Healthy soils on farms and ranches play a key role in drawing down past climate pollution, increasing resilience to drought, floods, and other extremes, and supporting biodiversity and food security. California has set a goal of implementing healthy soils practices on at least 80,000 acres of land every year, which will help increase the longevity and economic viability of our farms and ranches. But farmers lack the resources to scale up these practices quickly enough to address the rapidly worsening climate crisis.
To reach and exceed these goals, farmers and ranchers need technical assistance to carry out climate-friendly practices on their lands — from assistance in farm planning and implementing changes to securing the funding needed for financial security. Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) have more than 90 offices around the state and more than 80 years of experience in providing this much-needed technical assistance to farmers and ranchers. They are, however, a rare example of a public entity that does not receive dedicated state funding to serve the public good. In fact, California is one of only two states in the nation that does not provide state funding for RCDs.
In order to scale up healthy soils on our working lands, we must scale up technical assistance at the same rate. Send a letter to your representatives calling for the establishment of annual funding for RCDs through the General Fund and funding through an upcoming Climate Bond. This investment will ensure that California provides the adequate technical assistance needed for farmers and ranchers to build resiliency on their lands while simultaneously drawing down past carbon emissions and building food and water security for all Californians.
Urge your legislators to fund climate-friendly farms and ranches
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