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

Surrounded by her family on the south steps of the California Capitol this morning, Christine Birdsong was sworn in as Undersecretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture by Secretary Karen Ross. Birdsong has been Senior Vice President, General Counsel  and Director of People and Culture for the Sun Valley Rice Company since 2016. She was General Counsel for the National Cotton Council of America from 2011 to 2016, Counsel for the Committee on Agriculture for the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010, and Federal Government Affairs Leader for CropLife America from 2004 to 2005. Birdsong earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

The USDA is profiling its Hungry Pests program this fall and in this video CDFA Secretary Karen Ross shares California’s support for the program as well as CDFA’s commitment to protect the state’s crops and natural resources from invasive species, underscoring that we are all in this together as Plant Health Champions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv1FREGNQXU