Scaling Regenerative Agriculture in California through NRCS and RCD Conservation Planner Training

Progress report for WPDP22-003

Project Type: Professional Development Program
Funds awarded in 2022: $99,917.00
Projected End Date: 02/28/2024
Host Institution Award ID: G104-23-W9214
Grant Recipients: San Mateo Resource Conservation District; California Association of Resource Conservation Districts
Region: Western
State: California
Principal Investigator:
Eliza Milio
San Mateo Resource Conservation District
Co-Investigators:
Adria Arko
San Mateo Resource Conservation District
Jim Howard
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Kevin Watt
TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation / Left Coast Grass-Fed
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Project Information

Abstract:

Regenerative agriculture (RA) is increasingly recognized as a necessary tool for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Multiple international, federal, state, and local efforts acknowledge the need to scale RA for its climate benefits to build a more resilient food system. For many farmers and ranchers, transitioning to RA will require evaluating their property and management practices in a new way. Agricultural producers need access to trusted, reliable, and relevant technical assistance to make this transition.  In California, Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) and the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) are widely respected and trusted by producers to offer high-quality technical assistance and funding services to support farmers and ranchers adopting conservation practices. As a result, these entities are well poised to provide RA technical assistance.

NRCS and many RCDs develop conservation plans with producers to evaluate, plan and develop a path towards implementing agricultural conservation practices. These property-scale plans, which integrate natural resource protection with agricultural production. This already established conservation planning process offers a significant opportunity to scale the adoption of RA.

This project aims to ensure that agricultural producers from across California have access to skilled and knowledgeable technical assistance providers to help them incorporate regenerative agricultural principles into their operations. This project will increase RA competency amongst RCD and NRCS professionals across California through 1) a Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture course for 40 staff at TomKat Ranch, 2) a "Technical Assistance for Regenerative Agriculture" webinar for 50 staff, and 3) RA educational material disseminated to at least 200 NRCS and RCD staff. As a result of this project, farmers and ranchers will have greater technical support available as RA scales across the state.

Project Objectives:

This project aims to ensure that agricultural producers from across California have access to skilled and knowledgeable technical assistance providers to help them incorporate regenerative agriculture into their operations. This project will increase regenerative agricultural competency amongst CARCD and NRCS professionals by 1) building a new cohort of conservation planners who are knowledgeable about regenerative agriculture through a Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture course, and 2) increasing the number of RCD and NRCS professionals’ understanding of regenerative agriculture principles and practices through a webinar and the development of educational products focused on RA for technical assistance providers. 

The objectives of this project are:

Objective 1: NRCS will have a curriculum for a Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture course which will increase the number of RA knowledgeable technical assistance providers.

Objective 2: 40 RCD and NRCS employees from across California will have an increased ability to help agricultural producers adopt regenerative practices through their participation in the Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture training led by NRCS, TKREF, and SMRCD.

Objective 3: RCD and NRCS employees from across California will have an increased understanding of regenerative agriculture through at least one educational product developed and disseminated to 200+ NRCS and RCD employees and through a webinar reaching 50+ NRCS and RCD employees.

Objective 4: Reduce the barrier of RCDs participating in conservation planner courses by increasing access and reducing financial burdens with stipends to 25 RCDs to participate in the Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture course, increasing RCD conservation planners and organizational capacity statewide.

Timeline:

The two training opportunities and educational materials developed through this project will result in an TA providers that are more knowledgeable and skilled about RA. This project provides a range of learning opportunities (in person, online, educational materials) to engage TA providers about RA principles.

The primary inputs for this project are human (staff time and partnerships) and financial. Staff time is primarily SMRCD's for project management, planning, outreach, and hosting of the two trainings, development of educational products, and project evaluation. SMRCD’s time on Tasks 1-2 (below) will be supplemented by in-kind staff time of NRCS and TKREF to plan and execute the trainings, develop a handout, and assist with outreach, and CCI, who will assist with the curriculum development for the CP for RA training. Human resources also includes the time of participating RCD and NRCS employees engaging with this project. Financial inputs include funding for stipends, lunches, training supplies, and mileage. Physical resources include the use of TomKat Ranch facilities, training materials, and AV equipment.                                                                         

RCD and NRCS employees are the primary audience for this project. The primary mechanism for outreach for the trainings and dissemination of educational material will be staff listservs, operated by California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD) and NRCS, reaching over 200 employees.

Since space and lodging at TKREF are limited (40 trainees max), prospective trainees will submit an application that will consider the following: need for conservation planners, geographic location, number of producers they anticipate being able to serve, need of stipend, and ability to serve socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. SMRCD, CARCD, NRCS, and TKREF will evaluate the applications.

The tasks and timeline for this project are:

Task 1: Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture training

  • Curriculum development- Oct’22-Jan’23
  • Planning, application and evaluation development- Nov’22-Feb’23
  • Outreach, accept and evaluate applications- Mar-Apr’23
  • Training at TomKat Ranch- Sept’23
  • Curriculum revision- Dec’23-Jan’24

Task 2: Technical Assistance for Regenerative Agriculture Webinar and Educational Products

  • Assess existing RA educational resources- Oct’22-Jan’23
  • Develop 1+ handout and post with other RA educational resources on TKREF website- Feb-July’23
  • Plan webinar- June-Aug’23
  • Outreach about educational resources and webinar- Aug’23
  • Host webinar- Sept’23

Task 3: Evaluation

  • CP for RA trainees and webinar participants take WSARE survey- Sept’23
  • Develop draft report on survey results- Nov’23
  • Post-mortem discussion- Dec’23
  • Final evaluation report-Feb’23

Task 4: Administration

  • Contract execution-Sept’23
  • Invoices and progress reports - Quarterly
  • Final report- Feb’23

Cooperators

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Education

Educational approach:

This project will integrate NRCS Conservation Planner training with regenerative agriculture training curricula to teach California Resource Conservation District and Natural Resource Conservation Service employees how better assist regenerative agricultural practitioners and to help other producers how to adopt regenerative agricultural practices.

Education & Outreach Initiatives

Conservation Planning and Regenerative Agriculture
Objective:

NRCS will have a curriculum for a Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture course which will increase the number of RA knowledgeable technical assistance providers.

Description:

The project has just begun, and the work accomplished thus far has been research into curricula and planning discussions with program partners.

Outcomes and impacts:

No outcomes and impacts as of yet.

Conservation Planning and Regenerative Agriculture
Objective:

40 RCD and NRCS employees from across California will have an increased ability to help agricultural producers adopt regenerative practices through their participation in the Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture training led by NRCS, TKREF, and SMRCD.

Description:

No activities have been conducted as of yet to further this objective.

Outcomes and impacts:

No outcomes and impacts as of yet.

Conservation Planning and Regenerative Agriculture
Objective:

RCD and NRCS employees from across California will have an increased understanding of regenerative agriculture through at least one educational product developed and disseminated to 200+ NRCS and RCD employees and through a webinar reaching 50+ NRCS and RCD employees.

Description:

No activities have been conducted as of yet to further this objective.

Outcomes and impacts:

No outcomes and impacts as of yet.

Conservation Planning and Regenerative Agriculture
Objective:

Reduce the barrier of RCDs participating in conservation planner courses by increasing access and reducing financial burdens with stipends to 25 RCDs to participate in the Conservation Planning for Regenerative Agriculture course, increasing RCD conservation planners and organizational capacity statewide.

Description:

No activities have been conducted as of yet to further this objective.

Outcomes and impacts:

No outcomes and impacts as of yet.

Educational & Outreach Activities

1 Curricula, factsheets or educational tools

Participation Summary:

1 NRCS
1 Nonprofit
2 Ag service providers (other or unspecified)
1 Farmers/ranchers

Project Outcomes

1 New working collaboration
Project outcomes:

The work thus far has been researching various curricula to integrate into this training program and meetings between project partners. The project team is collaborating in a new way to attempt to marry the existing regenerative agriculture and conservation planning curricula into an on the ground training session specifically designed for TA providers rather than for people that own or manage land.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.