Glenn County Resource Conservation District

Tomorrow (12/5) is the United Nations World Soil Day! The purpose of this day is to bring awareness to the importance that soil plays in maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being. The challenges with soil management today can be addressed through the implementation of conservation practices that protect soil from erosion, increase soil biodiversity (life), and increase carbon sequestration. The Glenn County RCD is currently developing a carbon farm plan for a local... walnut grower. The purpose of this plan is to identify every opportunity to increase carbon capture on the landscape for the benefit of the farmer, the soil, and the environment. Increasing carbon capture and improving soil health has compounding and cascading impacts to agricultural production. Benefits include increasing water infiltration and retention rates, improving nutrient cycling, and increasing fertility. Check out the UN World Soil Day webpage to explore a variety of graphics, videos, and posters all about different aspects of soil health: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/en/

If you have kids think about teaching them about SOIL this week! Lessons are provided on the CDFA Healthy Soils Week Webpage (cdfa.ca.gov/healthysoilsweek)! Soil health is important when managing land for production agriculture but it is also important in your garden. Unlock the secrets in the soil by experimenting with practices that bring more carbon and life into the soil. Learn more at cdfa.ca.gov/healthysoilsweek

Healthy Soils Week continues at cdfa.ca.gov/healthysoilsweek! Its intention is to raise awareness about the importance of healthy soils leading up to WORLD SOIL DAY on December 5. There will be educational activities relating to compost every day through Friday this week. Compost has been a very popular soil health practice funded by CDFA’s Healthy Soils Program. This year the Glenn County RCD has been supporting local growers interested in implementing healthy soils practice...s on their farms by providing technical assistance with the Healthy Soils Program. We are eagerly waiting for the next round of funding and will spread the word as soon as more funds are available to cover the cost of healthy soils practice implementation. Eligible practices include: compost application, cover crops, prescribed grazing, hedgerow planting, reduced tillage, and many more! Today at noon there will be a webinar about the benefits compost has to crop production, the environment and the climate along with resources for farmers and home gardeners wanting to utilize compost for their soil. Here is a short video from the CDFA Healthy Soils Week Webpage (cdfa.ca.gov/healthysoilsweek) highlighting the importance of compost:

Today is the first day of Healthy Soils Week! The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has planned a week of remote activities for people to participate in to increase awareness and understanding around SOIL HEALTH. Go to cdfa.ca.gov/healthysoilsweek to learn more about the importance of healthy soils and to participate in activities this week. Check out the Virtual Cover Crop Field Day today to learn about warm season cover crops AND winter cover crops. Ma...ximizing living roots in the soil throughout the year is one of the five soil health principles. Planting cover crops increases the solar energy and carbon you are capturing and cycling through your soil. This benefits the soil life and improves the functionality of soil. The Glenn County RCD is partnering with California Olive Ranch and researchers at CSU, Chico Center for Regenerative Agriculture on a CDFA Healthy Soils Demonstration Project to plant a diverse mix of cover crops in an olive orchard near Artois. In this project we will improve the soil health in this orchard, increase carbon sequestration, and bring the farming community together for on farm field days in the orchard to highlight what cover crops can do.

We are thinking of all the landowners and land managers affected by the #augustcomplexfire in Glenn County, CA. See our new website page to help share resources available. Let us know if you have any questions and we will help navigate you through the recovery process. https://www.glenncountyrcd.org/fire-recovery-rehabilitation