Carbon Farm & Soil Health Planning Technical Assistance Application
The Humboldt County Resource Conservation District (HCRCD) is inviting agricultural land managers who are interested in conservation, soil health, and carbon sequestration to apply to receive technical assistance with on-farm planning at no cost. Plans can be used to seek funding for implementation of recommended practices. HCRCD anticipates selecting 10 – 16 land managers to receive plans over the next two years. This application packet serves as a guidance document that establishes the process, procedures, and general requirements to apply for and receive technical assistance.
The application deadline for the first round of application review is September 30, 2023; however, applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed quarterly until March 31, 2025. Applications can be filled on the fillable form, below, and emailed to Ag@hcrcd.org, or downloaded and sent via hardcopy to 5630 South Broadway, Eureka, CA 95503. If you need assistance filling out the application, contact us at Ag@hcrcd.org.
Carbon Farm & Soil Health Application – fillable form
Carbon Farm & Soil Health Application – hardcopy form
Funding Opportunity: Healthy Soils Program – to open fall 2023
The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Healthy Soils Program (HSP) Incentives Program provides financial incentives to California growers and ranchers to implement conservation management practices that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, and improve soil health.
Humboldt County Resource Conservation District staff are HSP Technical Service Providers and able to provide technical assistance to applicants at no cost. Interested in learning more about the program and receiving technical assistance? Contact us at Ag@hcrcd.org or call our office at 707-442-6058×5.
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Principles of Soil Health:
Maintain soil cover throughout the year
Soil is meant to be covered! Having vegetation on the soil surface reduces erosion due to wind and rain, keeps the temperature of the soil below suitable for microbial activity, conserves soil moisture, improves water infiltration and returns nutrients and organic matter to soils.
Minimize soil disturbance
Conventional tillage hits the reset button on all the hard work that your soil has made. It increases the surface area increasing the rate of decomposition and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, breaks down aggregates decreasing stability and structure, increases compaction which reduces water infiltration, eliminates the living roots system cutting off soil microbial communities, and increases erosion. Conservation tillage implements No-Till, Strip-Till and/or Reduced-Till which will help maintain a healthy soil ready for the next crop.
Maintain living roots throughout the year
We couldn’t survive months at a time without eating, and neither can the microbial community within your soils. Roots transport nutrients down into the soil which keep the soil microbes alive and ready to feed your cash crops. Cover crops help feed the soil biology and can add valuable nutrients such as Nitrogen, reducing the additives needed and reducing the cost per acre. Cover crop roots also help pave the way for larger roots to dig deeper into the soil giving them access to water that wouldn’t otherwise be available.
Support the diversity of vegetation community
Diverse plants = diverse roots = diverse soil food web = Healthy, resilient soils. Different plants attract different soil biota which helps keep fungal and bacterial communities in a healthy range and keeps predatory nematodes and arthropods within numbers that are sustainable. Different length roots help maximize nutrient uptake and availability bringing it up into the plants for others to use.
Incorporate grazing animals
Grazing animal’s dung and urine returns valuable nutrients into the soil to be recycled, maintaining or increasing soil organic matter quantity and quality. This has been shown to improve plant productivity and health.
Source: btldemofarms.org