CalCAN: Celebrating 15 Years of Impact

In early 2009, a group of passionate advocates for organic and sustainable agriculture joined forces to establish CalCAN, the California Climate and Agriculture Network. Our mission was clear: to be a unified and constructive voice in California’s policy discussions on curbing climate change through agriculture.

Fifteen years later, our commitment remains unwavering with an even greater sense of urgency to take action.

Farmers face unprecedented challenges with increasingly unpredictable weather leading to water scarcity, extreme heat, floods, wildfires and more.
Climate-related crop losses are on the rise, driving up food prices and contributing to an increase in food insecurity and hunger.
Structural discriminatory barriers continue to exacerbate the challenges for farmers of color.
Farmworkers are increasingly exposed to unhealthy air quality and face the reality of working through more dangerously hot conditions.

CalCAN advances state and federal policies that catalyze the powerful climate solutions offered by sustainable and organic agriculture. We work with and on behalf of farmers and rural communities to put in place incentives and technical support so they can deliver climate solutions that make good business sense and that improve air and water quality and the health of farmworkers and rural communities, increase biodiversity, and reduce dependence on fossil fuel-based chemicals.

We’ve seen that with the right resources, incentives and technical support, farmers can adopt practices that mitigate climate change and enhance resiliency and improve soil health, air and water quality, and working conditions.

What Happened Over the Last 15 Years?

Thanks to our dedicated supporters and in collaboration with many partners, CalCAN has achieved remarkable milestones over the past 15 years. Here are our “Top 15” successes:

Sponsored the first bills in the California legislature calling for investments in agricultural climate solutions, all introduced by Senator Lois Wolk (2010-2014)
Championed a bill that launched the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) to reduce dairy methane and the Healthy Soils Program (2016)
Led a bill (SB 489, Wolk) which created a new program called Net Energy Metering Aggregation (NEMA) to make it easier and cheaper for farmers to install renewable energy projects (2011-2012)
Released a report called Triple Harvest: Farmland Conservation for Climate Protection, Smart Growth and Food Security, laying the groundwork for the launch of the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program that helps fund permanent easements on farmland to limit urban sprawl (2013-2015)
Led a successful effort to pass SB 732 (Stern) which created a new agricultural conservation planning grant program for local governments (2017)
Sponsored AB 2377 (Irwin) which set up a technical assistance funding source for farmers and ranchers applying to the Climate Smart Agriculture programs (2018)
Launched the National Healthy Soils Policy Network to share lessons learned in California and support sustainable agriculture organizations in now 27 states to advance healthy soils policy (2018)
Partnered with other natural and working lands advocates to pass AB 1757 (C. Garcia) which will establish statewide targets for carbon sequestration and develop methods for tracking GHG emissions and carbon sequestration (2022)
Represented agriculture in all of the state’s climate planning processes, including the most recent Scoping Plan Update (the roadmap for achieving California’s climate goals) that included targets for agriculture for the first time (2022)
Organized partners to be a consistent and loud voice for state investments in California’s healthy soils, water conservation, dairy methane reduction, and farmland conservation programs, approaching $1 billion to date (2023)
Collaborated with dairy industry partners to introduce a bipartisan federal bill called the Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS) Act, replicating California’s popular and successful AMMP program that reduces methane emissions on dairies and produces compost (2023)
Released an ambitious set of recommendations for moving towards climate resilience in 2030 and beyond in CalCAN’s Climate Platform for California Agriculture (2023)
Grew from an original staff of 1.5 to 8—including one staff member in Massachusetts and another in Ohio who are leading our National Healthy Soils Policy Network
Expanded our network to over 5,000 producers, researchers, all kinds of organizations, agriculture professionals, and others who stand with us as advisors, advocates, models, and partners
We will host our 8th California Climate and Agriculture Summit in October 29 and 30th, bringing together thought leaders from around the state to discuss science, policy, and practice — we hope you’ll join us!

Looking Ahead

As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, we invite you to be part of our network going forward. Whether it’s sharing our newsletter with colleagues, engaging on our social media posts, or attending our 8th Summit in October—your support makes a difference!

As we celebrate this milestone, we invite you to consider donating to help drive our next 15 years of impact. Your support will help us continue pushing for policies and programs that benefit farmers, communities, and the environment.

Together, we can build a more resilient and sustainable future for California’s agriculture.

Donate to CalCAN