With much of the West experiencing drought conditions and California squarely in a second consecutive dry year, Governor Gavin Newson today directed state agencies to take immediate action to bolster drought resilience and prepare for impacts on communities, businesses and ecosystems if dry conditions extend to a third year.

In addition, the Governor proclaimed a regional drought emergency for the Russian River watershed in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, where reservoirs are at record lows following two critically dry years and accelerated action may be needed to protect public health, safety and the environment.

“California is facing the familiar reality of drought conditions, and we know the importance of acting early to anticipate and mitigate the most severe impacts where possible,” Governor Newsom said. “Climate change is intensifying both the frequency and the severity of dry periods. This ‘new normal’ gives urgency to building drought resilience in regions across the state and preparing for what may be a prolonged drought at our doorstep.”

The text of today’s emergency proclamation can be found here.

With an extremely low Lake Mendocino as a backdrop, the Governor today announced that he is directing state agencies to work with regional and local governments – including groundwater sustainability agencies – to identify watersheds, communities, public water systems and ecosystems that may require coordinated state and local actions to address drought impacts and protect people, natural resources and economic activity.

To encourage Californians to reduce water use and conserve supplies in case drought conditions continue next year, the proclamation also directs state agencies to partner with local water suppliers to promote conservation tips and messages through the Save Our Water campaign. The campaign and website were critical resources for Californians during the 2012-2016 drought and remain a trusted information source on using water wisely.

The proclamation directs additional actions to coordinate with California Native American tribes; accelerate funding for water supply enhancement, conservation and species protection projects; work with counties to encourage and track reporting of household water shortages including dry residential wells; provide technical and financial assistance for water systems at risk of water shortages; support the agricultural economy and food security; and evaluate and take action to protect terrestrial and aquatic species.

To address acute drought impacts in the Russian River watershed, the proclamation directs the State Water Board to consider modifying requirements for reservoir releases or diversion limitations to ensure adequate supplies for critical purposes. The regional state of emergency also enables flexibilities in regulatory requirements and procurement processes to mitigate drought impacts.

Under the Governor’s direction, state agencies have been working together since November to prepare for continued dry conditions. The Governor recently formalized that coordination through the Drought Resilience Task Force, which includes the Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Food and Agriculture, Department of Water Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife, State Water Resources Control Board, Department of Finance, Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, California Health and Human Services Agency, California Public Utilities Commission and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

Other recent actions by state agencies to address dry conditions include:

• The state has launched a new drought preparedness website detailing current conditions, the state’s response and informational resources for the public.   
• The State Water Board has identified water suppliers at extreme financial risk that may need additional support due to the combined impacts of COVID and drought.
• The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has updated its Dry Well website that tracks reports of water supply outages.
• DWR has drafted a Drought Contingency Plan that explains how it will manage the State Water Project in a manner that protects fish and wildlife.
• The State Water Board has issued letters to approximately 40,000 water right holders across the state, advising them to plan for potential shortages by closely managing water use.
• Last month, DWR released a report, prepared with extensive stakeholder involvement, that evaluates the water shortage risk of more than 4,000 small water providers.
• Informed by that report, this month the State Water Board completed its first-ever comprehensive look at California water systems that are struggling to provide safe drinking water to communities and how to help them. The assessment identifies both failing water systems and those at risk of failing, offering the most in-depth view of long-term drinking water safety the state has ever had.
• CDFA is coordinating closely with the USDA to provide aid to growers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife is working with California Native American tribes and commercial and recreational salmon representatives to manage impacts to iconic salmon in the basin.

The 2012-2016 drought helped usher in some important water resilience policies that position the state to better handle another drought. These include:

• Enactment in 2014 of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to require and empower local agencies to bring overdrafted groundwater basins into sustainable conditions by 2042.
• Enactment of legislation to establish new standards for indoor, outdoor and industrial use of water.
• Funding for disadvantaged communities lacking access to safe drinking water through the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Act.
• Increase in the frequency of water use reporting.
• Expanded state authority to order failing public water systems to consolidate with better-run systems.
• Tighter landscape efficiency standards for new developments.

USDA News Release

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking comments on a Department-wide effort to improve and reimagine the supply chains for the production, processing and distribution of agricultural commodities and food products. USDA is taking this action in response to Executive Order 14017, America’s Supply Chains, signed by President Biden on Feb. 24, 2021. The request for comments is published today in the Federal Register and the comment period will close on May 21, 2021.

The comments received will help USDA assess the critical factors, risks, and strategies needed to support resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains and ensure U.S. economic prosperity, national security, and nutrition security for all Americans. Such supply chains are needed to address conditions that can reduce critical processing and infrastructure capacity and the availability and integrity of critical goods, products, and services. Identifying food system supply chain-bottlenecks and vulnerabilities also may provide valuable insights into the competitive and fair markets landscape, effects on local and regional producers and processors, and equitable access to food and economic opportunity across diverse communities. USDA will use the comments to prepare a report required by Executive Order 14017.

“We have an opportunity to take the lessons we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and apply those to transforming our nation’s food system from the inside out, including our supply chains,” said Vilsack. “USDA plans to tackle this supply chain assessment holistically – looking across a full range of risks and opportunities. From elevating the importance of local and regional food systems, to addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged and small to mid-size producers, to supporting sustainable practices to advance resilience and competitiveness, this top to bottom assessment will position USDA to make long-term, transformative changes for economic, national, and nutritional security.”

In addition to asking about the agricultural supply chain, USDA is interested in comments about how to target pandemic-related stimulus relief programs and spending authorized by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) toward long term, systemic change that results in food supply chain resiliency. In particular, the request for comment seeks input on—

• bolstering local and regional food systems,
• developing new market opportunities (including for value-added agriculture and products),
• creating fairer and more competitive markets,
• meeting the needs of the agricultural workforce,
• supporting and promoting consumers’ nutrition security, particularly for low-income populations,
• addressing the needs of socially disadvantaged and small to mid-sized producers, and
• advancing efforts in other ways to transform the food system.

USDA is undertaking this effort to strengthen U.S. competitiveness with attention to our farmers, ranchers, producers, food processors, and other important links in the food supply chain. Under Secretary Vilsack’s leadership, USDA is helping to accelerate a transformation of our food system. Goals of this transformation include a fairer, more competitive, and transparent system where a greater share of the food dollar goes to those growing, harvesting, and preparing our food and one that promotes and strengthens the overall health and well-being of people, our land and water, and our economy. Growing consolidation in food and agriculture, the general health of our population, a growing climate crisis, and the need to ensure racial justice and equity are important factors to take into consideration as USDA looks at strengthening food and agricultural supply chains.

Read the report here

Link to Specialty Crop Block Grant Program web page

By Todd Fichette

Pistachios farmed in California, Arizona and New Mexico infused nearly $5.3 billion of combined economic activity across the region, according to a report commissioned by the American Pistachio Growers, a trade association representing the U.S. industry.

Nearly all this economic activity happened in California as most of the production happens there.

The study by Dennis Tootelian, principle of the Tootelian Company and emeritus professor of marketing at California State University, Sacramento, pulled together data from state and federal sources to illustrate the economic impacts of producing an edible nut with a history dating back to biblical times.

In a video of Tootelian produced for APG, he highlighted the vast growth in California production from 2016 to 2020. Bearing acreage during the four-year period increased 56%, or by 132,000 acres. Non-bearing acres (newly planted trees up to seven years old) increased by 41,500.

Growth in acreage, coupled with variety advancements and agronomic practices learned pushed U.S. pistachio production past the 1-billion-pound milestone for the first time with last season’s crop.

Read more on the Western Farm Press web site

The USDA has announced the availability of more than $330 million to help agricultural producers and organizations in the food supply chain recover from the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative launched in March, and it includes $169.9 million for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the availability of $75 million for Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP). This funding will aid in developing new markets for U.S. agricultural products, expand the specialty crop food sector, and promote the purchase of fruits and vegetables by lower-income consumers.

California has been allocated a combined $55.3 million in Farm Bill and COVID-19 relief money. CDFA will continue with its regular process for the 2021 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program . Once a plan has been fully developed to select projects for COVID-19 relief grant funding, that information will be shared.

CDFA’s Office of Farm to Fork is a current GusNIP recipient and will be eligible for additional funding under that program.

Register for event here

Join FAO North America and the Embassy of Denmark in the USA to learn about the challenges and opportunities facing farmers in ushering in a green transition towards more sustainable agriculture and food production.

The foundations of our food systems are being undermined, at least in part, because of the impact of management practices and land-use changes associated with food and agriculture. We are witnessing immense and irreversible biodiversity loss around the world. This alarming trend, combined with rapidly advancing climate change, water scarcity, and the degradation of vital natural resources, underscores the urgent need to transition towards more sustainable agricultural practices.

There is growing consensus that greening agriculture will require new science, as well as new and improved management policies and practices. However, not enough attention is paid to farmers and their enormous capacity to serve as agents of change in leading the shift towards a greener agriculture. This webinar will explore how farmers can and must play a lead role in transforming agricultural practices, highlighting experiences from Denmark and the United States, as well as global perspectives.

Welcome
Vimlendra Sharan, Director, FAO North America

Keynote speakers
Søren Søndergaard, Chairman, Danish Agriculture and Food Council
Karen Ross, Secretary, Department of Food and Agriculture, California

Featured Speakers
Anders Nørgaard, Dairy producer and Vice-Chairman, Holstebro-Struer Landboforening
Derek Azevedo, Bowles Farming Company
Doug Keesling, Keesling Farms & XRG
Zitouni Ould-Dada, Deputy Director, Climate and Environment Division, FAO
Thomas Batchelor, Global VP of Bioagriculture, Novozymes North America
Martien Van Nieuwkoop, Global Director, Agriculture and Food, World Bank

Co-Moderators
Troels Mandel Vensild, Minister Counselor – Food, Ag & Fisheries, Embassy of Denmark
Thomas Pesek, FAO North America

Join the conversation using #GreeningAgriculture

Time – Apr 15, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Time 

Register for event here

Read the report here

Link to CDFA Animal Health web site

CDFA’s Drought Resources web page stands as a valuable tool for farmers and ranchers seeking information about drought assistance programs.

The page features links to the USDA’s Farm Services Agency and contact information for other USDA offices that could be of assistance to farmers and ranchers harmed by the drought.

Information will be added and updated as it becomes available.

By Gosia Wozniacka

Excerpted

Last summer, veteran organic farmer Scott Park was bewildered when he surveyed his vast tomato, corn, and sunflower fields. Before planting the crops on 350 acres he had radically cut down on tilling the soil, planted cover crops twice, and let goats graze the land. And he was sure he’d see excellent yields.

The undisturbed soil was loaded with earthworms, but the crops grew sluggishly and didn’t produce enough fruit. Park lost almost half of his yields—and over half a million dollars.

“We thought we were going to cut a fat hog,” said Park, whose farm lies 50 miles northwest of Sacramento in California’s Central Valley. “But the combination of no-till and grazing kicked me in the teeth.”

Though surprising, the result was part of a critical experiment that Park plans to replicate again—this time, on a smaller plot on his 1,700-acre farm: Because there’s more at stake than his own profit.

Park, who has been farming for 48 years and is well-known for his soil health practices, is one of a small group of innovative organic vegetable producers working with the University of California Cooperative Extension, Cal State Chico’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture and California State University, Fresno to decipher how to farm with little or no tillage—and without chemicals. Similar research is also taking place at U.C. Santa Cruz.

Two growing seasons into the California experiment, Park and other farmers have faced an array of challenges. Some have been economically painful, while others have led to promising results. And yet, if the farmers can get past the hurdles presenting themselves in these early years, their efforts could catalyze a massive shift to reduced tillage—and a new understanding of soil health—in the organic industry in California and nationwide. And because no-till is held up as a central tenent of regenerative agriculture, it could also be seen as a boon for farmers hoping to take part in the carbon markets the Biden administration has put forward in response to climate change.

“When soil transitions to a no-till system, yield reduction is usually a temporary thing,” said Cynthia Daley, a professor at Chico State who is involved in the project. “These farmers see the benefit of going into no-till, but they are trying to find a way to get there that doesn’t result in a negative economic impact in the long run. Their dedication is incredible.”

Read more on the Civil Eats web site