easement projects span 17 counties and covers over 46,000 acres. In three years, SALCP has protected nearly 80,000 acres in agricultural land. When compared to the 58,000 acres of agricultural land protected since 1996 with support from the California Farmland Conservancy Program, which relies on limited bond dollars, SALCP has made significant advancements in farmland protection in California is a short period of time.

More can still be done. California loses an average of 50,000 acres of crop and rangeland every year. Greater emphasis on farmland conservation policy development at the local level is needed. CalCAN will work with our agricultural conservation and land trust partners in the coming year to support efforts to improve support for local farmland mapping, planning and policy development.

Filed Under: AB 32 Implementation, California Policy, Cap and Trade, Farmland Protection, Featured - Sidebar, SALC Program News Tagged With: farmland conservation, SALCP, SB 32, smart growth, strategic growth council

Healthy Soils = Healthy Lives

December 4, 2017 by Jeanne Merrill 1 Comment

California Soils Week Gets Underway

USDA NRCS

Today, launches the California Healthy Soils Week when the many benefits of building healthy soils on our farms and ranches will be featured in Sacramento and in events around the state. Agriculture covers 43 million acres in crop and rangeland in California, producing over 400 crop and livestock products and supplying the majority of the country’s fruits, vegetables, nuts and dairy products. Fundamental to our robust agricultural production is the soil that is the basis for growing our vibrant food and fiber economy.

Soils week builds upon a long tradition of acknowledging the importance of soils to our economy, health and environment. In response to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, the federal government, under President Roosevelt and Agriculture Secretary Wallace, created the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The districts were a radical experiment in bringing farmers together with soils and other agronomy experts to democratically forge voluntary partnerships to better steward the land and avoid future catastrophic losses like the Dust Bowl, which displaced thousands and disrupted our food production.

Today, those districts, now known as Resource Conservation Districts in California, continue to thrive and provide the on-going technical assistance needed for farmers and ranchers who want to conserve their land while maintaining their businesses. With the new Climate Smart Agriculture Programs, like Healthy Soils, we have an opportunity to expand upon these partnerships with farmers and ranchers to further healthy soils practices that build soil, improve crop and forage yields and better our air and water quality.

Secretary Henry Wallace famously said, “People in cities may forget the soil for as long as a hundred years, but Mother Nature’s memory is long and she will not let them forget indefinitely.”

This week, we remember the importance of our soils and how, together with California farmers and ranchers, we can forge healthy soils and healthy lives.

For a complete list of CA Healthy Soils Week activities, click here: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/healthysoils/soilsweek.html

For more on the Healthy Soils Initiative and Program, click here:

https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/healthysoils/ and here: http://calclimateag.org/healthysoils/

Filed Under: California Policy, Featured - Sidebar, Healthy Soils, SB 32 Tagged With: CA Soils Week, Healthy Soils = Healthy Lives

Bond Measure Bright Spot as Sustainable Agriculture Solutions Abandoned in Climate Deal

October 20, 2017 by Jeanne Merrill Leave a Comment

Late on the night of this past Sunday October 15th, Governor Brown signed SB 5, a $4 billion bond measure, that provides important natural resources and sustainable agriculture funding. If approved by voters in June 2018, the bond measure would make a one-time allocation of $10 million for the Healthy Soils Program and $20 million for State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP)— two Climate Smart Agriculture programs that were cut in the recent climate investments budget deal.

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.

“The bond measure will give Californians an important opportunity to invest in sustainable agricultural solutions to climate,” said Jeanne Merrill, CalCAN Policy Director. “An opportunity, that unfortunately, the Governor and the legislature walked away from in this recent climate investments budget.”

The Healthy Soils Program funds incentives and demonstration projects for soil management practices on farms and ranches that sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The program launched this summer with $7.5 million. Program funding was zeroed out for FY 2017-18 in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund budget bills.

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.

SWEEP funds irrigation management improvements on farms and ranches that save water and energy while reducing GHG emissions. Since 2014, this program has received over $60 million. Over the life of the program, farmer demand for the program has exceeded available funding by more than 200 percent. As climate models suggest California will continue to experience constrained water resources in the years and decades to come, SWEEP is an important part of realizing the Governor’s long-term water conservation goals. Like Healthy Soils, the program will be without funding next year.

SB 5 also includes $20 million in funding for the California Farmland Conservancy Program, which will permanently protect agricultural lands. And it includes $30 million for agriculture adaptation to support farmers in increasing on-farm resilience to the many climate-related challenges they face with extreme and unpredictable weather patterns, drought and new pest and disease problems.

Filed Under: Adaptation, California Policy, Cap and Trade, Farmland Protection, Featured - Sidebar, Healthy Soils, SWEEP, Uncategorized

No Funding for Healthy Soils and SWEEP Programs in Cap-and-Trade Budget Deal

September 19, 2017 by Jeanne Merrill 1 Comment

Sustainable Ag Priorities Included in Bond Measure

Last week, the state legislature passed budget bills, AB 109 and AB 134, to allocate $1.5 billion in cap-and-trade funding for FY 2017-‘18. To the dismay of CalCAN and a wide network of partners, the deal cut funding for the Healthy Soils Program and the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). This is a huge setback for these trailblazing programs.

What happened to Healthy Soils and SWEEP?

The $1.5 billion climate investments package was different than previous years in two key ways.

First, the legislative deal struck earlier this year to extend the cap-and-trade program to the year 2030 allowed several new issue areas to be eligible for funding and prioritized investments in projects that would have direct air quality benefits.

CalCAN supported the extension of the cap and trade program (more on that here). The extension bill, AB 398, along with its companion measure, AB 617, allow for funding in new issue areas including reducing air pollution (from mobile and stationary sources), climate change adaptation, and climate research—none of which was eligible to receive climate investments prior to AB 398. This brought significantly more pressure to bear on how to prioritize cap-and-trade revenue investments. Of the $1.5 billion package, a little over $900 million will go to clean vehicles (cars, trucks, farm equipment upgrades) and community clean air projects—leaving a much smaller piece of the funding pie for other climate change investments.

Second, several moderate Democratic and Republican members agreed to vote for the cap-and-trade program extension only if agriculture received cap-and-trade investments. The deal – made between conventional agricultural interests, members of the legislature and the Governor – left out Healthy Soils and SWEEP. Instead, the deal included $160 million to fund upgrades to farm equipment (tractors, ag pumps, harvesters, etc.), $99 million to reduce methane emissions on dairies, and $66 million for food processor upgrades and renewable energy projects. The cap-and-trade funding will come on top of existing funding, like the Carl Moyer program for farm equipment upgrades.

What does this mean for the future of these programs?

In some good news, funding for Healthy Soils and SWEEP is included in the recently passed natural resources bond, SB 5. If voters approve the bond measure in 2018, the Healthy Soils Program and SWEEP will be eligible for a total $10 million and $20 million, respectively, beginning in 2019. While this provides some consolation, bond funding alone cannot sustain these programs. We still face a-year plus funding gap, uncertainty around the passage of the bond measure and limited dollars, hurting the momentum for these important climate programs.

CalCAN will redouble our efforts and collaborate with our network of partners to ensure there is cap-and-trade funding for the programs in the next budget cycle that begins in July 2018. We will also keep working to improve SWEEP and Healthy Soils program implementation moving forward.

Stay tuned for ways you can join us in ensuring that there is reliable, ongoing cap-and-trade funding for these important programs.

Bright spots: Dairy Methane, Farmland Conservation and Climate Adaptation & Research

Thankfully, two other Climate Smart Agriculture program areas will remain funded under the cap-and-trade budget package. The Dairy Methane programs, which include the Alternative Manure Management Practices Program (AMMP) and the Dairy Digester Research & Development Program, received $99 million, a doubling in funding from the previous year.

The Sustainable Agriculture Conservation Program (SALCP), which funds conservation easements on agricultural lands at risk of development, will once again receive a portion of the climate investment funds that go to the Strategic Growth Council to support in-fill development.

Other bright spots from the climate investment deal were new funding for the climate change adaptation ($26 million) and climate research ($11 million). CalCAN championed new climate change adaptation funding to provide planning and technical assistance resources for farmers and ranchers wanting to improve resiliency and address impacts from climate change to their production. The adaptation funding will also help fund conservation easements to protect natural and working lands that improve the state’s resilience to a changing climate.

The climate change research money, to be coordinated by the Strategic Growth Council, will fund adaptation and clean energy research projects. While there is no specific call out for agriculture-related climate research, CalCAN will advocate for agriculture’s inclusion in the new program.

The bond measure, SB 5, also includes important funding for sustainable agriculture. CalCAN and our partners successfully advocated for the inclusion of the California Farmland Conservancy Program ($20 million) in the bond. There is also significant climate change adaptation funding: $30 million for agriculture through the Department of Conservation; and much larger pot of funding with the Natural Resources Agency, $443 million, to support a broad array of climate adaptation work, including agricultural viability.

Filed Under: California Policy, Cap and Trade, Climate & Ag Research, Dairy Methane, Farm Energy News, Farmer Resources, Farmland Protection, Featured - Sidebar, Healthy Soils, Research, SALC Program News, SB 32, SWEEP Tagged With: Budget Deal, cap-and-trade, Climate Investments, climate smart agriculture, Governor Brown, SB 32

Funding Available to Reduce Dairy Methane Emissions

August 22, 2017 by Jeanne Merrill 2 Comments

New Climate Change Program Launches

This week, California launched an innovative new program aimed at lessening the climate change impact of dairy farms. The Alternative Manure Management Practices (AMMP) Program, run by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), will fund between $9 million to $16 million in dairy and livestock manure management projects that reduce methane emissions and help improve air and water quality.

Dairy and other livestock producers will be eligible for grants of up to $750,000 for projects that convert from manure lagoon systems to methods that avoid or minimize liquid anaerobic manure handling, a major source of methane emissions. This could include transitioning to pasture-based operations where manure is distributed by the livestock on grazing land rather than collected in anaerobic piles or lagoons. It could also include various techniques for separating and drying manure to be spread on pastures or made into compost.

See the CDFA program page for application details. Find the CalCAN factsheet on the program here. Please note that the application deadline has been extended to October 16, 2017 at 5pm PDT.

Three grant application workshops are scheduled, with more workshops possible. The current workshops schedule is as follows:

Eureka, Thursday, September 7, 2017
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Humboldt County Agricultural Commissioner
5630 S. Broadway
Eureka, CA 95501

Santa Rosa, Friday, September 8, 2017
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner
133 Aviation Blvd., Suite 110
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Modesto, Thursday, September 14, 2017
2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
ABC Room
Stanislaus County Agricultural Commissioner
3800 Cornucopia Way, Suite B
Modesto, CA 95358

CDFA will also host a webinar for potential AMMP applicants on September 14th. To register, see the CDFA program webpage.

California Seeks Dairy Methane Reductions

Last year, CalCAN and our allies advocated for the creation of AMMP as the state looked to reduce methane emissions from dairies and livestock operations as part of its efforts to address Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, a group of potent greenhouse gases. Dairy operations account for 80 percent of the state’s methane emissions. SB 1383, passed last year, requires a 40 percent reduction of dairy methane emissions by 2030.

In addition to AMMP, the state will also fund the installation of digesters on dairy operations. More on that program can be found here.

Read more on CalCAN’s analysis of dairy methane issues here.

Three stakeholder workgroups are currently meeting to advise the California Air Resources Board on the market, regulatory and research barriers and needs for the dairy industry to meet the SB 1383 emissions reduction target of 40 percent by 2030. CalCAN participates in the Non-Digester Work Group, which meets next on September 18th. Preliminary recommendations to CARB will be made in November, with follow up and final recommendations by the work groups to be completed in 2018. More information about the work groups can be found here.

If you would like more information about AMMP or dairy methane issues more generally, please send us an email at info@calclimateag.org.

Filed Under: California Policy, Cap and Trade, Dairy Methane, Farmer Resources, Featured - Sidebar Tagged With: AMMP, CDFA, dairy, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, Manure management, methane emissions

Historic Vote to Extend California’s Cap-and-Trade Program: Sustainable Agricultural Solutions Advanced

July 19, 2017 by Jeanne Merrill Leave a Comment

In an effort watched around the world, the California state legislature voted on Monday on a pair of bills that re-commit the state to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tackling a changing climate. Two-thirds of the legislature, including Democrats from diverse districts and a several Republicans, supported Assembly Bill 398, an extension of the cap-and-trade program, and Assembly Bill 617, a companion air pollution measure.

CalCAN supported the cap-and-trade and air pollution package. See our letter here.

We did not come to this position lightly. The bills represent a compromise, but we determined, after much consultation with allies and others, that the package of bills advances our fundamental goals of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, investments in innovative climate change solutions that provide multiple environmental, health and economic benefits, and cleaner air.

California State Capitol Building. (Source: PeteBobb, WikiMedia)

Why now?

The cap-and-trade program was set to expire in the year 2020 without an extension approved by the legislature and the Governor. Last year, SB 32 and AB 197 passed, which expand the state’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and require the California Air Resources Board in its implementation of the targets to avoid the social costs of climate change, including impacts to public health, agricultural production, the economy and more.

But not included in last year’s bills was an explicit extension of the cap-and-trade program, which creates the California carbon market. Through this market mechanism, the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions – the oil and gas industry, cement plants, food processors and more – are capped and must reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time.

What does AB 398 do?

SB 398 extends the cap-and-trade program to the year 2030 and includes a number of needed reforms to the program, many of which are in line with the principles we outlined as a coalition this spring. Among those changes to the program is a new requirement for more offset projects to come from California and provide multiple environmental co-benefits in addition to greenhouse gas emission reductions. The bill also reduces the percent of offset credits that can used by any one regulated company under the program to meet their reduction requirements.

Another important set of reforms addresses the speculation and volatility of the carbon market. AB 398 requires the Air Resources Board to develop rules that “discourage speculation, avoid financial windfalls and consider the impact on complying entities and volatility in the market.”

Both of these improvements to the program should lead to increased benefits for all Californians and provide more resources to deploy in our communities to address climate change and other environmental challenges.

AB 398 raised concerns for many community and environmental justice groups for several reasons, including that the bill prohibits local air districts from imposing stricter carbon dioxide emissions regulations on stationary sources such as oil refineries that are regulated under cap-and-trade. However, local air districts retain their ability to regulate stationary sources for toxic air and criteria pollutants as well as short lived climate pollutants (e.g. methane).

In another compromise, AB 398 allows for the continuation of some free allowances, the permits to emit greenhouse gas emissions, to regulated entities, including the oil industry. One analysis suggests that additional free allowances to the oil industry would account for roughly 2 percent of the allowances issued from 2020 to 2030.

CalCAN supports some allocation of free allowances for food processors regulated under the program, which can will help keep food processors in the state – a critical part of our agricultural and rural economy.

Finally, AB 398 establishes new oversight and advisory committees on offsets protocol development, cap-and-trade program performance and just transition issues for workers impacted by the move away from fossil-fuel intensive industries. We believe this will help bring public participation and transparency to the program.

What does AB 617 do?

The companion measure to the cap-and-trade extension is AB 617, which addresses toxic and criteria air pollution from oil refineries and other stationary sources. AB 617 provides for improved community air monitoring, greater technology improvements to achieve improved air quality and increased fines for violators of air pollution requirements.

What about Climate Smart Agriculture Programs? What’s next?

AB 398 allows for the continuation of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) Investments (aka cap-and-trade auction proceeds) in climate change solutions in our communities.

GGRF revenues currently fund a suite of Climate Smart Agriculture programs, which CalCAN has championed, including Healthy Soils, State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), Dairy Methane (both digesters and the new Alternative Manure Management Practices Program) and the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program. More on these programs here.

Importantly, the bill reaffirms that sustainable agricultural solutions to climate change are important and eligible for funding. The bill also allows for investments in climate change adaptation and climate change research, two new areas of funding. This is especially important in light of likely federal cuts to climate change and agriculture research.

A separate bill on Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund investments is anticipated in August, following the summer legislative recess. CalCAN will actively engage in the bill discussions to ensure that important investments made in organic and sustainable agriculture continue and grow.

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) championed the need to support sustainable agricultural solutions to climate change, citing the leadership and innovation of many farmers in her district. We couldn’t agree more. We will be working with her office and others to make our case for on-going support for these critical programs.

Filed Under: AB 32 Implementation, California Policy, Cap and Trade, Climate & Ag Research, Dairy Methane, Farmer Resources, Farmland Protection, Featured - Sidebar, Healthy Soils, Research, SALC Program News, SB 32 Tagged With: AB 398, AB 617

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Bond Measure Bright Spot as Sustainable Agriculture Solutions Abandoned in Climate Deal

No Funding for Healthy Soils and SWEEP Programs in Cap-and-Trade Budget Deal

Sustainable Ag Priorities Included in Bond Measure

What happened to Healthy Soils and SWEEP?

What does this mean for the future of these programs?

Bright spots: Dairy Methane, Farmland Conservation and Climate Adaptation & Research

Funding Available to Reduce Dairy Methane Emissions

Historic Vote to Extend California’s Cap-and-Trade Program: Sustainable Agricultural Solutions Advanced

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