{"id":180,"date":"2025-07-28T18:25:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T18:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/?p=180"},"modified":"2025-07-28T11:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T18:40:09","slug":"supporting-spanish-speaking-farmers-in-monterey-county-with-training-on-water-use-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/2025\/07\/28\/supporting-spanish-speaking-farmers-in-monterey-county-with-training-on-water-use-efficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Spanish-Speaking Farmers in Monterey County with Training on Water Use Efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), through its Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS), is helping California farmers grow more sustainably through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars\/technical\/weta.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Water Efficiency Technical Assistance<\/a> (WETA) program. This initiative funds local organizations to deliver critical on-the-ground support in three main areas:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conducting distribution uniformity (DU) testing for irrigation systems,\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Facilitating pump efficiency tests to assess irrigation pump performance, and&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Developing and delivering training focused on water and nutrient management.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One standout example of this work is happening in Monterey County, where the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcdmonterey.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Resource Conservation District of Monterey County<\/a> (RCD MC) applied for and received WETA funding in 2022. As part of their proposal, RCD MC made a strategic choice to create educational resources for Spanish-speaking farmers and ranchers\u2014a group that comprises nearly a quarter of all agricultural producers in the county, according to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture. The goal: ensure more farmers understand how to optimize water and nutrient use\u2014two critical elements of sustainable, cost-effective farming.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One key resource developed under this initiative is a series of Spanish language <strong>training videos created to share knowledge on optimal water and nutrient management&nbsp; techniques, promoting farmer-to-farmer learning.<\/strong> In this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tffpexxlsuE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">video<\/a>,<strong> Celsa Ortega<\/strong>, the owner of Induchucuiti Farms and a graduate of the <a href=\"https:\/\/albafarmers.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association<\/a> (ALBA), discusses her use of low-pressure, uniform drip irrigation systems and underscores the importance of maintaining high distribution uniformity across a field. Celsa\u2019s real-world experience and insights into effective water use reinforce how small improvements can lead to big savings in water, energy, and overall efficiency.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The video, along with other training materials and assistance supported by the WETA grant, serves as a powerful tool to help growers:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Identify inefficiencies in irrigation systems,&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>And take action to improve system performance.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Without WETA funding, these services\u2014including DU and pump testing\u2014would likely have required out-of-pocket expenses from farmers or gone unperformed entirely, leading to unnecessary water and energy waste. By offering this assistance at no cost to the grower, RCD of Monterey County is helping farms become more resilient, productive, and sustainable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While providing no-cost distribution uniformity and pump tests are core parts of the WETA program, developing training materials \u2014especially in accessible formats like video\u2014is valuable since it can reach a wide audience and have a lasting impact beyond the end of the WETA grant term.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RCD MC\u2019s initiative demonstrates how tailored, inclusive outreach can drive meaningful change on the ground. By speaking directly to the needs of Spanish-speaking farmers, they\u2019re not just improving irrigation systems\u2014they\u2019re strengthening the future of agriculture in California.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tffpexxlsuE?si=45kAN1hnI1lklprE\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), through its Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS), is helping California farmers grow more sustainably through the Water Efficiency Technical Assistance (WETA) program. This initiative funds local organizations to deliver critical on-the-ground support in three main areas:\u00a0 Conducting distribution uniformity (DU) testing for irrigation systems,\u00a0 One &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/2025\/07\/28\/supporting-spanish-speaking-farmers-in-monterey-county-with-training-on-water-use-efficiency\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Supporting Spanish-Speaking Farmers in Monterey County with Training on Water Use Efficiency<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-informational","8":"tag-state-water-efficiency-and-enhancement-program","9":"tag-technical-assistance","11":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Celsa-Ortega.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/oars-blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}