CALIFORNIA
Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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Monterey farmers work to keep runoff from the sea By Bob Johnson Pam Krone, water quality program manager of urban and rural watersheds at the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation, addresses a gathering with Monterey farmer Javier Zamora, center in baseball cap, on soil practices that help protect the Pacific Ocean.
The foundation has become involved in studying and promoting farm practices that sink carbon into the soil, so that it doesn’t reach the Pacific Ocean. It has partnered with Zamora on multiple farm outreach events. More than 80% of the excess heat from global warming has been absorbed by oceans, raising water temperatures enough to significantly impact the habitat of some marine species. One of Zamora’s farm fields was purchased with the help of an Elkhorn Slough Foundation easement. The agreement keeps much of the ground out of production to protect nearby waters. Zamora took part in one of the foundation’s carbon sequestration trials at his farm. He purchased the Triple M Ranch and started implementing soil-health building practices in 2019. These practices included winter cover crops, conscientious tillage, residue incorporation, high-crop diversity, and rotation and compost. He also installed a hedgerow. The resulting soil-health improvements included increases in soil organic matter and decreases in bulk density. These steps provide agronomical benefits, such as reducing soil erosion, improving water holding capacity, lowering plant disease risks and increasing yield potential.
At his organic vegetable and strawberry farm a few miles south of the Pajaro River in Monterey County, Javier Zamora hosted a gathering of growers and ma- rine environmentalists. They discussed soil practices that are important for agriculture in the river region near Watsonsville and Royal Oaks, as well as for the Pacific Ocean to the west. Among the guests at the gathering was Jazmine Mejia-Muñoz, the research, education and outreach associate at the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation in Monterey. The foundation has worked with area farmers on an evolving list of practices aimed at protecting the ocean. Zamora, who grows organic produce, has developed a working relationship with the nonprofit’s researchers. When the foundation was created 30 years ago, a key agricultural issue was runoff of sediment high in nitrates that could eventually find its way into the ocean. “We have to be concerned with agriculture because it is the main industry in both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties,” Mejia-Muñoz said. Many growers have worked with the group. They say they have dramatically reduced irrigation runoff by converting to microirrigation that targets water more precisely to crops. They curb nitrates in runoff by testing the soil before applying nitrogen fertilizer.
See OCEAN, Page 8
June 1, 2022 Ag Alert 7
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