We are excited to announce that our office has a new name: The Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS).  This new name better reflects our mission to strengthen the agricultural system while also addressing the challenges of the future. Along with the name change, we have introduced a new, unified logo that replaces our many siloed grant program logos, symbolizing our shared mission across all programs. Over the next few months, you will notice updates to our communications that incorporate the new name and logo. We encourage you to share this information with your colleagues, partners and stakeholders. You can find our official announcement and our new logo here, as well as our recently updated mission and vision statements.  

The decision to rebrand was rooted in the evolution of CDFA’s relationship to sustainable farming over the last 30 years.  Our original name, “The Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI),” stemmed from the Canella Environmental Farming Act of 1995. The Canella Act laid the groundwork for our incentive programs and codified the Department’s commitment to advancing sustainability through science. Today, our programs not only support a healthy environment – marked by clean water, fresh air, and thriving biodiversity -but also the social and economic health of California’s farms and ranches. Looking forward, we also recognize the need to build resilience for the challenges ahead- from extreme weather to regulatory changes. We must develop research, demonstration and incentive grant programs to help agricultural stakeholders adapt and thrive.