Building on the historic leadership of California farmers in organic agriculture, statewide climate mitigation goals include increasing organic production to 20% of all cropland by 2045. The focus on cropland reflects the increased opportunity to reduce synthetic additives as compared to animal production. However, existing data limitations obscure the relative contribution of crops and animal agriculture to trends in organic production in California. Using anonymized data on organic production from the State Organic Program, the USDA Census of Agriculture, and California’s top organic certifier (CCOF), we developed statewide and county-level estimates of organic cropland and animal production. These estimates show a disproportionate growth of organic animal production over time, especially since 2014, and an overall drop in organic cropland acreage share in recent years. We estimate that only 4.5% of all California cropland is organic as of 2022. To meet the statewide organic target, policy changes are needed to restart the expansion of organic cropland. Further, improving State Organic Program data is critical for evaluating progress toward this goal.
California’s Healthy Soils Program (HSP) funds demonstration projects to assess and showcase the impact of HSP practices in California agroecosystems. Here, we summarize findings from seven controlled field trials, each 2 to 3 years in length, and assess the potential of various HSP practices to improve soil health and mitigate climate change in California’s Central Coast vineyards, orchards, cropland, and rangeland. The effect of compost application on soil health and carbon (C) sequestration varied between trials and was impacted by application rate, compost source, and soil properties. Reducing tillage intensity decreased yield in one of three project years and had limited effects on soil health and C sequestration in dryland forage, while no-till did not affect yield or winegrape quality in a biodynamic vineyard. Cover crops in two lemon orchards also showed few effects, likely due to low biomass production of rainfed cover crops during drought. We emphasize the importance of long-term assessments to quantify HSP practice effects and evaluate potential returns on investment across varying soils, environments, and agroecosystems, especially under climate change.
This study examines the availability of food assistance programming at certified farmers markets in the Sacramento region of California. These programs offer nutrition benefits to shoppers and economic benefits to direct-marketing farmers and the wider regional economy. We used surveys (_n_ = 59) and interviews (_n_ = 9) to ask market managers about acceptance of CalFresh (the program name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in California), WIC/Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) and incentive programs. Food assistance programming was widespread: 59% of markets redeemed CalFresh, 64% accepted WIC/Senior FMNP benefits, 34% offered the incentive program Market Match and 14% offered another type of incentive. Regarding CalFresh, market managers reported that staffing needs, administrative work and lack of information were their top challenges. The most common concerns with FMNP were a perceived lack of customers, lack of participating farmers and lack of information. One of the most notable findings was that the market operator’s legal entity type was related to program acceptance: 80% of markets that accept CalFresh and 90% that offer incentives were operated by nonprofits, whereas only 14% of certified producer-operated markets accepted CalFresh and 5% offered incentives. The results point to the need to collaborate with markets operated by certified producers who are interested in accepting CalFresh and work with community organizations interested in partnering with markets to support the availability of food assistance programs.
Plastics are integral to modern life, but their production, use, and disposal also create significant environmental and social challenges, making scientific literacy about plastics important for informed civic and personal decision making. We examined how the grade 9-12 4-H Sustainable Polymers curriculum supported youth scientific literacy in two California school settings led by 4-H educators. Using a multiple case study design, we analyzed post-program focus group data from 13 high school youth with a framework that defined scientific literacy across four dimensions: science content, scientific reasoning skills, interest and attitudes, and contribution through applied participation. Youth described learning core ideas about plastics, including material properties, life cycles, and environmental impacts. They also reported using evidence through graphs, observations, research, and discussion to interpret plastics-related issues. Hands-on, materials-based activities were described as especially engaging, and youth connected what they learned to possible actions ranging from reducing personal plastic use to supporting community, producer, and policy responses. These findings suggest that experiential, place-based environmental science education can support youth scientific literacy when learning is tied to meaningful everyday issues.
Anecdotal and fire behavior modeling evidence indicates that livestock grazing can reduce herbaceous fuels and improve ecosystem resilience in an era of expanding and intensifyingwildfires. To quantify these effects in California, we established a statewide, multi-year (2020 to 2022) study manipulating herbaceous biomass levels within prescribed fire footprints to examine the relationship between herbaceous biomass levels and key fire behavior metrics. We identified multiple biomass thresholds that may be incorporated into land management and planning documents. Grasslands with fewer than 384 pounds (lb) per acre (43 grams per square meter [g/m2]) biomass had greater than 90% probability of stopping a fire before reaching 33 feet (ft) (10 meters [m]) while grasslands with biomass greater than 1,248 lb/acre (140 g/m2) had a near zero probability of stopping a fire before reaching 33 ft. Biomass values below 2,496 lb/acre (280 g/m2) had only a 3% probability of reaching 4 ft (1.2 m) flame height. These biomass thresholds and associated fire behavior metrics can be strategically employed to manage grasslands to protect California's communities in the context of meeting other goals, including minimum residual dry matter standards.
