“Every bit of produce, everything that we do in agriculture is dependent on the ability of plants to capture carbon and solar radiation from the atmosphere…We’re using solar energy to drive the photosynthetic process to produce our crops. So whether we know it or not, or like it or not, we’re all Carbon Farmers.” - Jeff Creque, Director of Rangeland and Agroecosystem Management, Carbon Cycle Institute

ARCD worked with three Amador County working land landowners to develop Carbon Farm Plans for their properties. Plans were made possible through funding from the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) Healthy Soils Incentives Program (HSP) and Patagonia.

Future funding may be available to produce additional Carbon Farm Plans for Amador County working land landowners. If interested in developing a Carbon Farm Plan for your working land, please contact ARCD Healthy Soils Natural Resources Specialist, Anna Mariscal, (209)217-1051 or  anna@amadorrcd.org

“Carbon Farm Planning is a holistic conservation planning framework focused on boosting the soil carbon cycle as the primary energy pathway on farms and ranches. The planning process begins with the producer’s goals and follows the NRCS planning process to identify all opportunities to improve the rate at which carbon dioxide (CO2) is drawn down from the atmosphere and converted into above-ground biomass and below-ground organic and inorganic carbon pools. Carbon Farm Plans provide a recommended suite of site-specific practices that benefit the climate and strengthen agroecosystem resilience to volatile climate changes, while providing co-benefits such as improved soil health, enhanced soil water-holding capacity, increased productivity, and restored wildlife habitat and biodiversity.” - Carbon Farm Planning – ATTRA – Sustainable Agriculture (ncat.org)

“Carbon Farm Planning emerged from the nexus between the climate crisis and traditional farm conservation planning, as a whole farm approach to optimizing carbon capture on working landscapes. The Carbon Farm Planning team works with a farmer or rancher to assess all the opportunities for GHG reduction and carbon sequestration on their land. The process combines traditional whole-farm planning and resource assessment approaches with up to date climate science to develop a comprehensive, carbon-focused farm plan.” - Carbon Farm Planning | Carbon Cycle Institute