May 15, 2020 update: The Healthy Soils Program application period has now closed with the available $22 million preliminarily awarded. Almost 600 applications were submitted requesting over $37 million in just under three months.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Healthy Soils Program has a record amount of funding available for the current grant cycle: $25.2 million. Applications are due by June 26, 2020.
The Healthy Soils Program offers producers incentives to adopt GHG-reducing soil health practices. The program also funds on-farm demonstration projects.
There are many helpful improvements to this year’s grant cycle, including a streamlined application process with fewer essay questions, a four month rolling application review and award process, and an increased maximum grant amount (now up to $100,000).
You can read more about program changes in our blog post.
Outreach materials and resources:
Please distribute these resources widely among your network to ensure all available grant funding is used:
Yes, organic producers are eligible for Healthy Soils Program grants:
See also our webpage listing of Technical Assistance Providers by region
2020 Healthy Soils Program flyer in color or grayscale version
Resources in Spanish:
2020 Healthy Soils Program flyer
from Santa Cruz Resource Conservation District (RCD)
See also Technical Assistance webpage from from Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)
Social Media
Find and share sample tweets and Facebook posts here. Feel free to use as they are or adapt them to share Healthy Soils Program information among your California farmer and rancher networks.
Healthy Soils Program grants in action
Several Farmer Climate Leaders we have profiled have received Healthy Soils Program grants for a variety of different practices. Robles Farm in Stanislaus County received a Healthy Soils grant to apply compost and plant cover crops and a hedgerow. True Grass Farms in Sonoma County used their Healthy Soils grant to spread compost, establish windbreaks and hedgerows and foster riparian restoration. In Santa Barbara County, grant funding helped Santa Barbara Blueberries and Restoration Oaks Ranch plant native shrubs and trees, spread compost in the ranch and mulch in the blueberry fields.
Check out all the profiles here.
