Cal Poly aims to work with local farmers on climate-smart agricultural practices thanks to a $1.9 million grant.
On Sept. 1, Cal Poly announced it had received the state grant for a Climate Action Initiative program. Erin Pearse, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at Cal Poly and director of the Cal Poly Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience, said the project aims to work with SLO County farmers—especially disadvantaged growers, family farms, and first-time farmers—to help provide healthier agricultural practices.
“The selection process of farms from that pool depends on a number of factors: suitability of the location for the practices we are assessing; how much benefit there is in terms of potential CO2e emissions, soil health, water savings, and economic benefit to the farm operator; and if the grower belongs to one of the vulnerable communities,” Pearse told New Times.
Pearse said the team is super thrilled about the Climate Action Initiative project because it’s working beyond expectations to reduce carbon emissions, improve resource management, and advance sustainable agricultural practices.
“It can reduce the time to implementation of climate-smart agriculture from four years to six weeks and reduce the staff time burden from 1,000 hours to 200,” he said. “For most of us on the team, we’ve been trying to find ways to make substantive progress on the climate crisis for years, and this is the first really promising and scalable project we’ve worked on.”
Devin Best, executive director of Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District (RCD), told New Times that he’s delighted that the nonprofit is partnering with Cal Poly on this project because it will significantly improve their ability to work with the local community on climate change impacts.
The RCD provides technical assistance, education, and resources to help agricultural, rural, and urban communities preserve natural elements like soil, water, air, plants, and animals while supporting robust land productivity.
“The implementation of climate-smart agriculture practices is multi-beneficial, reducing water consumption, improving soil health, reducing reliance on herbicides/pesticides etc.,” Best told New Times via email.
He said that the first issue on his team’s radar is trying to address what practices are most sought after and how the team can get resources to interested parties.
“We partnered with Cal Poly Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering to create several biochar kilns to increase knowledge and awareness of benefits of biochar, increase student involvement in real-world solutions, and make specialized equipment available at no cost or discounted rates for landowners to use,” he said.
Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that’s made from organic waste and used as fertilizer, according to Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience’s website.
Best said this work wouldn’t be possible without the help of cBrain‘s technology support.
Michael Larcher, cBrain solution and sustainability lead for their North America team, said his company’s software enables farmers to spend more time on their land and less time navigating bureaucracy by connecting farmers and ranchers to grant funding or permitting support.
“I’m pleased that our software is used to increase RCD capacity and impact so that farmers can spend their time implementing practices that make them more profitable and resilient to climate impact,” he told New Times in an email. Δ
This article appears in Sep 21 – Oct 1, 2023.
What about over watering feed grain crops on sandy soil using propane powered water pumps?
Seems like something the county would want to address.