california agriculture

What is Carbon Farming?

Carbon farming refers to a wide range of agricultural practices that increase carbon sequestration in soil, vegetation, and forests. Conventional agricultural practices often release carbon, but traditional farming practices, permaculture, agroecology, regenerative, and organic farming practices can instead create carbon sinks. As plants photosynthesize, they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store carbon above ground and below ground (in roots) as biomass throughout their lifetime. Dead organic matter can store carbon in the soil for several decades. Carbon farming practices also sequester other potent greenhouse gasses such as methane and nitrous oxide which further helps mitigate climate change. 

Examples of carbon farming practices include using mulch, compost, and perennial crops in agricultural fields. As California ramps up its composting in response to goals set by 2016’s food waste bill SB-1383, using compost on farmland could have even more benefits. In addition to potentially increasing the carbon sequestered in soils, diverting compost to agriculture would also put all the extra compost to use. But many farmers are wary of using the new compost on their land, UC Staff Researcher Cole Smith told Civil Eats in 2022. Climate Break guest Ian Howell says building collaborative and voluntary carbon farming plans with farmers and ranchers can help overcome their hesitation.

Carbon farming goes beyond compost, and can encompass a variety of practices, many of which also offer water quality and productivity benefits. Returning leftover biomass after harvest to the soil instead of burning or disposing of the material also increases carbon sequestration. Replacing traditional tillage practices with conservation tillage or no-till farming can help reduce soil erosion. Planting cover crops in the off-season instead of leaving crop lands bare, and rotating crops and growing diverse crop rotations instead of monocultures all support soil health and carbon sequestration. 

Carbon Farming in California

The U.S. EPA reports that the agriculture sector accounts for 11% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and land use and forestry account for 13%. In California the Healthy Soils Program pays farmers and ranchers to adopt policies that better sequester carbon, improve soil health, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The initiative began in 2017 and is funded by California Climate Investments (CCI) cap and trade program. The Healthy Soils Program has received $40.5 million from CCI which has helped fund over 600 projects across the state. Many Resource Conservation Districts – like the Alameda County Resource Conservation District – also offer carbon farming programs, working with farmers and offering grants for more sustainable land management practices. 

Future of Carbon Farming: 

Despite increased research and funding to support carbon farming, implementing these practices on a global scale still faces roadblocks. However, countries across the world have shown support for carbon farming as at the 2015 Paris Agreement 100 nations signed the French “4 per mille” initiative. The “4 per mille” initiative calls for a 0.4% increase each year in carbon soil sequestration, which will stop annual increases of carbon into the atmosphere. In September, 2022 California passed AB 1757 (Garcia and Rivera) which requires state agencies to set targets for natural carbon sequestration and emission reduction on natural and working lands by 2024. AB 1757 therefore supports California's carbon neutrality goals and can boost carbon removal through natural climate solutions like carbon farming.

Ian Howell has supported voluntary restoration and enhancement projects at the Alameda County Resource Conservation District for over five years as a resource conservationist. He has managed several grant-funded programs including Alameda Creek Healthy Watersheds, Rangeland Resilience, and Carbon Farming. Ian also coordinates the Alameda Creek Watershed Forum and collaborates with public agency partners and private agricultural producers on land management topics. He received a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012.

Sources:

• Alameda County Resource Conservation District: Carbon Farming Factsheet
• EPA: Trends in Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Agriculture.
• Bill Text: AB-1757 California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: climate goal: natural and working lands
• The Climate Center: AB-1757 Explainer
• CA Department of Food and Agriculture: Healthy Soils Program
• EPA: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks
• PNAS: Soil carbon sequestration is an elusive climate mitigation tool
• UC Davis: Biological Carbon Sequestration.
• Green America: What is Carbon Farming?

For a transcript, please visit https://climatebreak.org/collaborating-with-farmers-on-climate-friendly-practices-with-alameda-county-resource-conservation-district/

Proposition 12 in California continues to be a top-of-the-mind issue for pork producers across the nation. A ruling by the US Supreme Court on Prop 12 is expected by no later than this June. Under Prop 12, producers in California would be required to comply with the new space requirements even if their pigs are not being raised in California. The industry is hopeful the court will rule in its favor, putting care decisions back into the hands of those that know what’s best, including that of the producer, their veterinarian and their state last-grant university.

Lauren Davis, Chief Operating Officer and director of global operations for CloverLeaf Animal Welfare Systems, joins us  to discuss Prop 12 from the standpoint of audits and certification.  Davis holds a bachelor's degree in animal science from Kansas State University and has worked with two of the largest protein harvest companies in the world, serving in various roles from food safety to animal welfare manager and livestock operations. She also has served on the animal welfare committee for national organizations and holds several certifications in training and auditing. 

The President and CEO of CloverLeaf is Jason McAlister,  one of the world's leading experts on meat animal welfare from the beginning to harvest. He has been in the industry since the early '90s, working in all areas of production from his start in a small mom and pop shop in rural Iowa. He founded CloverLeaf on the belief that animal welfare should be based on science and what the science shows is best for the animal.

For those wanting more information on CloverLeaf and Prop 12 certification, the company will be hosting a webinar on Feb 28 at 2:00 PM Central Time on the topic of its Animal Welfare Systems  Prop 12 pre evaluation  and certification. To register:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Owv5AM9-Ql2VmLNZ13doVQ

Thank you for tuning into Feedstuffs in Focus. For more conversations about some of the big issues affecting the livestock, poultry, grain and animal feed industries, subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast channel including Apple and Google podcast. You can also follow us www.Feedstuffs.com.

My guest Dr. Rosemary Ku is the Chief Medical Officer of UnitedAg.

Rosemary is a practicing physician with dual-board certification in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine. She majored in Molecular Biology with a Certificate in Neuroscience at Princeton University and went on to obtain her MD/MBA from Columbia University and Masters in Public Health in Health Policy and Management from UC Berkeley. Rosemary joined the UnitedAg team as Chief Medical Officer in 2019.

My conversation with Dr. Ku brings out the ethos of UnitedAg. Dr. Ku reminds us that the story of human connectedness is not just a one to one relationship with a member but a relationship with the entire community.  We also talk about the impact  of long term thinking on the overall healthcare cost, and much more. Please enjoy our conversation. 

This episode is sponsored by UnitedAg,  one of the largest association health plans to offer healthcare to the agriculture industry of California and Arizona.  

Kirti Mutatkar, President and CEO of UnitedAg. Reach me kmutatkar@unitedag.org, www.linkedin.com/in/kirtimutatkar

UnitedAg's website - www.unitedag.org

The episode is also sponsored by 

Brent Eastman Insurance Services Inc. - https://brenteastman.com/

Blue Shield of California - https://www.blueshieldca.com/

Elite Medical - https://www.elitecorpmed.com/

Gallagher - https://www.ajg.com/

SAIN Medical - https://sainmedical.com/

A combination of hot temperatures, dry conditions and poor forest management practices have resulted in another year of devastating losses for farmers and ranchers in the West. Wildfires have already burned through millions of acres and continue to rage, with rains not expected for weeks. Smoke alone has caused substantial crop and soil damage as well as respiratory issues for livestock. 

In this episode of Feedstuffs in Focus, Feedstuffs editor Sarah Muirhead talks with Jamie Johansson, president of the California Farm Bureau Federation, about the losses for agriculture to date, mandatory evacuation from his family’s olive and citrus operation and what’s being pushed at state and federal levels to reduce wildfire risk and support those hard hit. As Johansson explains it will not be an easy fix but rather one that will take a near total mindset shift and generations of change.

This episode of Feedstuffs In Focus  is sponsored by Hog Slat and Georgia Poultry. New for 2020, the Classic Pullet feed pan. Built to handle the most aggressive birds, the Classic Pullet features an anti-rotation clip, feed shut-off slide, and a shallow divided pan. Learn more at HogSlat.com.

For more information on this and other stories, visit  Feedstuffs online.

Follow Feedstuffs on Twitter @Feedstuffs, or join the conversation via Facebook.   

JULIE GUTHMAN talks about strawberries, soil fumigants, pathogenic fungi, farmers, and scientists — a dynamic more-than-human assemblage that has remade California agriculture. Her rigorous and expansive study warns against the technoscientific fix, as well as the challenges of acknowledging that there is no easy way out.

Guthman is a geographer and social scientist who has written extensively about California farms. She is professor of Social Sciences at University of California Santa Cruz and a Guggenheim fellow.