Conference Program

8:30 – 10:00 AM     PLENARY SESSION

Welcome

Keynote Speaker: Secretary Karen Ross, California Department of Food andAgriculture

Join CDFA Secretary Karen Ross as she kicks off our conference with a conversation on the innovation and leadership needed to build a more resilient future for California agriculture. Reflecting on her tenure at CDFA, she’ll discuss the progress made, her vision for the future of California agriculture and what gives her hope as farmers navigate increasing climate, economic, and regulatory challenges.

Farmer Panel: Meeting Challenges with Innovation: Valley Farmers Discuss the Economics of Climate Smart Agriculture

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.

Panelists:
Justin Wylie, Wylie Farming
Christine Gemperle, Gemperle Orchards
Lilian Thaoxaochay, GT Florists & Herbs
Moderated by Renata Brillinger, CalCAN Executive Director

10:00 – 10:30 AM     BREAK

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM     WORKSHOPS

Alternatives to Agricultural Burning: What’s Working and What’s Needed

In 2025, a near-total ban on agricultural burning took effect in the San Joaquin Valley to improve air quality. 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.

Speakers:
Stephanie Bolton, Grower Research & Education Director, Lodi Winegrape Commission
Christine Gemperle, Almond Farmer, Gemperle Orchards
Brent Holtz, UC Orchard Systems Farm Advisor, UC, Agriculture and Natural Resources
Cynthia Ni, Director of Innovation Programs, BEAM Circular
Moderated by Gabriele Ludwig, Director, Environmental Policy, Almond Board of California

Working with your GSA to Support Cover Crops: Strategies from Valley Farmers

Spanish interpretation available

Interested in learning how to work with your GSA to understand and incorporate the benefits of cover crops? Come and learn from farmers and scientists who are working with GSAs to properly account cover crop use and ensure growers are not unfairly penalized for this beneficial practice.

Speakers:
Justin Wylie, Wylie Farming
Wes Sperry, Owner/ Partner, Sperry Farms
Jimi J Valov, Farmer (3rd gen), Valov Brothers Farms
Moderated by Sara Rosenberg, Regenerative Agriculture Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension

Agrivoltaics: A “Both/And” Solution to the Farmland vs Solar Conflict?

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.

Speakers:
Ryan Indart, President & CEO, Indart Solar Sheep Grazing
Majdi Abou Najm, Professor of Soil Biophysics, UC Davis
Sarah Kurtz, Professor, UC Merced
Moderated by Jenny Lester Moffitt, Vice President, American Farmland Trust

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM     NETWORKING SESSIONS

It Takes a Village: Farmer and Farm Advisor Networks

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. Network with these organizations:

Asian Business Institute and Resource Center
Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts
California FarmLink
F3
Kitchen Table Advisors
Madera-Chowchilla Resource Conservation District
Sierra Resource Conservation District
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
UC ANR Climate Smart Ag Team

The Power of the Purse: Local Markets for Organic and Climate Smart Products

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. Network with these organizations:

Agriculture Platform Collective, Office of Kat Taylor
Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)
CDFA Office of Farm to Fork
Central California Food Bank
F3 local
Fresno BIPOC
Sweet Valley Produce

Moderated by Ellee Igoe, Director of Operations, Foodshed Cooperative/San Diego Food Hub.

12:00 – 1:30 PMLUNCH

1:30 – 2:45 PM     WORKSHOPS

Managing Almond Production to Optimize Climate Resilience

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.

Speakers:
Andrew Carroll, Grower, EcoThrive Farm Management
Tanya Gemperle, Sustainability Manager, Gemperle Family Farms
Kirk Pumphrey, President, Westwind Farms Inc.
Moderated by Amélie Gaudin, Professor of Agroecology, UC Davis

How Can Dairies Survive New Water Quality, Groundwater, and Methane Regulations?

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, and the resources they need to scale these win-win solutions for dairies, communities, and achieving water and air quality goals.

Speakers:
Joaquin Contente, Contente & Co. Dairy
Paul Sousa, Director of Regulatory & Environmental Affairs, Western United Dairies
Lisandra Vitorino, California Dairy Campaign
Moderated by Colton Fagundes, Associate Policy Director, CalCAN

Climate Resilience Strategies for Small and Diversified Farmers

Spanish interpretation available

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.

Speakers:
Rebekka Siemens, Farmer, Gonzales Siemens Family Farm
Manpreet Singh, Technology and Innovation for Small Farms Advisor, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
Jessie Kanter, Agriculture and Rangeland Program Manager, Sierra Resource Conservation District
Moderated by Lilian Thaoxaochay, Disaster Resiliency, Planning, and Policy Advisor, UC ANR

Exploring Rangeland Restoration on Water-Limited Farmland

This session explores rangeland restoration and livestock integration in water-limited areas of the San Joaquin Valley. Learn about the conservation partnerships and funding resources supporting current projects converting retired irrigated cropland to non-irrigated rangeland. Hear how virtual fencing technologies are transforming how ranchers graze for conservation while lowering costs. Discuss the challenges and opportunities surrounding rangeland restoration in the San Joaquin Valley with ranchers, researchers, and policy experts.

Speakers:
Caity Peterson, Associate Director and Research Fellow, PPIC Water Policy Center
H. Scott Butterfield, Land Program Lead Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
Reyn Akiona, Executive Director, Valley Eco
Moderated by Nick Reed-Krase, Executive Director, Tule Basin Land & Water Conservation Trust

2:45 – 3:15 PMBREAK

3:15 – 4:30 PM     WORKSHOPS

Managing for Water Quality, Climate Benefits, and Farm Viability on Irrigated Croplands

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.

Speakers:
Steve Fukagawa, Farmer, Fukagawa Farms
Ken Miller, Soil Scientist and Agronomist, Formation Environmental
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, UC SAREP Interim Director, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR)
Modibo Keita, Project & Policy Associate, Sustainable Conservation
Moderated by Anna Larson, Associate Policy Director, CalCAN

Scaling Up Compost Use to Reduce Fertilizer Costs

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.

Speakers:
Rebecca Ryals, UC Merced
Ryan Flaherty, Senior Director, Circular Economies, Sustainable Conservation
Jerry DaSilva, DaSilva Dairy
Co-moderated by:
Dr. Tawny Mata, Director, Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability, CDFA
Cara Morgan, Deputy Director, CalRecycle

NRCS​: Updates on the Regenerative Ag Program and More

Spanish interpretation available

California’s Healthy Soils, SWEEP and AMMP manure management programs are all very popular with producers, yet chronically underfunded. At the same time, there is more money than ever available in the agriculture conservation programs under the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and there is a lot of overlap in what practices and systems can be funded through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). In addition, 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 you can have a say in the state’s NRCS funding priorities.

Speakers:
Erwin Dueñas, NRCS-Fresno District Conservationist, USDA-NRCS
Brandon Bates, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations, USDA-NRCS
Daya Deepak Singh, Farmer, NRCS-TSP, Punjabi American Growers Group (PAGG)
Moderator & Speaker: Nancy Wahl-Scheurich, Executive Director, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD)