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Senate panel advances bill to broaden technical assistance for Healthy Soils and Climate Smart Ag programs
Summary
AB 947 would expand the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Climate Smart technical assistance program to include grant writing help, equipment sharing and broader outreach to socially disadvantaged farmers; the measure prompted questions about race-based definitions used in existing Farm Equity law.
Assemblymember Connolly presented AB 947, which would expand CDFA’s Climate Smart Technical Assistance Program (part of the Healthy Soils and related programs) to add training, conservation planning, grant writing support, matching-funds coordination, equipment-sharing provisions and outcome monitoring, with aims to improve access for small-scale and organic producers.
Brian Schaub, policy director of the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CALCAN), said the technical assistance program established by AB 2377 (2018) has helped hundreds of producers participate in Healthy Soils, SWEEP and Alternative Manure Management programs. He said an independent evaluation found almost 50% of participants had worked with a technical assistance provider and that the majority of those who received assistance considered it “extremely or very important” to their project success.
Committee questioning focused on a statutory definition of “socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers” and recent federal litigation over race-based relief. Senator members asked whether race-based provisions remain appropriate; the author and witnesses said the bill does not change that existing statutory definition and that the Farmer Equity Act (2017) provides the definition currently in statute.
The committee recorded a motion to pass AB 947 to the Appropriations Committee; the item was left on call while members completed roll-call votes.
