Comment Log Display

March 7, 2013

California Air Resources Board
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Cap-and-Trade Program revenue allocation and investment

Dear Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols,

We write you in support of Cap-and-Trade revenue investment in
sustainable agricultural practices, specifically the innovative and
truly unique research and outreach being conducted by the UC
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP).


UC SAREP and its partner program, the Russell Ranch Sustainable
Agriculture Facility at UC Davis, work to find and share solutions
that address climate change mitigation and adaptation, enhance
practices for natural resource stewardship, and reduce farmers’
production costs.

Agriculture is uniquely vulnerable to climate change. It can also
be a powerful tool to fight climate change and reduce GHG emissions
through on-farm conservation methods. Many of the practices modeled
by sustainable and organic farmers offer some of the best
strategies for reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint, mitigating
climate change and helping farmers adapt. Techniques such as the
use of cover crops and manure, management of nutrient inputs and
irrigation for optimal efficiency, conservation tillage, planting
perennial buffers and management of the timing and density of
livestock grazing can increase soil organic matter and sequester
more soil carbon on farm and rangeland, thereby capturing
atmospheric carbon and lowering GHG concentrations. Widespread
adoption of these methods could make a significant impact on
California’s climate challenge.

Multiple co-benefits can accompany these and other
climate-protecting agricultural practices. For example, properly
managed livestock grazing has the potential to increase soil carbon
sequestration while also increasing water retention, reducing soil
erosion, increasing forage quality and enhancing wildlife habitat
and native grass populations. Furthermore, practices that reduce
agriculture’s GHG emissions can also help the industry adapt to the
coming changes in weather and water availability induced by climate
change. Farms, ranches and food processors can achieve greater
water conservation and energy efficiency and unleash the potential
for generating renewable energy.

Over the past 27 years, UC SAREP has helped to launch several
initiatives, programs and studies that have provided, and are still
providing, solutions–such as those mentioned above—to California’s
agricultural and environmental challenges. As the California Air
Resources Board considers where to invest the Cap-and-Trade
revenue, we recommend that the investment plan include funding for
UC SAREP, which is the only statewide sustainable agriculture
program with a mandate from the California Legislature.

UC SAREP’s well-established small grants program is now unfunded,
but could be reactivated to stimulate innovation in California
agriculture to address climate change and the closely-related
topics of energy efficiency, water-use efficiency and nutrient
management.

By investing in UC SAREP, California would be supporting technical
assistance and collaborative action on:
•	sequestering carbon in soils, orchards and rangelands
•	farm practices that minimize GHG emissions
•	replacing fertilizer-intensive urban landscapes (lawns) with
carbon sequestering food gardens and urban agricultural parks,
while increasing the food security of disadvantaged communities
•	long-term, large-scale research asking big questions about
climate/energy, water, and soil health that – 18 years into a
100-year study – is already generating data and advancing knowledge
to support practical steps for climate change mitigation and
adaptation in California agriculture
•	sharing important information through the UC SAREP Solution
Center, an online and in-person platform to share solutions with
the agricultural community to big challenges. SAREP’s first
Solution Center focuses on climate change, water management and
nutrient efficiency.

There are many proposed initiatives across the state that could be
scaled up. UC SAREP and its partner program, the Russell Ranch
Sustainable Agriculture Facility, bring organizations and people
together to develop collaborative solutions to the challenges we
face today and to achieve broader adoption and impact. This is why
we call for your on-going commitment to support UC SAREP, a
research program with a strong focus on reducing agricultural GHG
emissions in order to assure the profitability, viability and
resilience of California agriculture in the face of climate
change.

Sincerely,

John Diener, President, Red Rock Ranch, Five Points, CA

and

AG Kawamura, Founding Member, Orange County Produce, Irvine, CA and
former Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture,
Sacramento, CA

Joined by:

Marcus Benedetti, President and CEO, Clover Stornetta Farms,
Petaluma, CA
Ashley Boren, Executive Director, Sustainable Conservation, San
Francisco, CA
Michael Dimock, Executive Director, Roots of Change, San Francisco,
CA
Cornelius Gallagher, Senior Vice President, Food, Agriculture and
Wine Executive, Bank of America, Roseville, CA
Carl Johnson, Executive Vice President, Brands, Del Monte Foods,
San Francisco, CA
Craig McNamara, President, California State Board of Food and
Agriculture, Sacramento, CA; President, Sierra Orchards;
Co-Founder, Center for Land Based Learning, Winters, CA
Haider Nazar, Chief Executive Officer, Verliant Energy Partners,
Walnut Creek, CA
Judith Redmond, Owner and Partner, Full Belly Farm, Guinda, CA;
Community Alliance for Family Farmers Board Secretary
Richard Rominger, Rominger Farms, Winters, CA; former US Department
of Agriculture Deputy Secretary; former California Department of
Food and Agriculture Secretary
Howard-Yana Shapiro, Ph.D., Chief Agricultural Officer, Mars,
Incorporated;  Senior Fellow, Plant Sciences, College of
Agriculture, UC Davis;  Distinguished Fellow, The World
Agroforestry Centre; and Co-founder, Seeds of Change

Cc: 
Karen Ross, Secretary, California Department of Food and
Agriculture, Sacramento, CA
Martha Guzman Aceves, Deputy Legislative Affairs Secretary, Office
of Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Sacramento, CA
Barbara Allen-Diaz, Vice President, Agriculture and Natural
Resources, University of California, Oakland, CA
Mary Delany, Interim Dean, College of Agricultural & Environmental
Sciences, University of California, Davis
David Wehner, Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and
Environmental Sciences at California Polytechnic State University,
San Luis Obispo, CA
Rachel Surls, Sustainable Food Systems Advisor, UC Cooperative
Extension, Los Angeles, CA
Thomas Turini, Vegetable Crops Farm Advisor, UCCE Fresno County,
Fresno, CA
Katharina Ullmann, UC Davis Dept. of Entomology
Kase Wheatley, student, UC Davis Sustainable Agriculture and Food
Systems major