CARBON FARMING
CDFA Healthy Soils Incentives Program, Application and Implementation Assistance
Update: As of February 25, 2022, the CDFA Healthy Soils Incentives Program IS CLOSED.
CDFA awarded over $1.4 million to Marin County producers for implementing agricultural practices known to benefit soil health and carbon sequestration! You can see CDFA’s list of awarded producers by clicking on this link.
Information on future rounds: see the CDFA Healthy Soils Incentive webpage linked above and/or Sign up for email notifications about the program here.
Post-award assistance: If you farm in Marin and received a Healthy Soils award in the 2021/22 round, Marin RCD can provide implementation assistance. Get in touch by calling 415-787-7440 or emailing michelle@marinrcd.org. Also, see below for information on soil sampling to fulfill the annual requirement, and check out our “Design and Implementation” webpage linked in the right-hand sidebar for continually-updated, locally-specific, practice resources.
Post Award: How to Sample Soils
The CDFA Healthy Soils Incentives Program requires recipients to submit annual soil sample results. You can take these samples easily on your own and send to a soil lab for analysis. Soil organic matter content test results are required (1) prior to practice implementation, (2) one year after practice was implemented for the first time, (3) two years after practice was implemented for the first time, and (4) three years after the practice was implemented for the first time. If your later soil samples fall outside of the grant term, CDFA cannot mandate grantees to take and report the samples, but strongly encourages grantees to.
Find the CDFA Soil Sampling Protocols by clicking on this link.
The below video, featuring Miguel Garcia of Napa RCD, shows how to sample soils in vineyards. You can adjust this to a rangeland or vegetable cropland setting. Different than Miguel shows, CDFA protcols require digging to a 8″ depth.
We tend to send our soil samples to A&L Laboratories* in Modesto. Find fee information and a submission form on their website. A&L’s S1B Soil Test Package covers CDFA’s Healthy Soils requirements.
*This is not meant to be an endorsement. If another soil lab should be added to our list of reccomendations, please let us know by contacting marinrcd@marinrcd.org.
Necessary tools for CDFA Healthy Soils Initiative Program application: