Below are farmer, rancher and farmworker resources for coping with the several challenges facing our agricultural system today such as drought, heat, wildfire, and mental health.
General Resources
- CalAgroClimate, is an online decision support tool to help farmers make production decisions regarding heat risk, frost risk, pests and crop phenology by integrating historical weather data, forecast information and crop-specific information.
Drought
Below are some resources for coping with the effects of drought for farmers and ranchers.
- The state has a Drought Preparedness website with links to current conditions – including reservoir, snowpack and precipitation summaries. The website also includes current state actions.
- California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Drought Assistance includes updates on state actions and activities as they relate to farmers and ranchers and relevant funding.
- California Water Boards Drought Information & Updates has regional drought information and other resources for Californians.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency – several disaster assistance programs provide funding for producers affected by drought in disaster declared areas.
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) drought assistance website includes steps farmers and ranchers can take to be more resilient in the face of drought, including:
- creating a conservation plan for managing water resources
- finding financial and technical assistance through NRCS
- cultivating healthy soils
Flood
- California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) flood recovery page offers relief and support resources available from state and federal partners to support California’s agriculture community which was affected by heavy rainfall in early 2023. This information is also available in Spanish.
- The Community Alliance for Family Farmers (CAFF) is opening its Emergency Fund to farmers who experienced flood-related losses. Visit their website for more information.
- Kitchen Table Advisors has created a webpage, Crisis Support for Regional Ag Communities, that links to many resources, including GoFundMe pages for affected growers and information on private relief funds, including support offered by Mandela Partners.
- Central Coast Farms Guidance and Resources for Growers to Assess Crop Safety After a Flood
Heat
- The Western Center for Agriculture Health and Safety has resources and educational materials for heat illness prevention, including:
- Prevention and identifying illness visuals in English and Spanish
- California Department of Industrial Relations Heat Illness Prevention webpage
Wildfire
Agricultural Solutions to Wildfire
- Learn more about policy solutions to scale up agricultural solutions to wildfire resilience in our blog series:
Part 1 – controlled burns.
Part 2 – prescribed grazing.
Part 3 – improving access to farms and ranches during wildfire events.
Part 4 – improved working conditions for farmworkers. - CalCAN hosted a webinar series, exploring two solutions in more depth: managed grazing and controlled burns.
- See the below list for resources for farmers and ranchers to prepare for and recover from wildfires. Track active fires, number of incidents year-to-date, acres burned and more on CalFire’s Incident page.
Wildfire Preparedness
- CalFire wildfire preparedness webpage
- Find a helpful checklist and sign up to get texts from CalFire about wildfires in your area here.
- From Cal-OSHA: Guidance for working safely in conditions with smoke caused by the wildfires is available on Cal/OSHA’s web page, including information for protecting outdoor workers .
- UCCE Sonoma: Wildfire Preparation YouTube series
- Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF): Resources for preparation
- Farmer Campus: Farming through Wildfire Season online course and resources
- Farmer Campus also offers self-led Climate Resilience via Agroecology online course
- Learn about why defensible spaces are important and how to create one from FEMA here.
- More on defensible spaces & treating fire and fuels from CalFire.
- Learn about grazing can help mitigate fire fuels here.
- Use Graze to find contract grazers
Wildfire Recovery
- California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA): Wildfire Recovery Resources webpage
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool that helps producers find what disaster assistance programs are available.
- CAFF Resources for disaster recovery includes several educational resources for farms and ranches recovering from the effects of wildfire and helpful tips to navigate federal assistance programs in addition to:
Mental Health
- AgriStress Hotline: 833-897-2474 | Call & text support for Ag Community in 160 languages.
- Farm Aid Hotline: 1-800-FARM AID (1-800-327-6243) | Wide range of resources including crisis support for farmers.
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Dial 988 or 1-800-273-8255 / 1-888-628-9454 (Spanish)
- List of Mental Health Resources by County
- California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Farmer & Farmworker Mental Health Resources
Immigration
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) – Know Your Rights (English), Conozca sus Derechos (Español)
CA Immigrant Policy Center – The Center has a number of resources listed on its website, including legal resources.
Dealing with Immigration Enforcement Agencies: Suggestions and Courses of Action for Ag Employers – Created by the Farm Employers Labor Service, this resource provides information on the constitutional rights for both farmers and farm employees.
Immigration Advocates Network’s National Immigration Legal Services Directory – Search for immigration legal services providers by state, county, or detention facility. Only nonprofit organizations that provide free or low-cost immigration legal services are included in this directory.
Federal Freeze
At CalCAN, we are concerned about the impacts that many Trump administration actions are having on California agriculture and on efforts here and across the country to support producers with resources to make their farms and ranches more environmentally sustainable, more resilient to climate change, and to improve the health of their communities and workers.
In the face of so much uncertainty and chaos, we are launching a monthly “Federal Bulletin” to share what we are reading and tracking. This will not be an exhaustive summary but rather will focus mainly on developments relevant to California at the nexus of agriculture, climate change and social justice. The Bulletin will appear regularly in our monthly newsletter. Additionally, relevant resources will also be added here when available.
