From a USDA news release

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced is awarding $25 million to conservation partners across the country for 18 new projects under the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials program.

On-Farm Trials projects support widespread adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation approaches in partnership with agricultural producers. This year’s awarded projects increase the adoption of new approaches and technologies to help agricultural producers mitigate the effects of climate change, increase the resilience of their operations and boost soil health.

“Farmers, ranchers and forest landowners play a crucial role in charting the course towards a climate-smart future,” said Terry Cosby, Chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). “On-Farm Trials enable partners to work with producers to test and adopt new climate-smart systems on their operations that support agricultural production and conserve natural resources, while also building climate resilience.”

Awarded Projects:

• Climate-smart Irrigation for Drought, Fertility, and Structural Resilience in Almond Systems (California) University of California, Davis will incentivize almond growers to adopt deep root irrigation, pressure compensated subsurface drip irrigation and Hybrid Pb.
• Decision Support System for Irrigation with Limited Water (California, Oregon) Irrigation for the Future will demonstrate an advanced decision support system designed to calculate the productivity of water and optimize the economics of irrigation management field-by-field.
• Regional LoRa Networks to Improve High Elevation Flood Irrigation Water Management (Colorado) Trout Unlimited will work within Colorado’s Gunnison River and Rio Grande basins, working with eight producers to deploy the use of Long-Range Low Power Area Networks (LoRa) to improve wild flood and furrow irrigation water management on irrigated mountain valleys above 5,500 feet elevation.
• Converting Wasteful, Flood-Irrigated Fields to Low-Cost, Gravity-Powered Drip Irrigation with Decision-Support Technology: A Water-Smart, Enhanced Crop Yield Agriculture Solution for Colorado River Indian Tribes and Other Producers (Arizona) N-Drip will work with approximately 20 producers of the Colorado River Indian Tribes to implement a drip irrigation system on flood irrigated fields.
• Beyond Yield: A Comprehensive Evaluation of Enhanced Efficiency Fertilizers for Reducing Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Ammonia Volatilization in Corn Systems (North Carolina) North Carolina State University will provide critical information on the efficacy of reducing nitrogen and using inhibitors on emissions and corn yield in the low soil carbon, hot and humid conditions of the southeast.
• Trialing Dietary Interventions to Mitigate Enteric Methane Emissions in Dairy Cattle (Michigan, Wisconsin) The Nature Conservancy will evaluate different dairy feed management strategies, including emerging feed additives. The goal of the project is to better inform greenhouse gas mitigation strategies for cattle, NRCS programs and the development of protocols for measuring enteric emissions.
• Regenerative Egg Farming Project (Kentucky) Handsome Brook Farm will support five beginning farmers in adopting climate-smart regenerative egg practices. This on-farm trial will establish on-farm manure management, storage and distribution systems designed to reduce GHG emissions, and reduce on-farm soil erosion and drastically reduce watershed pollution through pasture enhancements and investments in housing infrastructure.
• Stacking Climate-Smart Agriculture and Pollinator Conservation to Leverage Market-Based Incentives (California, Maine, Montana, Oregon, Washington) Xerces Society will demonstrate, evaluate, and quantify conservation practices designed to maximize the dual goals of climate-smart agriculture and pollinator conservation at the farm level
• Reimagining Modern Crop Fields: Delivering Economic, Environmental, and Societal Benefits through Increased Adoption of Precision Conservation (Iowa, Minnesota) Pheasants Forever will explore a financial assistance model that promotes the adoption of precision agriculture and precision conservation strategies and tools on a farm-wide scale to identify opportunities for conservation and inform decision-making.
• Inland Northwest Farmers Leading Our United Revolution in Soil Health (FLOURISH) (Washington, Idaho, Oregon) Palouse Conservation District will work with crop producers of the inland Pacific Northwest to demonstrate farming practices that build soil health and increase the resilience of dryland cropping systems. The overall goal of this project is to support widespread adoption of soil health management systems −specifically cover cropping, interseeding and cover crop-livestock integration.
• Addressing Barriers for Historically Underserved Producers in California’s San Joaquin Valley to Implement Combined Soil Health Practices through Participatory Planning and Evaluation on Diversified Farms (California) The Regents of the University of California will address barriers faced by small-scale historically underserved producers to adopt soil health practices and systems. The project will build flexibility for producers to adapt practices to the unique circumstances of their operations and to test the performance of various practice combinations.
• Bale Grazing: A Practical, Low-Cost, and Environmentally-Sound Management Strategy to Winter Beef Cattle (Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, Virginia, West Virginia) The University of Kentucky Research Foundation will increase adoption of bale grazing to improve winter feed management for beef cattle farmers by demonstrating the practical, economic and ecological benefits of this strategy.
• Utah Soil Health Partnership: Utah Soil Health Network (Utah) Many of Utah’s dryland producers still practice summer fallow with frequent full width tillage through the fallow period. The Utah Association of Conservation Districts will increase the adoption of soil health practices in Utah with this on-farm trial focused on diverse farming systems.
• Grazing for Soil Health (Montana) Piikani Lodge Health Institute will work with Tribal Nations to support greater adoption and implementation of regenerative grazing practices on rangelands and irrigated pastures.
• Diversifying Appalachia’s Pastures to Improve Soil Health (West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania) WVU Research Corporation will promote and evaluate pasture diversification through reseeding as an innovative conservation strategy.
• A Colorado Soil Health Program: Supporting Producers and Conservation Districts to Improve Drought Resilience and Water Utilization (Colorado) The Colorado Department of Agriculture will encourage the widespread adoption of soil health practices to achieve water quality, water conservation and on-farm economic benefits.
• Promoting Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices Among Underserved Small-Scale farmers in Arizona using Farmer Participatory Research (Arizona) This on-farm demonstration trial will promote climate-smart and soil health agricultural practices among small-scale farmers. The University of Arizona and collaborating farmers will use farmer participatory research to promote climate-smart agricultural and soil health management systems.
• From Farmers to Soil Health Managers – Participatory Design of On-Farm Trials to Stimulate Adoption of Innovative Conservation Techniques by Historically Underserved Farmers in the Puget Sound Region (Washington) Grow Food will engage historically underserved farmers to conduct trials of innovative Soil Health Management Systems techniques and demonstrate the benefits of adoption through environmental, social and economic evaluation of the on-farm trials.

For details on the awarded projects, visit the NRCS website.

With COP26 concluding today, Secretary Ross appeared on the Farm to Table Talk podcast to share her thoughts from her trip to Scotland, and the challenges and opportunities ahead with respect to climate change, telling host Rodger Wasson, “It’s not going to be one state, or one country, or one sector. It’s going to take all of us working together, and I’ve seen more collaboration than I’ve ever seen in my very long career. And I feel optimistic because people are focused on implementation…How do we transition to carbon neutrality?”

Listen in for more

CDFA secretary Karen Ross (second from left in photo) joined in the applause last week following the ribbon cutting for the first fuel cell dairy digester project in the nation at Bar 20 Dairy in Fresno County.

Methane from the digester — produced by California Bioenergy in partnership with Bloom Energy — will be used to generate renewable electricity to power BMW electric vehicles. Carbon emission reductions due to the digester are the equivalent of providing renewable energy to 17,000 electric vehicles each year.

The project is an example of innovation that will help meet the Global Methane Pledge, an initiative to reduce global methane emissions to keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. The Pledge was announced by last week at COP26 by President Biden and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

This digester/fuel cell project is funded in part by CDFA’s Dairy Digester Development and Research Program.

Others in the photo are, from left, Carl Guardino, Bloom Energy; Ross Buckenham, California Bioenergy; John, Stephen, Richard and Scott Shehadey, Bar 20 Dairy; and Adam Langton, BMW.

See a news report about this innovative digester project on ABC-30 TV, Fresno.

By CDFA Secretary Karen Ross

I am grateful for the opportunity to join California’s delegation in Scotland for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) from November 9^th through the 12^th. The conference presents an opportunity to meet with many colleagues from around the world in our common pursuit of climate-change solutions while meeting the essential food security needs of our communities.

While on the ground in Scotland, I’ll be focusing on the ways our farmers and ranchers in California and around the world can be – and in many cases already are – accomplishing meaningful progress toward our climate goals. California is accustomed to leading, but we are also constantly learning. That’s what this trip is about – leading, but also learning how to do it better. Specifically, I’m focusing on issues and elements such as:

• Supporting farmers and ranchers as part of the solution on climate change
• Building climate resilience in our natural and working lands
• Scaling up technologies and practices that are already proven
• Bolstering research efforts to keep those solutions coming

I am looking forward to a meeting with the Irish minister for land use and biodiversity as well as meetings with the Scottish and English ministers for agriculture. And I’m honored to be making presentations at several events to provide information about California’s Climate Smart Agriculture programs. Our state is home to amazingly innovative farmers and ranchers! I am proud to share their success stories and eager to hear from our partners around the world.

From Morning Ag Clips

Cover crops, typically planted in early fall, deliver a host of agricultural and conservation benefits. But many growers have gone away from planting them due to technical challenges and extra costs associated with the practice. In partnership with the Contra Costa County Resource Conservation District, two University of California Cooperative Extension advisors collaborated to support farmers’ cover cropping efforts and reduce costs.

Kamyar Aram, UCCE specialty crops advisor for Contra Costa and Alameda counties, and Rob Bennaton, UCCE Bay Area urban agriculture and food systems advisor, developed online project content for a free educational series on cover cropping, which entails growing non-cash crops to add beneficial biomass to soils.

The series – comprising 10 webinars and five virtual farm-site visits – features UC farm and urban agriculture advisors and some of California’s foremost experts on cover cropping. It helps growers overcome their hesitations about the practice, which provides benefits such as alleviating compaction, improving water retention and increasing organic matter and nutrients in the soil.

“Our site visit videos include a diversity of cropping systems, operation types and scales, and levels of experience with cover crops, so we really capture a variety of perspectives,” Aram said. “Now, with the videos online, I hope that they will serve as tools for other farm educators, as well as a resource for growers directly.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic scrapped plans for in-person workshops and visits, the series organizers pivoted to online webinars, starting in fall 2020, which drew more than 150 participants. The recorded videos – which cover basic methods, financial assistance, tips for orchards and vineyards and more – expanded the potential reach and impact of the series far beyond Contra Costa County.

“Each video, whether it’s a webinar recording or a virtual site visit, emphasizes different aspects, and the titles are designed to help viewers find the resources they are most likely to benefit from,” said Aram. “There really is something for everyone.”

The series is available for view at http://ucanr.edu/CoverCropsCoCo

Read more here

From a USDA News Release

The United States and United Arab Emirates have officially launched the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate), alongside 31 countries and more than 48 non-government partners. In remarks at the World Leaders Summit at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), President Biden announced that the United States intends to mobilize $1 billion in investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years (2021-2025).

Previewed at President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate in April, AIM for Climate is a pioneering initiative uniquely focused on increasing investment and enabling greater public-private and cross-sectoral partnerships, intended to both raise global climate ambition, and underpin transformative climate action in the agriculture sector in all countries. AIM for Climate has already begun to bear fruit, garnering an “early harvest” of $4 billion in increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years.

AIM for Climate partners are mobilizing this investment to close the global investment gap in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. Climate-smart agriculture is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes, while adapting and building resilience to climate change and/or reducing/removing greenhouse gas emissions. AIM for Climate seeks to create incentives for, and mechanisms for maximizing the impact of, new investments toward an agriculture sector that is ready to face a changing climate.

Government partners are providing the crucial foundation of AIM for Climate, through a wave of public investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation. Other sectors, including business, philanthropy, and other non-government partners are invited to build upon that foundation with “innovation sprints” – investments in specific, impactful, measurable, expedited efforts – or by providing critical knowledge for identifying investment gaps, challenges, and opportunities.

AIM for Climate has three primary objectives:

• Demonstrate collective commitment to significantly increase investment in agricultural innovation for climate-smart agriculture and food systems over five years (2021-2025);
• Support frameworks and structures to enable technical discussions and the promotion of expertise, knowledge, and priorities across international and national levels of innovation to amplify the impact of participants’ investments; and
• Establish appropriate structures for exchanges between Ministers, chief scientists, and other stakeholders as key focal points and champions for cooperation on climate-related agricultural innovation, to engender greater co-creation and cooperation on shared research priorities.

Read more here