North Coast Soil Health Hub Newsletter
News, events, and tools to maximize soil health on farms in
Sonoma, Napa, and Mendocino counties
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How Do Farmers Use SoilHub.org?
There are many ways to engage in the Hub:
The SoilHub.org website is a platform for sharing information, having discussions, and connecting farmers with the resources they need to be resilient and sustainable in the North Coast region and throughout the state.
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In 2019, North Coast Soil Health Hub resolves to build off of the first two years of work in exciting ways. We are thankful for all those who have been part of North Coast Soil Health Hub in its first two years!
Past Years in Review
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Moving Forward
Partners in the North Coast Soil Health Hub are excited to announce that we received new funding that will allow us to continue offering soil health assessments to growers in 2019 and monitoring the vineyard soil health demonstrations that were recently established.
The Hub was one of 22 projects in the nation to be awarded USDA NRCS’s Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) in 2018. The highly competitive award brings $389,432 to expand the Soil Hub’s outreach to grape growers about the fundamentals of soil health, practices that impact soil health, and the importance of soil health in improving resiliency to the region’s biggest natural resource challenges, including drought, heat stress, flooding, and protecting water quality. The CIG funds will be matched dollar for dollar by local funds secured by the local Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs), who partner to coordinate the Soil Health Hub.
These RCDs have also been awarded CIG funding to embark on new research in the coming years:
RCDs will be working with University of Oregon to develop a regionally specific tool to aid interpretation of soil health assessment results for California’s North Coast vineyards.
The goal of the work is that RCDs and growers have a better understanding of which soil management practices have the greatest potential to improve soil health and vineyard productivity.
Sheep integration will be a new focus area of the Soil Hub
, as UC Davis and Napa County RCD recently received a grant award from California Department of Food and Agriculture to study the impacts of sheep grazing on soil health, grape quality, and other crop and ecological variables to build a more complete picture of the costs and benefits of grazing sheep in the vineyard.
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Scaling Up Climate Smart Agriculture: Jackson Family Wines
By Christine Kuehn, Sonoma RCD
“Carbon is the backbone of life, and is found in all living organisms and ecosystems above and below the ground. Cover crops, compost application and reduced tillage all serve to increase carbon in the soil,” stated Keith Abeles Soil and Water Specialist at the Sonoma Resource Conservation District in a recent article about carbon farming. The Sonoma RCD has partnered with Jackson Family Wines to look at these practices in action out at a working vineyard. Jackson Family Wines, producers of iconic brands such as Kendall-Jackson and La Crema, is one of Sonoma County’s leading winemaking companies that strives to focus on balancing economic success with ecological sustainability. This makes Jackson Family Wines a natural partner for this field trial. With a Healthy Soils grant from
the CA Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA), we are exploring vineyard management choices for soil building and carbon sequestration at Saralee’s Vineyard in Windsor.
Continue reading online
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Soil Health Demo Recap: Tillage & Compost in the Vineyard
By Anya Starovoytov, Sonoma RCD
On December 4, the Sonoma Resource Conservation District hosted its first "Demo Workshop: Tillage and Compost in the Vineyard" in partnership with Jackson Family Wines at the La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard in Windsor. Forty six landowners, land managers, regional partners, and industry professionals joined the conversation about how compost application and reduced tillage practices can improve soil health and increase carbon levels in agricultural soils. Participants discussed carbon farm planning, the challenges associated with specific practices or settings, implications for quality and productivity of the grapes, and the multi-benefits that can be obtained from these soil management practices.
Continue reading online
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Living Soil
A documentary of Soil Health Institute
Living Soil
tells the story of farmers, scientists, and policymakers working to incorporate agricultural practices to benefit soil health for years to come.
Watch now
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Funding Workshops
Mendocino County
Jan 29:
Rose Room, Anderson Valley Museum Grounds,
12340 Highway 128, Boonville; 2:00-4:00 pm; Free
Jan 31: UC Cooperative Extension Meeting Room,
890 N. Bush Street, Ukiah;
2:00-4:00 pm; Free
Come learn about Federal and State grant financial assistance programs to improve
soil health and water use efficiency.
Examples of Eligible Water Projects:
- Installation of solar panels for irrigation systems
- Micro-irrigation and drip systems
- Pump retrofits
- Low-pressure systems
- Variable frequency drives
- Soil moisture monitoring, weather station, and telemetry equipment for irrigation scheduling
Examples of Eligible Soil Health Practices & Payment Rates (new practice/applied on new acreage):
- Cover crop - $126/acre
- Compost - $50/dry ton
- Hedgerow - $8.58/foot
- Prescribed grazing on pasture - $22/acre
Some of the other 25+ eligible practices:
No-till or reduced till; Prescribed grazing; Mulching; Wind breaks; Silvopasture; Forage/biomass plantings: Filter strips; Riparian plantings; Crop rotations and more.
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Sonoma County Grape Day
Feb 7:
Santa Rosa Veteran Memorial Building,
1351 Maple Ave, Santa Rosa; 7:00 am—12:00 pm; $42.00 when registering online.
Sonoma County Grape Day is an annual program presented by University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) that provides research-based information on issues important to the production of coastal winegrapes.
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Grapevine Production Short Course
Feb 12-15: Napa Springhill Suites & Oakville Experimental Vineyard,
$1200, preregistration required.
Presented by the UC Davis and the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
This integrated vineyard management short course features UC faculty, Cooperative Extension Specialists and Farm Advisors, and USDA researchers who will provide an in-depth, comprehensive study of all phases of grapevine culture and production.
Who should attend: New and experienced growers as well as other industry members interested in commercial grape production.
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Vineyard Soil Health Symposium 2019
March 8: Sonoma County Winegrowers New Office in Santa Rosa,
3245 Guerneville Road, Santa Rosa; 9-12pm; RSVP to reserve your seat!
Growers will gather for a morning of presentations and discussions on improving vineyard soil health. The program will begin with academic researchers and professionals sharing information on tillage management alternatives, cover crops, compost application, and best practices for vineyard floor management. This will be followed by a grower panel discussing their experiences with implementing these practices, and the benefits, drawbacks and complexities of integrating them into their operations.
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NRCS Soil Health Assessment Tools Revamped Online
USDA has re-designed its
Soil Tools web page
, to now serve as a one-stop source for new, leading-edge tools and technologies to help farmers, ranchers, and other land users understand, evaluate and conserve soils. No user ID or password required.
The toolbox includes access to:
- Download up-to-date soil data and maps used for comparing soils over broad areas, make conservation planning and soil evaluation easier
- Web Soil Survey and other tools that provide the ability to search for soils maps and data by location
- Soil apps that display and allow users to access data and view interactive maps
- Calculators for soil texture and water budgeting
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Napa County RCD Welcomes New Sustainable Ag Manager
Napa County RCD is excited to welcome a new member to its conservation team: Miguel Garcia. Miguel holds a BS degree in Chemistry and a PhD degree in Environmental Sciences from UC Riverside. Before coming to Napa County RCD, he worked for the Coachella Valley and the Inland Empire RCDs assisting Hispanic farmers improve their irrigation water management and soil health. Miguel also has experience with carbon farm planning, and will be presenting recent work at the CalCAN Summit in Davis, CA in March. Miguel is looking forward to providing Napa County farmers with all the assistance they need to manage their resources as efficiently as possible while improving crop and soil health. In his role at the Napa RCD he will be overseeing RCD’s soil health and irrigation water management programs, developing LandSmart Plans with growers, and coordinating activities at the Huichica Creek Sustainable Demonstration Farm.
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Miguel is taking over where Charles Schembre, Napa County RCD’s former Vineyard Conservation Coordinator, left off in terms of helping growers achieve their goals related to climate-smart practices and other elements of sustainable agriculture. Charles left Napa County RCD in September of 2018 to become the Desert Farming Initiative Project Manager at University of Nevada.
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North Coast Soil Health Hub Grower Surveys are in!
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We received 92 responses between Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties. Thanks to all who participated! This information is going to help our region improve soil health through identifying successes, challenges and barriers in vineyard management. The survey is only a starting point for the effort. We are also sampling vineyards to test for a variety of soil health characteristics in order to relate soil health to different management systems. Survey results will be presented soon.
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Soil Health BMP Highlight
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Sheep Grazing Under Vines
By Kristin Cooper
Mendocino County RCD
When done right, grazing animals can have a beneficial effect on soil health, while also being economically viable. Sheep grazing in vineyards is of interest because sheep are capable of effectively managing vegetation both in vine rows and middles. Sheep act as both mowers and weed sprayers while recycling nutrients to the soil.
For the system to work, there are a few pieces that need to be in place. The ideal situation would include: abundant cover crop for feed; enough sheep to mob graze to achieve a mowed-effect; electric fencing and/or small pastures for rotational/targeted grazing; and timing to have sheep rotate through the vineyards 2-3 times. In addition, some vineyards are designed with higher trellising to allow sheep to graze without having as much access to the vines.
Bringing sheep into vineyards:
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Provides vegetation management in vine rows and middles
through mob grazing to provide a mowed effect.
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Saves on tractor use
which can reduce fuel cost, tractor maintenance, compaction in wheel tracks, and greenhouse gas emissions.
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Reduces need for leafing and light pruning
by allowing sheep to browse, under careful management and appropriate timing.
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Provides fertility and builds soil organic matter
as sheep turn cover crops into manure. Increased soil organic matter reduces soil bulk density, increase soil water holding capacity, and increases soil carbon.
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Provides the economic benefits of wool and meat production
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Discover More at SoilHub.org
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