CalCAN hosted our eighth California Climate and Agriculture Summit last week in Davis, with a sold-out crowd of 400 people from around the state. It was a two-day event, starting with a tour of four Yolo County farms (a specific blog on these tours will be coming next week), followed by a day packed with 16 workshop sessions and posters offered by almost 100 presenters. 

 

Highlights and Takeaways from the Summit

The energy was high as people mingled and shared challenges and ideas across diverse perspectives—farmers and ranchers, researchers and students, advocates from many areas, agricultural professionals, and policymakers. During the plenary session, participants were asked to raise their hands if they were attending their first CalCAN Summit. About 40% of attendees raised their hands, highlighting an inspiring expansion in the network involved in climate and agriculture policy, practice, and science.

Overheard at the CalCAN Climate & Agriculture Summit last week:

“I’m always impressed by the diversity of topics and the variety of attendees that come to this event.”

“It always recharges my spirit when I get to connect with like-minded folks doing great work across the state.”

“I have been feeling pessimistic, but coming to this event made me feel hopeful.”

“We all have a stake in a healthy, resilient and regenerative food system and I am heartened that so many brilliant people are working together to make this happen.”

“It was great to see the generations of people coming together to work in this space.”

 

Leadership Awards and Plenary Discussions

The conference on October 30 kicked off with a series of Climate & Agriculture Leadership Awards, recognizing five individuals for their demonstrated leadership and contributions in the field of climate and agriculture science, policy, and practice. A summary of the contributions of the following winners is available here.

 

Policymaker: Assemblymember Lori Wilson

Farmer: Steven Cardoza, Cardoza & Cardoza Farming Co., Co-Owner

Researcher: Devii Rao, UC Cooperative Extension

Technical Assistance: Michael Griffin, Independent Organizer

Special Mention: Dave Runsten, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Water Policy Director; Founding Member of CalCAN

 

Following the awards presentations, we listened to a spirited conversation between CDFA Secretary Karen Ross and Assemblymember Lori Wilson. It was moderated by two of CalCAN’s farmer advisors: Marisa Alcorta (Co-Owner of Terra Firma Farm and Apprenticeship Program Director at the Center for Land-Based Learning, and Steven Cardoza, Co-Owner of Cardoza & Cardoza Farming Co.). The two farmers opened the panel by sharing their recent experiences on the farms regarding climate-related extreme weather events and the devastating impact these events have had on their operations. They then posed some hard questions for the Secretary and Assemblymember:

 

• What are your thoughts about what farmers need to adapt? What is the role of the state government in supporting them? 

• What are your thoughts about where to get enough funding to provide incentives for farmers to use climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices? How can the programs be improved to make them easier to access, especially for smaller farmers without the staff to deal with the bureaucracy?

• When it comes to SGMA (the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act), what are you most concerned about, and what gives you the most hope that small farms will have a chance?

• As a legislator and an agency leader, what ideas do you have for including the perspectives and voices of farmers to help draft policies and implement programs and regulations that address our climate goals and help stabilize our agricultural communities?

 

Asm. Wilson noted that most legislators are not aware enough of the need to prioritize resources for agriculture because they sit down three times a day with enough food to eat and they feel that the food system is more stable than it is. She urged us to keep raising consciousness about the urgency of our work, particularly during the next two years when we have an Assembly Speaker (Robert Rivas) and Senate Pro Tem (Mike McGuire) who both represent rural districts.

Secretary Ross raised up the power of procurement as a driver for climate-smart agriculture, noting the success of the farm-to-school program and medically-supported meals that are becoming more prevalent in the healthcare system. She emphasized how important it is to form healthy eating habits early in life, and Steven made an analogy between human nutrition and the attention he pays on his farm to soil health and plant nutrition.

In response to the call for more funding for agricultural climate programs, Asm. Wilson pointed to Proposition 4, which was approved by voters on November 5, and the funding in it for CSA and other conservation programs. Secretary Ross pointed to the fact that CDFA has distributed almost $1 billion in CSA grants without any increase in their staffing. She noted the importance of funding demonstration projects (like one that Steven implemented), and a growing cadre of technical assistance providers. She said the CDFA is trying to figure out how to offer advance payments so farmers aren’t out of pocket for capital expenses. Asm. Wilson noted the importance of eliminating what she called “carrying costs” for smaller farmers participating in grant programs.

When talking about SGMA implementation, both policymakers acknowledged the fact that many voices have been left out of the process. Secretary Ross hopes that the new small farmer and BIPOC advisory committees that have been launched will help. Asm. Wilson sees an opportunity for the legislature to do better and has been one of the leaders in trying to put in place resources to support small farmers with adjudication resources.

The panel ended with Asm. Wilson describing how she sees her role, which is to facilitate a better quality of life for everyone—however, they define it. She held up the Food and Farm Resilience Coalition as an exemplary model for bringing new voices and stories to the legislature from organizations that haven’t always had the capacity to participate in the legislative process. Asm. Wilson told us that some of her colleagues told her about meeting new organizations and people for the first time, and encouraged us to keep it up. Furthermore, she called on us to keep bringing both hard data and human stories of lived experience to the Capitol.

 

Looking Forward: A Vision for 2045

Brian Shobe, CalCAN’s Policy Director, echoed the theme of storytelling and ended his opening remarks at the Summit by sharing some headlines he hopes to see by the year 2045:

• “The era of fossil fuels in agriculture has passed.”
• “Organic and healthy soils practices the new norm in California.”
• “Groundwater aquifers rising, year-after-year, in the great Central Valley.”
• “Ag census reveals young farmers hopeful and thriving, reversing decades-long-trend.”

In closing, here are the thoughts that I shared at the start of the Summit, inspired by a famous quote by Dr. Martin Luther King:

It is common in advocacy and political circles to talk about power—who has it and who doesn’t, how to get it, how to build it, how to seize it. We do need to amass political power in order to influence policy, which I believe is the only way to achieve widespread systemic change. As a counterbalance to our efforts to build power, it’s also important to keep in mind these words of Dr. King, who said:

“Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

 As we face the inevitable changes, losses, grief and uncertainty ahead, I think it is love that will get us through—love for one another, love of the land and the non-human beings, and love of the children we know and the ones we can only imagine. I hope that as you make your way through the day today, you find inspiration that fuels both your power and your love.

Indeed, the Summit featured a blend of transformative ideas, challenging questions, perplexing obstacles, moments of sadness and concern, along with abundant gratitude, respect, and love.

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Share your Summit feedback & photos! 

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the success of the Summit. If you joined us on the Farm Tours and/or the Summit, please take five minutes to complete our survey—it will help us continue improving and planning for 2026!

Have photos from the event? Share them on the Whova app, where you can also keep connecting with other attendees.