Cultivating Resilience in Ventura County

Ventura County is an important and complex agricultural powerhouse where climate threats continue to intensify.

Over the last year, CEC interviewed farmers, ranchers, and those that support them to find out how we can better support the agricultural community in adapting and bouncing forward when disasters strike.

How You Can Take Action

Ventura County Community Members

Government

• Do you work directly within the agriculture industry?

  Help producers identify vulnerabilities in their operations and emergency plans through formal assessments by technical assistance providers. Help them streamline and target emergency communications. Encourage the adoption of land management strategies, including healthy soils practices, that help producers adapt to and rebound from disaster impacts. Also, support producers’ adoption of renewable energy and renewable back-up energy.

• Are you involved with Ventura County policy development?

  Identify and increase emergency gap funding for producers and farmworkers. 

• Do you have influence in building equity in Ventura County?

  Expand enrollment in existing emergency alert and access programs and make multilingual and low-tech options available.

General Public

• Support policies and political leaders that advocate for a sustainable and resilient agriculture sector which focus on practices such as regenerative farming, land conservation, and composting of organic waste.

• Learn more about carbon farming and why it matters by reading our informational brochure here and watching this video about our local carbon farming efforts.

Farmers & Ranchers

Contact your local Resource Conservation District to learn more about funding opportunities and options for grant and technical assistance:

• Santa Barbara County

  • Cachuma Resource Conservation District: Anna Olsen, aolsen@rcdsantabarbara.org

  • Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS): Emma Chow, emma.chow@usda.gov

• Ventura County

  • Ventura County Resource Conservation District: Jamie Whiteford, jamiewhiteford.vcrcd@gmail.com

  • Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS): Dawn Affman, dawn.afman@usda.gov

Explore funding opportunities:

• California Healthy Soils Program: Funds for implementation of soil-building practices (cover cropping, mulching, and dozens more). $28 million allocated for 2019-2020 fiscal year. Learn more.

• NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): EQIP provides financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers for projects and management practices that have environmental and agronomic benefits, such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation, and improved or created wildlife habitat. Contact your local NRCS office (above) to learn more.

Why Cultivating Resilience in Ventura County Matters

Communities around the globe are experiencing environmental-related disasters at unprecedented rates. In the last five years, Ventura County has experienced fire, extreme rain and wind, drought, devastating heat, and a coronavirus pandemic that has dramatically impacted human and ecosystem health.

All of these threats impact agriculture and in turn our entire food system.

We know that climate threats – like increased wildfire and smoke, reduced snowpack and surface water, and groundwater contamination from saltwater – will continue to intensify in our region in the coming years. We need a strategic plan for how all members of our community can thrive.

What CEC Is Doing

CEC is working to connect community members, increase collaboration, and provide resources that increase resiliency and equity. We know that achieving stronger climate resilience depends on our community turning to and working with our agricultural producers.