Healthy Soils Program Incentive Grants

The Healthy Soils Program stems from the California Healthy Soils Initiative, a collaboration of state agencies and departments that promotes the development of healthy soils on California's agricultural lands.  The Healthy Soils Program Incentive Grants provide financial incentives to California growers and ranchers to implement conservation management practices that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases, and improve soil health.

The HS Program Incentive Grants are designed to incentivize California farmers and ranchers to implement conservation management practices eligible in the program that sequester carbon, reduce atmospheric GHGs, improve soil health, and provide co-benefits. The program’s primary goal is to promote long-term and widespread adoption of these practices throughout the state.Eligible grant recipients are California farmers, ranchers, agricultural business entities, and California Native Americans; nonprofit organizations as agriculture operations; grant recipients must be at least 18 years old. Specifically, Hemp cultivation operations are eligible to apply; Cannabis cultivation operations are not eligible to apply. Project Eligibility Requirements: • Projects must be located on agricultural operations in California. For the purposes of this program, an agricultural operation is defined as row, vineyard, field and tree crops, commercial nurseries, nursery stock production, and greenhouse operations producing food crops, or flowers as defined in Food and Agricultural Code section 77911. Projects located on grazing lands (including grasslands, rangelands, and pastures, as defined in the RGA) are eligible.• Grant funds cannot be used for projects that use potted plants and plant growth media other than soil.• Grant funds cannot be used for research and product development activities.• All entities receiving grant funds must have a physical California business address.• Awards are limited to one per agricultural operation using a unique tax identification number per round of funding, including applications submitted to Block Grant Recipients. If a unique tax identification numberis used for multiple applications, only one can be funded.• The maximum funding amount per project is $100,000 calculated using a standard payment rate for specific practice implementation scenario and acreage to be implemented. Eligibility and ExclusionsEligibility:• Projects must implement at least one of the practices listed under Eligible Agricultural Management Practices.• Projects may include multiple practices within the same field except for Non-Overlapping Practices.• Projects may include multiple fields within the same agricultural operation.Exclusions:• Previous HSP Grant Recipients are not eligible to receive funds for implementing the same practice on the same field. However, a new landowner or lessee is eligible.• Awardees cannot transfer practices to different APNs during the grant term. Annually implemented practices cannot be moved to different fields during the grant term.• University and research farms, and city community gardens are not eligible for funding through this program. • HS Program Incentive Grants funds cannot be used to implement practices that are not listed under Eligible Agricultural Management Practices in this grant solicitation. Awardees must follow requirements forpractice implementation whenever applicable.• Compost Application and Whole Orchard Recycling: HSP will not incentivize these practices on APNs where soil organic matter content is greater than 20 percent by dry weight in the top 20 cm (or 8 inch) depth.