CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE NOW ACCEPTING NEW PROPOSALS ON MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR HEALTHY SOILS PROGRAM

SACRAMENTO, November 6, 2017- CDFA’s  Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI), in coordination with the agency’s Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel, is now accepting new proposals for soil carbon sequestration management practices for inclusion in its Healthy Soils Program (HSP).

As part of program development, CDFA identified specific soil management practices eligible for initial funding through the HSP. Some of these practices include no or reduced tillage, planting cover crops and compost application. Earlier this summer, CDFA announced that it will begin accepting new proposals in order to provide additional opportunities to stakeholders.

“As we continue to develop the Healthy Soils Program, we want to consider new and innovative contributions from our stakeholders,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Improving soil health in California must be a collaborative effort, and our continued efforts with stakeholder groups, sister agencies and federal partners is instrumental to the program’s success.”

The  HSP stems from the California Healthy Soils Initiative, a collaboration between state agencies to support the development of healthy soils in California. By providing funds to incentivize management practices and on-farm demonstration projects, HSP helps build soil organic carbon and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG’s).

Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. PST on December 18, 2017 and must be submitted to cdfa.oefi@cdfa.ca.gov    

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