Preparing for an uncertain future with climate smart agriculture

Abstract

Editorial Preparing for an uncertain future with climate smart agriculture by Karen Ross, Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture C alifornia is the nation’s leading agricultural state, with 76,400 farms producing more than 400 commodities with a farm-gate value of $54 billion. The mission of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is to promote and protect agriculture. It’s a complex job — and one that is getting more complex as the climate changes. Karen Ross sustainability, build resilience to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions: The State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) is an emergency drought program imple- mented at the direction of Gov. Jerry Brown to assist farmers in moving to efficient water irrigation systems that save water, conserve energy and reduce green- house gas emissions. To date, SWEEP has funded 233 projects totaling almost $18 million with $10.5 mil- lion in matching grower funds. The program is built With the current drought in its fourth year, on a strong scientific foundation and supported by a California has already started to experience some of collaborative partnership involving other agencies, the anticipated impacts of climate change. resource conservation districts, the California State With drought, we have seen economic University (CSU) system and UC ANR Cooperative losses including job losses, fallowed land, Extension (UCCE). The academic institutions play and greater demand for a limited amount a key role in providing technical evaluations of ap- of water. A concerted approach is ur- plications for water savings and reductions in energy gently needed to prepare California agri- consumption. culture for future climate change impacts. The Dairy Digester Research and Development One essential approach is embracing Program, launched in 2014, provides incentives for and implementing the concept of climate dairy operations to install manure digesters. Digesters smart agriculture. capture methane from dairy lagoons, allowing the gas Practicing climate smart agriculture to be used to generate electricity. Methane is a short- means following three principles: de- lived climate pollutant that is 28 times more potent veloping agricultural systems that are as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. In 2015, resilient to climate change; reducing CDFA awarded $11.1 million for the development of greenhouse gas emissions from agricul- five digesters at California dairies. Matching funds by ture; and preparing for climate change in a way that developers totaling $19 million were allocated to these keeps farms productive and profitable. projects. The digester program is supported by several I heard a lot about climate smart agriculture during scientific experts from the University of California a recent visit to the Netherlands with a delegation of as well as a technical advisory sub-committee. The agricultural leaders from California. The Netherlands program highlights the many opportunities to use ag- is a leading agriculture distributor in Europe and the ricultural byproducts for multiple benefits, including world’s second largest (after the United States) agri- the generation of electricity. cultural exporter. Climate smart agriculture is already strongly integrated into Dutch economic and food se- curity strategies. Our delegation not only heard about the threats from higher precipitation, but also about how overly dry conditions in the summer threaten the stability of peat dikes, which dry up to the point that they may simply float away, compromising the levee structure in a region where most of the land is below sea level. In California we can prepare for such multi-faceted impacts through our own climate smart agricul- ture initiatives. At CDFA, we have a variety of pro- grams and efforts underway to support agricultural 4 CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE • VOLUME 70 , NUMBER 1 Evett Kilmartin More-efficient irrigation technologies — like this drip system in an almond orchard in Yolo County — save water, conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.