Agricultural Resilience Incentive (ARI) Grant Program

Agricultural Resilience Incentive (ARI) Grant Program

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: County of Santa Clara
Amount: Up to US $30,000
Last Updated: February 12, 2025

Summary

The Agricultural Resilience Incentive (ARI) Grant Program, established by the County of Santa Clara, offers financial incentives to farmers and ranchers implementing sustainable practices to enhance soil health and sequester carbon. This initiative aims to bolster climate change resilience and improve agricultural operations, benefiting both the environment and the agricultural community. Eligible applicants include all agricultural operation managers within Santa Clara County, ensuring broad participation in promoting eco-friendly agricultural practices.

Overview

Agricultural Resilience Incentive (ARI) Grant Program Healthy agricultural soils help to hit the brakes on climate change by pulling carbon out of the air. The County of Santa Clara will compensate farmers and ranchers for providing this public service through the ARI grant program. Purpose and Funding The County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors established the Agricultural Resilience Incentive (ARI) Grant Program in 2019 with the purpose of providing voluntary financial incentives to farmers and ranchers who are stewarding agricultural lands in the County for enhanced natural resource management and climate change resilience and mitigation. The ARI grant program serves as a catalyst for regional efforts to increase the beneficial ecosystem services provided by agriculture and specifically to advance climate change goals by improving soil health and sequestering atmospheric carbon. In doing so, the program aims also to increase the resilience of the agricultural community. The voluntary financial incentives made available through the ARI grant program enable farmers and ranchers to adopt or experiment with improved agricultural resource management practices and, in exchange, the County and its residents benefit from costeffective resource management that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve agricultural resilience, and deter sprawl development. Over time these soil health practices will accrue value to the agricultural operation as well, improving water and nutrient management, among other benefits. Property Owner Approval Projects not located on property owned by the applicant must have written approval of the property owner. The property owner will be required to sign the grant funding agreement if grant funds are awarded, unless that power is otherwise delegated by the property owner to the applicant in writing and notarized.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applicant Eligibility:All managers and owners of agricultural operations are eligible to apply.The project takes place on agricultural lands within Santa Clara County; andThe project consists of at least one approved management practice listed in Appendix B,