Dear Partners and Stakeholders, 

Spring is in full swing and, as always, we are energized by seeing the fields come alive with bee boxes, new plantings, fascinatingly complex farm equipment, and, of course, farmers hard at work stewarding the land and bringing food to our tables.  

At the beginning of Healthy Soils Week, I had the pleasure of visiting Westwind Farms in Woodland with the Almond Board and hearing Kirk Pumphrey share his experience recycling almond hulls and shells as mulch in his orchard. He also spoke about his research partnership with UC Davis’ Tanya Gerperle-Goncalves to better understand the impacts of these practices. The farmers attending that event had great questions about how these practices could translate to their own operations and what benefits they might expect, giving me insight into where they saw opportunities and where the challenges lie in broader adoption.  

Later in the week, we visited Twin Peaks Orchards in Newcastle and toured their operation with co-owner Justin Miller and staff from the Placer Resource Conservation District. It was inspiring to see their partnership in implementing a project supported by OARS’ Healthy Soils Program (HSP) Block Grant and to see our friends at the Community Alliance for Family Farmers create an excellent learning environment for the legislative offices and state government leadership in attendance.  

I left Healthy Soils Week with the renewed sense of purpose I needed to sit right back down in front of this computer and keep collaborating with stakeholders and my staff to strengthen and improve our grant programs. We look forward to reviewing HSP and State Water Efficiency Enhancement Program (SWEEP) concept proposals soon and to beginning outreach for our equipment sharing program this spring and summer. 

I hope you are finding similar inspiration in the bustle of spring. 

Sincerely, 

Dr. Tawny Mata