Carbon Farm Planning
Using Native Plant Habitat and Regenerative Farm Practices for Climate Resilience
"The rate of warming since 1982 is more than three times as fast: 0.36° F (0.20° C) per decade."National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate.gov
As the impacts from climate change and habitat loss continue to worsen, there is an urgent need to adopt mitigation practices and act. Agricultural land stewards play a unique and crucial role in the solution to fight climate change. Modern standard agricultural practices such as heavy tillage, mono-croppping, and prolific pesticide and fertilizer use have contributed to global warming with an excess of greenhouse gas emissions and depletion of soils. Carbon Farming offers the ability to reverse this trend and restore balance by capturing carbon back into the soil and keeping it there.
So, what is Carbon Farming? Synonymous with regenerative agriculture, carbon farming involves the implementation of indigenous practices that are known to improve the rate at which carbon dioxide, a primary green house gas, is removed from the atmosphere and converted to soil organic matter and plant biomass. Like regenerative agriculture, carbon farming is also focused on the revitalization of soil health and creating a healthy ecosystem on your farm.
Carbon Farming practices have proven to increase soil health and fertility, crop production, and water retention and infiltration. With these practices and improvements your farm will have a greater resilience to the effects of climate change like extreme weather and drought. Some of these practices include:
- compost
- mulching
- planting cover crops
- hedgerows
- windbreaks
- and many more.
With carbon farming and implementing these centuries-old techniques, farmers can be the climate heroes that we especially need during this time!
Through our partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Board and California Association of Resource Conservation Districts we are developing carbon farm plans with an emphasis on habitat implementation.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Have a farm or ranch or other working lands within our district
- You use pesticide free management practices, or are willing to reduce or discontinue use of pesticides and learn integrated pest management practices
- At least one of the practices in your Carbon Farm Plan must implement native plants and/or native milkweed for Monarchs
Interested in having a carbon farm plan? We are accepting applications for a free site visit to develop your free carbon farm plan from March 1 - June 30, 2025. Click here to fill out our intake form.
Once we have received your signup and meet the criteria, we will schedule a site visit and one of our trained staff will come to view your farm and discuss your goals and options. Afterwords we will write you a Carbon Farm Plan that will include resources for potential funding to implement the desired practices.
Mission RCD is one of 42 RCDs and 5 partners awarded funding to expand monarch and pollinator habitat on public and working lands and to assist landowners in the implementation of carbon farm practices that create habitat and sequester carbon. The funds for this project come from the Wildlife Conservation Board via the CARCD Climate Habitat Block Grant. This block grant is managed and distributed by the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD).