Join CalCAN partners throughout the state to deliver the message to your state Senator and Assemblymember to invest in farmers and ranchers and increase funding for the powerful climate solutions that agriculture can deliver.
Right now, legislators are debating the budget for California’s climate change programs. We know that they pay attention to phone calls from their constituents. Your calls matter.
Farmer and rancher interest in California’s Climate Smart Agriculture programs is growing. With sufficient support, many growers can implement shovel-ready solutions to increase soil carbon sequestration, conserve water, produce compost from livestock and reduce potent methane emissions, and more.
Please call your Assemblymember and Senator today.
Take two minutes to leave a message with their staff in the Capitol. Here’s a sample of what you could say:
“My name is _________ and I am calling from [town/city]. I’m calling to urge the Assemblymember/Senator to support the Governor’s proposed $28 million for Healthy Soils AND increase the following program budgets:
- $40 million for State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program
- $40 million for Alternative Manure Management Program and
- $2 million for on-farm climate adaptation tools
These programs will keep farmers and ranchers on the land while reducing agriculture’s climate change impacts and maintaining a healthy and vibrant food system.”
Click here to find the phone numbers in the Capitol for your Senator and Assemblymember.
Let us know what you hear from the offices you reach. Drop us a line: info@calclimateag.org.
Background
California has a suite of Climate Smart Agriculture programs—funded by the state’s cap-and-trade revenues—that invest in soil health, on-farm water and energy conservation, methane reductions on dairies and farmland conservation.
To date, hundreds of farmers and ranchers across California have benefited from grants totaling more than $300 million through these programs. In addition to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon, these on-farm projects provide many other benefits including:
- Public health benefits, including cleaner air and water
- Increased crop yields and profitability
- Enhanced resilience to climate impacts
Each year, the Governor and legislature negotiate to allocate the state’s cap-and-trade funds. The budget Governor Newsom released this month has some good news and some bad news.
The good news: The Governor proposed $28 million for the Healthy Soils Program, almost double from this year.
The bad news: The Governor included no funding for the popular on-farm water conservation grants program called the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). His budget falls short for the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) that supports dairies in reducing methane emissions by producing compost from manure—he allocated a total of $35 million but those funds would be shared with dairy digester projects and would not come close to meeting farmer demand for the program. Finally, he included no funding for climate adaptation resources.
Please join CalCAN in asking your representatives for the following response to the Governor’s proposal:
- Support Governor Newsom’s proposed $28 million for the Healthy Soils Program
- $40 million for SWEEP
- $40 million for AMMP
- $2 million for on-farm climate adaptation tools
For more background:
- Profiles of farmer and rancher leaders using Climate Smart Agriculture practices
- Fact Sheets: Climate Smart Agriculture Programs
