The California Department of Food and Agriculture, alongside the State Board of Food and Agriculture, has scheduled the first of five public listening sessions to help define the term “regenerative agriculture.”
The session is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 6, at noon Pacific Time.
The gatherings are intended to collect insights that will help define the term for use in state policies and programs.
As the advisory body to the governor and CDFA secretary, the California State Board of Food and Agriculture plays a key role in guiding how agricultural policies can optimally serve the state's farmers, ranchers and consumers. Introducing a clear definition of regenerative agriculture into state policies and programs helps to establish a science-based standard for recognizing the term "regenerative" in the state's agricultural policies, CDFA said.
The effort involves defining "regenerative agriculture" and its associated practices, aiming to formalize comprehensive farming methods that safeguard, sustain, and improve natural resources on farms and in farming communities across California.
In October 2022, the State Board reached out to CDFA's Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel (EFA SAP) to seek assistance in examining prevailing definitions and literature. The goal was to identify widely accepted science-based practices associated with "regenerative agriculture." In May 2023, the EFA SAP provided a suggested framework in response to the request.
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According to the release, “the framework included the following characteristics. 1) Being applicable, relevant and useful for California agriculture; 2) Leading to positive impacts on California’s environmental, social, human health and economic goals, including climate goals; 3) Providing measurable and verifiable outcomes, keeping in mind variability throughout the state, and emphasizing outcomes farmers and ranchers can easily measure and that are not economically burdensome to measure; 4) Allowing for context specific outcomes; 5) Soil health, including elements of physical quality, carbon sequestration, soil biodiversity, and alleviation of climate change as a foundational element.”
In other news, CDFA, along with the California Dairy Research Foundation, also announced $35 million to support greenhouse gas reductions from dairy and livestock operations. More details here.
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