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CDFA Accepting Proposals on New Management Practices for the Healthy Soils Program

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s  Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI), in coordination with the agency’s Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel, is now accepting proposals for new soil carbon sequestration management practices for inclusion in its Healthy Soils Program (HSP).

As part of program development beginning in 2016, CDFA identified specific soil management practices eligible for funding through the HSP. Some of these practices include no or reduced tillage, planting cover crops and compost application. In subsequent rounds of funding, CDFA expanded the suite of healthy soils practices through a public process in coordination with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). In total, 27 management practices that sequester carbon are now included in the program.

“As the Healthy Soils Program continues to grow, new and innovative contributions from our stakeholders are critical to ensuring that farmers and ranchers have the diversity of practices they need to produce the wide range of highly nutritious, affordable and safe food crops,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Improving soil health in California must be a collaborative effort between CDFA, stakeholder groups, sister agencies and federal partners.”

CDFA’s program 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, the HSP helps build soil organic carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) and enhance soil health.

There are several important requirements needed to submit a management practice for consideration in the HSP. Proposal requirements, process for consideration and other details on the submission process can be found on the Healthy Soils webpage.

Proposals are due by 5 p.m. PT on August 28, 2020 submitted via email to  cdfa.HSP_Tech@cdfa.ca.gov.

Insuring Employee Wellness

By Tim Hammerich, with The Ag Information Network of the West

Employee wellness is critical to our state’s agricultural operations. UnitedAg has recognized some members of their ambassador program for their achievements in workplace wellness. One of those is Nichols Farms HR Manager Cristina Rocha.

“UnitedAg puts together a group from different companies that they do business with. This group gathers and just kind of generates ideas on how to get employees more involved with the insurance and the benefits that are available to them within the organization,” said Rocha

Rocha hosts wellness fairs for over 350 employees at the Hanford-based pistachio and almond company.

“I try to coordinate different health organizations to come here and setup shop for a day, and then just speak to our employees about different health-related issues. Like we’ve had, I think health screenings, dental services come out here. UABT usually partakes every year in this health fair that we sponsor,” Rocha said.

Nichols also offers cooking classes, healthy lifestyle support, and an employee walking path.

LGMA Forms Adjacent Lands Subcommittee to Make Romaine Safer

A special new subcommittee has been appointed by the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA) to focus on how land adjacent to leafy greens farms may be contributing to foodborne illness outbreaks associated with romaine lettuce. This action is part of a comprehensive review of all existing food safety practices required under the LGMA program and is in direct response to findings from a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report issued last week.

“The role of the LGMA’s Adjacent Lands Subcommittee is to review current LGMA standards related to grazing lands and adjacent properties, gather all relevant research done by CPS or other entities and consult with stakeholders for additional input,” said Sharan Lanini, Pacific International Marketing, who serves as the Chair of the LGMA’s Technical Committee and will be leading this important effort.

“As part of this effort, the Subcommittee plans to look at a number of factors including distance; slope and other physical properties; the impact of weather; potential barriers such as berms, diversion ditches or vegetative strips; and ‘good neighbor’ policies as they relate to properties located near leafy greens farming operations,” she said.

“Current requirements under the LGMA call for assessments of environmental conditions in and around leafy greens fields,” said Scott Horsfall, CEO of the LGMA. “But it’s clear more can to be done to keep pathogens out of our farms.”

Last week the FDA issued a report on its investigation of what was actually three distinct outbreaks occurring in the Fall of 2019. In the report, the e. coli strain linked to one of these outbreaks along with other STEC strains were detected in samples taken from cattle grazing land in proximity to where romaine lettuce crops were grown.

The FDA has stated it believes ruminants, most likely cattle, are the source of contamination in these outbreaks, but exactly how the pathogens end up on leafy greens remains a mystery.

“As leafy greens farmers we are committed to doing everything possible to make sure our products are safe,” said Dan Sutton, a leafy greens farmer and chairman of the LGMA. “If we knew what additional precautions could keep pathogens out of our fields, we would immediately make changes to our food safety program.”

The Subcommittee on Adjacent Lands is comprised of industry experts from LGMA member companies. They will be working closely with University and government researchers and meticulously examining past and current studies from the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) and other relevant scientific research. The subcommittee also plans to engage with landowners of properties located near leafy greens farms including cattle and other crops like wine grapes.

As with all areas of the LGMA’s required food safety practices, the Adjacent Lands Subcommittee will be making recommendations as part of an open, collaborative process now underway for improving the safety of leafy greens. This process is being facilitate by Western Growers and is currently considering new standards for water used to grow leafy greens and for soil amendments and other crop inputs.

“Leafy greens farmers work hard every day to implement the best-known food safety practices,” said Horsfall. “Ultimately, the LGMA is the entity charged with updating and improving these standards to better protect consumers. The input provided by the FDA report and the work being done by our subcommittees, researchers and other stakeholders is critical to prevent future outbreaks.”