Agricultural and Rangeland Programs

Fresno County is home to 1.88 million acres of the world’s most productive farmland area. Nearly 50% of the County’s 3.84 million acres.

Agricultural and Rangeland Program Overview

The Sierra Resource Conservation District (SRCD) is committed to supporting Fresno County’s productive community of farmers and ranchers. We support and provide essential services related to conservation practices, direct technical assistance, outreach material, and partnership support services to our district’s hard-working farmers and ranchers. These services as a result will improve farm and ranch productivity while strengthening the agricultural business. Our goal is to support and continue to ensure that farmers and ranchers will be able to maintain productivity through the conservation of natural resources and adaptation to our ever-changing climate.

Economic & Drought Relief Grant Programs for Small-Mid Scale Farmers

In partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, as well as multiple local partner organizations, the goal of the CUSP program is to provide outreach, informational services, and technical assistance to local producers in order to increase the number of economic and drought relief grant applications and awards. As well as increase awareness and access to all available resources which can provide assistance to local small and underserved producers who are struggling with the lasting effects of the COVID pandemic and drought.

Are you a small farmer, or do you know of a small farmer who may benefit from our services and assistance? We welcome you to contact the CUSP Engagement Manager, Karin Roux, at [email protected] or visit the program page for more information.

CUSP Page

San Joaquin Valley Land and Water Conservation Collaborative

In partnership with the American Farmland Trust, the National Resources Conservation Service, and four other Central Valley Resource Conservation Districts, the SJVLWCC includes three goals for the program. The first goal is to address water resource issues by utilizing cutting-edge planning tools. These tools ensure the most efficient use of resources and result in the strategic protection and stewardship of agricultural land. Then, strengthen the resilience of the Valley’s agricultural and natural systems to drought and climate change by providing direct technical assistance to implement water conservation and infiltration practices. The last goal of the SJVLWCC is to reach new and underserved farming communities.

SWEEP Evaluations and Support Program

In partnership with the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts and the California Department of Water Resources, the SWEEP program intends to provide outreach and informational services to increase the number of local area producers by applying for and receiving SWEEP grants. In partnership with North West Kern RCD, testing and evaluation services for completed SWEEP projects are completed to determine the Distribution Uniformity of irrigation systems and provide a detailed report of system functionality to the producer. As well as to report to the CADWR on the specific actual improvements to these irrigation systems in an aggregated and anonymized manner.

Additional Services

Carbon Farming Support Services to provide carbon farming guidance to local producers, in partnership with Carbon Cycle Institute and NRCS, in order to increase the number of local producers who approach their conservation planning from the perspective of the carbon cycle. Provide conservation planning specifically designed to increase soil quality, water quality, and water quantity, by planning and implementing practices to sequester carbon in the soil of working lands and reduce the cost-intensive soil amendments necessary on degraded soils, in order to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of production agriculture on local croplands and rangelands.

Outreach and Informational Services to increase awareness and access to all available resources, public and private, to help local producers meet their resource challenges and ensure the profitability and sustainability of local producers.

Direct Technical Assistance to local producers to ensure that they are able to gain access to any and all resources, including, but not limited to: application assistance, USDA-FSA onboarding, conservation planning, BMP implementation planning, marketing, and business planning, and educational opportunities to increase regenerative practices adoption to increase local producer resiliency to drought and climate change.

Partnership Support Services to aid our local producer organizations in regular ongoing issues which affect their membership. Partner organizations include Punjabi American Growers Group, African American Farmers of California, Asian Business Institute, and Fresno-Kings Counties Cattlemen Association.

Contact Us

We are here to help you! Feel free to contact us for additional information or any questions you may have.

Agriculture and Rangeland Program Manager: Karin Roux

Contact Information: [email protected]

OR fill in our contact form and we will contact you.

Contact Us