California Agriculture & Climate Conference

The challenges facing Central Valley farmers keep mounting as water constraints and input costs keep increasing. This conversation among a diverse group of farmers will surface some common problems and creative solutions. They will talk about what they are experiencing and what practices and systems approaches they are trying in order to remain profitable while continually improving as environmental stewards.

California has a program called the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program (ILRP), whose purpose is to limit nitrate pollution in groundwater resulting from overapplication of fertilizer on irrigated cropland, a practice that can also cause nitrous oxide emissions (a potent greenhouse gas). Recently, the state convened a panel of agricultural experts to reevaluate the program. In this workshop, you will hear about their report and proposed program changes to reduce regulatory burdens on farmers and support them in adopting healthy soils practices while improving water quality and decreasing greenhouse gases, as well as other potential changes regarding nitrogen application and discharge limits.

The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is catalyzing significant land use change in the Central Valley. Farmers are looking to remain profitable and save the farm for the next generation. Solar developers are eyeing hundreds of thousands of acres for solar. Local governments are trying to maintain local economies and tax revenues. The public discourse around this land use change often pits farming versus solar. But is there a “both/and” way forward? Join us to learn from California researchers and early adopters experimenting with agrivoltaics and solar grazing systems that integrate cropping and livestock production between or below solar panels.

In 2025, a near-total ban on agricultural burning took effect in the San Joaquin Valley. Meanwhile, state incentive funding to support farmers in adopting alternatives has dwindled. How are farmers—particularly orchard and vineyard managers—adapting? What alternatives are available and cost-effective for different farming systems, scales, and regions? What are some of the benefits and constraints of these alternatives? What other alternatives may be on the horizon? Join us to hear farmers’ and researchers’ perspectives on these questions and to learn more about alternatives, including: chipping and mulching, whole orchard recycling, composting, air curtain burners, biochar, bio-energy, and bio-based products.

Curious about how cover crops are faring in the SGMA era, several years into implementation of California’s groundwater management regulation? Join us for a conversation to understand how Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) are accounting for the benefits of using cover crops in their local planning efforts, and where barriers still remain. You’ll hear an overview of how GSAs are accounting for cover crops, how one GSA is navigating challenges in properly accounting for cover crops, and how modelers are working to improve their models to account for those benefits.

The State Water Resources Control Board is proposing new water quality regulations on dairies that will require dairies to separate, dry, and export significantly more manure off the dairy. Local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are limiting groundwater pumping. The Air Resources Board is considering directly regulating methane on dairies. How might dairies survive this trifecta of regulatory pressures, particularly at a time of low milk prices and continuing consolidation in the industry? Join this session to learn about these pressures, the innovative systems dairy producers are using to adapt to them, and what resources they need to scale these solutions.

The San Joaquin Valley is home to many small and diversified farmers producing a variety of crops for a range of markets. With attention to the unique challenges small and diversified farmers face in the San Joaquin Valley, this session will focus on strategies and resources for coping with climate change and building climate resilience.

Fertilizer prices are once again at record highs and many farmers can’t afford enough fertilizer to meet crop demands. To what extent can compost fill the gap in fertility needs? What do farmers, dairies, and commercial composting facilities need to accelerate the production and use of high-quality, cost-competitive compost in agricultural regions of the state? What are the regulatory, capital, and cultural barriers that need to be overcome? Join on-farm and commercial composters, compost advocates and researchers, and local and state agency representatives at this participatory session with topical breakouts to help inform a new Statewide Compost Strategy, which is being developed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture and CalRecycle.

Improving soil health is a key component of climate resilience—it increases the water-holding capacity of soil, reduces runoff during heavy rains, improves plant health and crop tolerance of pests and diseases, decreases dust, and reduces farm dependence on expensive fossil fuel-based fertilizers. However, using cover crops and compost to boost soil health is complicated in almonds which are traditionally harvested from clean orchard floors. In this session, you will hear from innovators who are figuring out how to integrate soil health practices using off-ground harvesting and other strategies.

The Trump administration has made big changes to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) which administers our federal on-farm conservation incentives programs. Within the first quarter of 2025, 14% of California NRCS staff left or were laid off. Hundreds of millions of dollars that was added by the Biden administration to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) for climate smart agriculture is still there, even though the emphasis on the climate is not. Finally, NRCS is piloting a new Regenerative Agriculture Program. Come to this session to get up to speed, share ideas about how to support our state NRCS staff, and learn how to influence the state’s NRCS funding priorities.

In this interactive networking session, you will have a chance to talk with fellow San Joaquin Valley farmers and technical assistance professionals about regenerative, climate smart, and conservation agriculture. Hear from innovative farmers in the area and share your own experiences and questions around how these practices can benefit your farm, build resilience, and reduce input costs.

While the majority of the food grown in the San Joaquin Valley is exported, there is a growing number of projects focused on the current and future buying power of communities in order to create markets that support local growers and invest in climate smart economic and agricultural innovation. During this interactive networking session, you will have a chance to share your knowledge, collaborate with partners, and learn about local food hubs, and other current and future market initiatives that are supporting the purchasing and scaling of organic, climate smart, and regenerative products.