Technical Assistance & Research

Asistencia técnica

Technical assistance (TA) providers help producers and farmer leaders understand and apply the latest science and best practices, facilitate farmer-to-farmer learning, lead on-farm research and demonstration projects, and assist growers with applications for grants and cost-share programs.

“With valuable help from our technical advisors, we are building healthier soils to grow healthier food for our communities to eat.”

- Miguel Hernandez, Water Master and Agricultural Manager with the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians

Improved delivery of TA to farmers and ranchers, including outreach and education, project design, grant application assistance, and project implementation, ensure that a greater diversity of producers successfully participate in climate and other agriculture conservation programs and increase their impact.

Small and moderately-scaled producers, including many women and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, who cannot afford consultants, are especially in need of greater support to improve their participation in the Climate Smart Agriculture programs.

CalCAN has advocated for over a decade that with sufficient resources and incentives, farmers can deliver unique and powerful solutions to climate change. In 2018, a CalCAN-sponsored bill (Assembly Bill 2377) was signed into law and led to the creation of a Technical Assistance program, administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program

CDFA’s Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance program funds TA providers to support farmers and ranchers in applying for and implementing Agricultura climáticamente inteligente projects. At least 5% of the budgets from the three Climate Smart Agriculture programs administered by CDFA—Healthy Soils Program (HSP), SWEEP, and AMMP—is earmarked specifically for technical assistance grants, including a 25% set-aside for socially disadvantaged farmers. Read more about the CDFA’s Technical Assistance program here.

Water Efficiency Technical Assistance Program (WETA)

Established in 2021, WETA provides TA to farmers and ranchers for on-farm water and energy use efficiency and nutrient management. Grant recipients must prioritize assistance to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and farms and ranches that are 500 acres or less. These funds will support 1) on-farm, one-on-one technical assistance to help farmers evaluate irrigation system efficiency, 2) the coordination or provision of irrigation pump efficiency testing, and 3) farmer training on water use efficiency and nutrient management practices and technology.

Related Bill History

CalCAN sponsored or played a lead role in the following bill.

Assembly Bill 2377

CalCAN sponsored Assembly Bill 2377 which was authored by Assembly member Jacqui Irwin and was signed into law in 2018 a CalCAN-sponsored bill. It established CDFA’s Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program, described above. AB 2377 came about in direct response to the feedback of farmers, ranchers, and folks working with them on the ground who said that in order to scale up the impact of the Climate Smart Agriculture programs, farmers and ranchers needed multi-year comprehensive technical assistance, including outreach, education, and assistance with project design, the application process, implementation, and reporting.

Research & Planning

Research & planning are the foundations for effective, meaningful climate and agriculture policy.

CalCAN tracks all of these climate plans and climate research funding programs and provides input to deliver the perspectives and expertise of sustainable and organic agriculture.

California’s Climate Mitigation Plans

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) produces a Scoping Plan every five years to provide a roadmap for how the state will achieve  its mandated greenhouse gas emissions reductions target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The focus of the Scoping Plan has historically been on tailpipe and urban related emission reduction strategies, but that is changing. Read more about CalCAN’s input on the 2017 Scoping Plan. In 2022, CARB will deliver to its board an updated Scoping Plan, which will describe the state’s path to carbon neutrality by 2045. CalCAN and our partners are engaged with this process and providing comments, research resources and more. If you are interested in learning more about this Scoping Plan update, be sure to sign up for our newsletter y blog. 

In 2018, the state began work on an interagency effort to characterize carbon sequestration opportunities in the state’s natural and working lands. The January 2019 Draft of the California 2030 Natural and Working Lands Climate Change Implementation Plan describes how the state will deepen and expand its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve carbon sinks in agricultural lands, forests, wetlands and open space. Read more about CalCAN’s input on the plan.

California’s Climate Adaptation Plans

Approximately every two years the California Natural Resources Agency updates its Safeguarding California report which guides the work of various state agencies  to protect communities in California from climate change. The most recent climate adaptation plan update was released in January 2018.

The state has completed fourClimate Change Assessments to provide information about expected climate impacts at a regionally-relevant scale.  Find the latest assessment here, released in August 2018. A Statewide Summary Report was released in January of 2019, translating main findings from the fourth climate assessment into actionable information.

In 2013, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) produced “Climate Change Consortium for Specialty Crops: Impacts and Strategies for Resilience”  after a year long process of agricultural trade groups and agricultural experts met with climate scientists. CalCAN participated in the CDFA Roundtable on Climate Change Adaptation for Agriculture.  

Climate Change and Agriculture Research

Much of the state’s climate change and agriculture research was funded by the now-defunct Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program, coordinated by the California Energy Commission. Much of that research was the bedrock for the development of the current Climate Smart Agriculture programs. Today, there is a mix of state funded research programs that include an agricultural focus, but none offer as comprehensive funding strategy to address outstanding climate change and agriculture issues as the former PIER program once did.