Healthy Soils
Improving soil heath is an increasingly important tool for California farmers to offset carbon emissions.
Soils contain approximately 75% of the land’s carbon pool. As farmers implement innovative land management practices, additional soil organic matter can increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
California farmers are storing hundreds of millions of pounds of carbon in their soils each year.
No- or low-till farming, cover cropping, and crop rotation have allowed California farmers to improve soil health and reduce carbon emissions. By applying compost or manure and re-introducing green waste into soils, farmers are further improving soil health and sequestering even more carbon.
In addition to greenhouse gas benefits, healthy soils improve overall sustainability by improving plant health and crop yields, preventing erosion and reducing sediment and dust, improving water quality, increasing water retention and infiltration, and improving biological diversity and wildlife habitat.
