CDFA NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS

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SACRAMENTO, June 29, 2023 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI) is now accepting applications for its Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance grants. Assembly Bill 2377 (Irwin) formalized the grant program in 2018 to support OEFI’s climate-smart agriculture (CSA) incentive grant programs: the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), Healthy Soils Program (HSP), and State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). 

The application period will last four weeks, beginning June 29, 2023, and closing July 27, 2023, at 5 PM PT. Non-profits, Resource Conservation Districts, and the University of California Cooperative Extension are eligible organizations. New this year, CDFA is offering a higher maximum award to organizations that will serve farmers and ranchers to provide services in languages other than English: up to $150,000 per program, or $450,000 if the grant is awarded to support all three programs. Grant terms may not exceed three years. The maximum award for English-only grants is $90,000 per CSA program that would be supported, or $270,000 if the grant is awarded to support all three programs.  

“Since the passing of AB 1348 and AB 2377, the OEFI program has been steadily working to modify their programs to better serve socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, through robust technical assistance and stakeholder engagement,” said CDFA Farmer Equity Advisor Thea Rittenhouse. “This new round of funding with a higher allocation for technical assistance organizations serving farmers and ranchers who speak languages other than English represents a positive step toward continuing to address the tenets of AB 1348 (the Farmer Equity Act of 2017) and the recommendations contained within the Farmer Equity Report, and an important step CDFA is taking to address language access and direct support for farmers and ranchers who speak languages other than English.” 

Awardees must use 25 percent of the award to provide technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (SDFRs) as defined by the Farmer Equity Act of 2017. Awardees must also provide both application and award implementation assistance to farmers and ranchers who participate in the CSA programs. 

Additionally, awardees may also participate in several optional objectives, including: 
•    Supporting CDFA in verifying practices or projects are completed 
•    Documenting project outcomes in case studies 
•    Providing training to agricultural operations 
•    Consulting with unsuccessful applications of the CSA programs in preparation for future solicitations 
•    Obtaining training to increase relevant technical expertise 

Application materials and additional information can be found on the CSA TA website at the following link: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/technical/. 

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