Now that we’re in the midst of holiday season, many families are venturing out to cut-your-own tree farms in search of the perfect tree, and California’s tree farmers are extending the welcome mat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIau9BClAE0

The Federal-State On-Farm Compost Work Group is pleased to announce the launch of an On-Farm Compost Resource Website. The resources on this website include information and tools to help farmers and ranchers compost agricultural byproducts, including manure, and maintain compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

The website is hosted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and was developed as part of a larger collaborative working group that was co-led by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), US Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA NRCS), and California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) as well as eleven additional state and regional regulatory bodies. The working group was formed in 2019 to help reduce barriers and clarify regulatory requirements for producers wishing to co-compost off-site agricultural waste.

“California farmers and ranchers have long understood the benefits of this proven practice, just like those who embrace composting at home” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “This multi-agency effort will help meet farmer demand for more on-farm composting to ensure safe, nutrient rich soil, and this new on-line resource provides a single location to show our producers how to put it all together in compliance with California environmental regulations.”

“California will dramatically cut a major source of climate warming gas when we launch food and yard waste composting statewide in 2022,” said California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Jared Blumenfeld. “Using this compost on our agricultural and rangelands will add to that greenhouse gas reduction and help drought-ravaged soil retain water.”

“The tools created by the On-Farm Compost Work Group will help promote the composting of agricultural materials in California,” added EPA Pacific Southwest Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Jordan. “Composting is an alternate pathway for agricultural materials, which will reduce ag burning in California, thus protecting air and water quality.”

“Application of compost is a common soil health practice, that can help farmers in our arid climate maintain and build soil carbon,” said NRCS California State Conservationist Carlos Suarez. “Compost application improves plant health and crop yields, increases water retention and infiltration, and sequesters carbon. This effort helps create valuable soil amendments from diverse on-farm resources. It’s a win-win for California agriculture”

The resource website launch falls during California’s Healthy Soils Week which continues through Dec. 10. Please visit the calendar of events focused on the value of soil and the benefits that healthy soil management practices, including compost, have for improving California’s drought resilience.

CDFA undersecretary Christine Birdsong was among those present this week at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Merced Dairy Digester Pipeline Cluster Project, a group of 15 dairy digesters to start, 12 of them partly funded by CDFA’s Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP).

The project will generate renewable natural gas to be sent to a centralized conditioning facility for processing and injection into a common carrier natural gas pipeline. 

The DDRDP is the one of the most cost-effective greenhouse gas programs in California. The methane reductions achieved through digesters are estimated to be equivalent to removing 44,000 passenger vehicles from the roads per year over the course of a decade, or providing electricity to 24,400 homes for 10 years. 

“The opening of this dairy digester cluster is an example of how California agriculture is committed to contributing to greenhouse gas reductions and enhancing environmental sustainability, while at the same time ensuring the long-term viability of our dairies,” said Undersecretary Birdsong. 

The ribbon cutting event was organized by the developer of the Merced Dairy Digester Pipeline Cluster Project, Maas Energy Works.  

https://youtu.be/KQDTMuNJ1WA

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross invites you to join our celebration of Healthy Soils Week and the amazing benefits our soil provides for Californians! This annual celebration aligns with UN World Soils Day and includes a week-long calendar of events from December 6-10 hosted by CDFA as well as state, federal, and private sector partners.

California soils help feed the world, clean the air, and fight climate change among myriad ecosystem services. This year, our events focus on the valuable role our soils play in improving water filtration, water quality, and resilience to drought. Healthy soils hold 20 times their weight in water. Increasing soil organic matter on California’s working lands by just 1% could save 1.5 million acre-feet of water per year – that’s approximately the volume of Lake Berryessa!

Secretary Ross explains: “This year’s Healthy Soils Week theme – Solutions from the Soil: Improving California’s Drought Resilience – highlights why it is more important than ever to invest in our soil. Farmers and ranchers are stewards of our soil and are key to solutions to address climate change and achieve carbon neutrality. Implementing healthy soil management provides many co-benefits beyond the crops they harvest and the food on our tables! That’s something we can all appreciate.”

Healthy soil management practices are part of a suite of climate smart agriculture practices and programs developed by CDFA over the past decade. These programs, housed primarily in CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation, include the Healthy Soils Program, the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program, and the Alternative Manure Management Program. Thanks to additional investment in this year’s budget, these programs will be supported by new or expanded programs to help farmers and ranchers with conservation planning and creating pollinator habitat.

Please visit the Healthy Soils Week website for a full calendar of events! Follow us on social media: #HealthySoilsWeek2021 #HSW2021

From CDFA’s Farm to School program

Working alongside second grade students, teacher Stacey Torres and Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) Master Gardener Jill McArthur developed a producer to consumer educational unit that connects plant biology, fractions, fundraising, the school garden, and a new school orchard.

After a year growing and drying loofahs in the PUSD school garden, the second graders harvested, de-seeded, and transformed over 70 of the overgrown fruits into sponges for a fundraiser. During the processing phase, students pulled over 7,000 seeds from the dried fruits, becoming intimately familiar with the plant’s structure and functions, and discussed the many uses of the loofah as a food and skin-care product.

Once processed, each second grader sold two bags of loofah sponges, and together they used the proceeds to purchase 10 peach and nectarine trees to start their school orchard! This project is a perfect example of the way school gardens and educators create opportunities for cross-cutting educational lessons for students who are empowered, engaged, and excited about learning.

Click here to read the full story from the Pasadena Educational Foundation.

On December 1, the Assembly Select Committee on Technology and the Future of California’s Agricultural Workforce met to discuss challenges and opportunities in the years ahead. CDFA Secretary Karen Ross provided the following statement.

————-

Mr. Chairman and members of the select committee – thank you so much for inviting me to speak before you today. I regret being unable to appear in-person, but I wish to share a few thoughts about the very important issue you are considering today.

The history of California agriculture is one of innovation and progress. Public investment in agricultural research and the extension of research results to farmers and ranchers has helped achieve a remarkable record of productivity, efficiency, and environmental stewardship. As the world’s population grows rapidly, there is an urgent need to produce healthy, nutritious food amidst a changing climate with less arable land and increasingly scarce water supplies. We must continue to invest in science and technology to improve sustainable production practices, reduce inputs, and improve the economic viability of farmers at all scale. We must also be clear-eyed about meeting the needs of historically underserved farmers and farmworkers in the transition that is necessary.

I’m not just talking about drones and robots – although labor scarcity is driving significant investment in innovation. Technological progress also includes such things as remote sensors to assist in applications of water; advanced harvesting, processing, and sorting systems; artificial intelligence and data analytics for better real-time decision making; managed aquifer recharge for water conservation and efficiency; innovations to reduce impacts of synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use with the development of more effective biological pest management solutions; technology to reduce, recycle and repurpose waste streams and food production byproducts into useful products with revenue streams; the acceleration of on-farm renewable energy generation; and controlled-environment food production systems. It will be possible for California farmers and ranchers to lead with solutions for a bio-based economy only with a commitment to continued funding for research, extension, and workforce development.

The agricultural jobs of the future will be different than we have seen historically. The workforce will require skills in math, science, technology, and engineering — equipping workers to successfully navigate not only the innovation before us presently, but the wondrous advancements that are surely coming. It is important to understand the impacts to the current workforce and prepare for a just transition and the jobs of the future. One challenge for agriculture is the lack of understanding of what the agricultural jobs of the future will be and for agriculture to be viewed as an attractive career opportunity. The focus on STEM starting at young ages and with an emphasis on the diversity of our major agricultural and historically underserved communities is critical to the future success of California agriculture. Technology is the bridge to fire the imagination of those who are not familiar with agriculture and food production and engage them in helping to solve the challenges we face to build climate smart resilient agriculture and food chain systems with desirable career opportunities in the most meaningful work we can undertake: to nourish people for optimal health with the best environmental stewardship of our precious natural resources!

The agricultural workforce will also require continual learning and training, and a key to achieving that is California’s community colleges. I applaud the leadership of Western Growers, which has launched an impressive collaborative effort, the Global Harvest Automation Initiative, as well as AgTechX, a partnership with community colleges, the California State University system and the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources to further develop these essential research and educational programs.

There are many challenges and opportunities ahead for agriculture in the 21st century. We can successfully meet them as only California can! It will require strong partnerships, collaboration, and the best of the state’s innovation sector joining with the most progressive farmers in the world. I believe we are well on our way.

Yours truly,
Karen Ross
Secretary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK7rUG4cIwk

From Morning Ag Clips

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the investment of $32 million in grants awarded to 167 meat and poultry slaughter and processing facilities to support expanded capacity and efficiency through the Meat and Poultry Inspection Readiness Grant (MPIRG) program.

“(This) investment supports local and regional meat and poultry processors as they recover from the pandemic and also work to expand capacity,” Vilsack said. “Achieving a Federal Grant of Inspection or operating under a Cooperative Interstate Shipment program allows meat and poultry processors to ship products across state lines, pursue new market opportunities, and better meet consumer and producer demand along the supply chain.”

With this grant funding, meat and poultry processing businesses can cover the costs for improvements such as expanding existing facilities, modernizing processing equipment and meeting packaging, labeling, and food safety requirements needed to achieve a Federal Grant of Inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or to operate under a state’s Cooperative Interstate Shipment program. These changes will allow these facilities to serve more customers in more markets.

Three California companies are among the recipients:

1. Bud’s Custom Meats Inc, Penngrove — $191,000 for facility and labeling upgrades as well as HAACP compliance (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point).
2. Buckhorn Cafe Inc, Winters — $200,000 for facility expansion for improved processing of value-added products.
3. Hoang An Inc — $200,000 for facility improvements

MPIRG, a new program authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, is jointly administered by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The program was part of USDA’s comprehensive funding package to help small and very small processing facilities weather the pandemic, compete in the marketplace, and get the support they need to reach more customers.