Galt farmer Pete Spaletta (L) with Ravneet Behla and Kayla Ungar of CDFA.
The net benefits of composting and cover cropping were underscored as part of a Healthy Soils Week farm tour, as members of CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI) and CalRecycle visited Spaletta Farm this week in Galt, California. The farm is a 65-acre property that produces walnuts and grapes.
“In the long-run, (composting) is good for the soil; there are savings in not needing as much fertilizer; it’s good for the plants; it’s good for the environment,” said farmer Pete Spaletta. “That we can utilize the waste materials and put it back in the soil – there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Indeed, composting and cover cropping are practices encouraged within the Healthy Soils Program for several co-benefits, including establishing pollinator habitats, reducing soil compaction, improving water infiltration, and preventing soil erosion, and water runoff. Soil erosion and water runoff are especially important for farms that are next to bodies of water, like Spaletta’s farm located near the Mokelumne River.
Established in 2016, the Healthy Soils Program stems from a multi-agency collaboration led by CDFA under the Healthy Soils Initiative. The objectives of the HSP are to increase statewide implementation of conservation management practices that improve soil health, increase carbon sequestration, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These objectives are achieved by providing financial incentives to California growers and ranchers to implement the practices.
Spaletta Farm is a 2020 Healthy Soils Program awardee. The project applies compost and mixed species cover crops once a year for three years, and annual soil samples are taken to evaluate success. These practices are expected to save more than 300 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent every year.
The Healthy Soils Program has awarded more than $100 million to more than 1,500 projects. The program is currently working on details for an additional $85 million that was allocated in the fiscal year 2022.
As CDFA and its partners continue to observe Healthy Soils Week (through Friday), CDFA would like to emphasize that practices that boost organic matter in soil increase water-holding capacity in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These practices are valuable tools for drought and climate change. Read more here: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross kicked off the events of Healthy Soils Week by hosting a webinar to emphasize the importance and the impact of belowground biodiversity on soil health.
Secretary Ross introduced attendees to the Belowground Biodiversity Advisory Committee (BBAC) and highlighted the progress the committee has made over the past five months. The Secretary facilitated the panel discussion with Deputy Director for Climate and Ecosystem Sciences at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Dr. Eoin Brodie. Secretary Ross and Dr. Brodie were joined by panelists Dr. Jeniffer Pett-Ridge from the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Dr. Amanda Hodson of the University of California’s Jackson Soil and Root Ecology Lab, and Dr. Daniel Rath of the UC Davis Scow Soil Microbial Ecology Lab. The panelists answered questions from Secretary Ross and participated in a Q&A with the public.
Healthy soil practices improve soil water holding capacity, infiltration, and water availability and quality while reducing soil erosion, runoff, and dust. Soil health is central to food productivity and climate change resiliency. Secretary Ross acknowledged the soil underneath our feet being a living and breathing ecosystem that is vibrant and diverse.
CDFA created the BBAC to better understand how soil biodiversity may impact soil health. The committee is charged with preparing a report with recommendations on biodiversity indicators as a proxy of soil health and ecosystem functions. The committee is expected to present their final report and recommendation by March 2023. The report will inform the policies on nature-based solutions for Natural and Working Lands and further the state’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.
The committee is made up of world-renowned scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Stanford University, Colorado State University, University of California, and U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service.
To find out more about CDFA’s Healthy Soils Week and a full list of participating organizations, be sure to visit the Healthy Soils Week webpage.
WATCH: Full-length recording of the Healthy Soils Week BBAC Webinar
Today is the UN’s World Soil Day, and CDFA is joining California partners in observing Healthy Soils Week through Friday. In this video, Secretary Karen Ross discusses the many benefits of improving the health and resilience of our soils.
California Healthy Soils Week 2022 will kick off December 5 with United Nations’ World Soil Day. CDFA and Agriculture and partner organizations from across the state will host a series of events highlighting soil health and biodiversity. CDFA Secretary Karen Ross will provide opening remarks via video on Dec. 5.
This year’s theme is “Stronger Soils: Biodiversity Below the Surface Builds Soil Resilience,” which highlights the importance of soil health across farms, ranches, urban landscaping, and home and community gardens.
A number of agencies and organizations are joining CDFA for the weeklong event. There will be webinars, live streams, panel discussions, and at-home how-to activities. Healthy Soils Week partners will be posting, tweeting, and sharing on social media throughout the week to reach as many people as possible with information about building soil health and fostering climate resilience.
Among the many benefits of soil health practices are the following:
Improved plant health and yields;
Increased water infiltration and retention;
Sequestered carbon and reduced greenhouse gases (GHGs);
Reduced sediment erosion and dust;
Improved water and air quality; and
Improved biological diversity and wildlife habitat.
Visit the Healthy Soils Week website to see the full lineup of events and partners. To follow along on social media, watch for and use the hashtags #SoilHealth and #HSW2022.
At today’s signing — from right, CDFA Secretary Karen Ross, UC ANR Vice-President Glenda Humiston, NRCS California State Conservationist Carlos Suarez, and CARCD board president Don Butz.
Secretary Karen Ross participated in an a signing ceremony today committing CDFA to an agreement with partners including the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), and the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD).
A memorandum of agreement binds the parties together as the California Conservation Planning Partnership. The signatories will work together to streamline their services when assisting land managers like farmers, ranchers, and foresters who are implementing conservation and climate-smart agriculture practices on their lands.
While these organizations have worked together for many decades, there is significant coordination required to ensure they are providing services to historically underserved farmers and ranchers; offering coordinated advice about on-farm practices; and working to provide on-the-ground technical assistance providers with the resources they need to rapidly scale up climate-smart practices to address climate change.
The partners will provide joint trainings and materials, work to address barriers to the adoption of practices, and collaborate to better disseminate the latest research to technical assistance providers. Follow-up workshops will be held in January and March.
(Left) CDFA Secretary Karen Ross with Assistant Vice Minister Guido Landheer, NL Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; (Right) Participants in the Netherlands – California Sustainable Dairy Summit
California and the Netherlands continue their longstanding partnership on Climate Smart Agriculture, first established in 2015 with a visit by CDFA Secretary Karen Ross to the Netherlands. The two governments share opportunities for innovation within the food sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance a circular agricultural economy, and further on-farm practices for sustainability.
The Netherlands-California Sustainable Dairy Summit this week in Sacramento connected government, business and academia around policy and research priorities related to dairy farming and a sustainable dairy sector. CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI) was one of the key presenters at the event, sharing information about manure management programs at the agency.
Citrus is a way of life for our state! California leads the nation in tons and value of citrus production., and the US is also among the top-five citrus producers in the world. Of course, citrus depends on responsible water stewardship, and many California growers use advanced technology with soil moisture monitors and micro-sprinklers to water their trees. Read more about the water efficiency of California commodities at the California Farm Water Coalition web site.
More than a quarter of the world’s biodiversity lives belowground, in our soils. And about a third of the biodiversity in the United States is right here in California.
California farmers and ranchers understand the fundamental importance of the soil that is the foundation of their work – and scientists are working to help all of us understand it even better. Join a panel of experts on Monday, December 5 for a free webinar: Building Belowground Biodiversity.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture is working alongside our growers to improve soil health, in part by convening the Belowground Biodiversity Advisory Committee, made up of world-renowned scientists, to generate recommendations on biodiversity indicators as a proxy of soil health and ecosystem functions. Four of our committee members make up our webinar panel for this special Healthy Soils Week event. Presenters will also share some of the work they have completed.
Click here to register for “Building Belowground Biodiversity” scheduled for World Soil Day, Monday December 5, at 10 am.
The importance of biodiversity and healthy soils is memorialized in Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-82-20, which directs the California Department of Food and Agriculture and partner agencies to work to support our biodiverse natural ecosystems, including our soils.
