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Category Archives: Healthy soils

Healthy Soils: CDFA hosts Chinese delegation

January 28, 2019   Office of Public Affairs

CDFA recently hosted a Chinese delegation visiting to learn more about the department’s Healthy Soils Program. The delegation was comprised of directors and agronomists from China’s agricultural extension services, similar to the University of California Cooperative Extension service. The delegation was welcomed by CDFA secretary Karen Ross, who stressed the importance of agricultural extension services in ensuring we have the best …

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New Partnership with UC advances Climate Smart Agriculture in California

October 26, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

California Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Vice President Glenda Humiston signed a memorandum of understanding this morning at Sacramento’s Stanford Mansion to initiate a new partnership to advance Climate Smart Agriculture in California. This partnership, funded by California Climate Investments dollars through the Strategic Growth Council (SGC), will provide $1.1 million to fund 10 …

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Scaling Up Climate Smart Agriculture: a “California Conversation” brings leaders, innovators together

September 12, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

The Global Climate Action Summit is September 12-14 in San Francisco. The affiliated Scaling Up Climate Smart Agriculture Event in Sonoma County is connecting climate stakeholders including farmers and ranchers, multinational corporations, foreign governments and non-governmental organizations to further the role of agriculture in climate discussions.

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Climate Smart Agriculture and California’s Healthy Soils Initiative

September 12, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

The discussions underway at the Scaling-up Climate Smart Agriculture and Global Climate Action Summit events this week include the critical importance of healthy soils. California’s Healthy Soils Initiative is a collaboration of state agencies and departments, led by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, to promote the development of healthy soils. A combination of innovative farm and land management practices contribute to building adequate …

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Video: Maximizing Cover Crop Benefits for Growers – from NRCS & AgNet West

July 3, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Lockeford Plant Materials Center conducts trials year-round to find plants and mixes that producers can successfully use to improve their soils. Lockeford PMC Manager Margaret Smither-Kopperl talked about the multiple benefits cover crops can have and how they are developing budget-friendly mixes for different producers. Agronomist Valerie Bullard showed results from a nationwide-wide trial that is looking …

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CDFA, NRCS and Ag Council come together for healthy soils tour

June 27, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross recently joined growers, industry representatives and partners from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on a healthy soils tour in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The goal of the event was to bring together various stakeholders and learn about the role soils can play in absorbing carbon, improving yields and retaining water. “California has emerged as …

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Carbon Farming coming to Central Coast – from The Bottom Line

June 1, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

Note – The Bottom Line is the student newspaper at UC Santa Barbara.  By Tanner Walker Carbon ranching is coming to Santa Barbara County, but farmers aren’t growing carbon — they’re putting it back into the ground. With the help of compost and cattle, native grasses can sequester organic carbon, enriching the soil and removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. …

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Posted in Climate Change, Climate Smart Agriculture, Environment, Healthy soils | 1 Comment

How can I use natural materials to build soil fertility in my garden? – Sustainable, Secure Food Blog

May 17, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

Not much beats the taste and nutrition of fresh vegetables that travel from your garden to your kitchen! Or the fragrance of fresh cut flowers that go straight to your vase. What are some ways you can use – or re-use in many cases – natural materials from your yard to enhance your gardens? Of course, various plants require various …

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California is turning farms into carbon-sucking factories – from Grist

May 14, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

By Nathaniel Johnson, Grist In a grand experiment, California switched on a fleet of high-tech greenhouse gas removal machines last month. Funded by the state’s cap-and-trade program, they’re designed to reverse climate change by sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. These wonderfully complex machines are more high-tech than anything humans have designed. They’re called plants. Seriously, though: Plants breathe …

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Can dirt save the Earth? From the New York Times Magazine

April 19, 2018   Office of Public Affairs

By Moises Velasquez-Manoff EXCERPTED When John Wick and his wife, Peggy Rathmann, bought their ranch in Marin County, Calif., in 1998, it was mostly because they needed more space. Rathmann is an acclaimed children’s book author — “Officer Buckle and Gloria” won a Caldecott Medal in 1996 — and their apartment in San Francisco had become cluttered with her illustrations. …

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