Carbon Farm Planning for Yolo County Farms
Carbon Farm Planning: Practical Strategies for Climate Smart Agriculture
Across Yolo County, farms and working lands are becoming a powerful part of the local climate solution. The county has set an ambitious goal: reaching a net-negative carbon footprint by 2030, which means removing and storing more greenhouse gas emissions than the county produces. This effort is outlined in the Yolo County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and includes a Natural and Working Lands section. The Natural and Working Lands section outlines how woodlands, chaparral, grasslands, and agricultural lands can sequester and store carbon into the future, while providing food, habitat, pollination, and other ecosystem services and contributing to the local economy. On-farm conservation practices such as cover cropping, compost application, hedgerows, riparian restoration, reduced tillage, and other carbon sequestering practices increase the amount of carbon stored in soils and vegetation.
Carbon Farm Plans
Yolo County RCD offers technical assistance and conservation planning, including carbon farm planning. Carbon farm plans help farmers identify farm-specific ways to build healthy soils, improve habitat, conserve resources, and increase carbon storage. In 2025, Yolo County RCD completed two Carbon Farm Plans for local farms in Capay and Esparto. These planning efforts with local producers demonstrate the significant climate benefits that come from implementing conservation practices across working lands.
Carbon Farm Planning in Action
At Nayyar Farm in Esparto, already implemented native plantings and compost applications are sequestering 590 metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually. These practices include native plantings along a slough, 0.39 acres of native plant hedgerow, 73.5 acres of cover crops, and compost applications across 105 acres. The Carbon Farm Plan outlined additional hedgerow planting, riparian herbaceous cover, cover crop, and compost application. If all additional practices are implemented, the farm could sequester an additional 79 metric tons of CO2 annually – bringing the farms estimated annual carbon sequestration to approximately 669 metric tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to 71,115 gallons of gasoline consumed!
In Capay, Good Humus is also building on a foundation of conservation practices, including hedgerows, windbreaks, cover crops, conservation cover, reduced tillage, and compost applications. Through these conservation practices, the farm is currently estimated to sequester 163 metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually.
Practices outlined in the Carbon Farm Plan include windbreak shelter, hedgerow planting, cover crop, conservation cover, reduced tillage, and compost application. Implementation of all proposed practices would increase their annual sequestration by an estimated 8 metric tons of CO2 equivalent bringing the farm’s potential total to 171 metric ton CO2 equivalent annually. That’s equivalent to 435,462 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle!
Together, these farms illustrate how Carbon Farm Planning can help producers build on existing conservation work and identify new opportunities to capture and store more carbon. By integrating practices that benefit both agricultural production and natural resources, Carbon Farm Plans provide a roadmap toward healthier soils, improved habitat, and more climate-resilient working landscapes.
Interested in Climate Smart Agriculture?
The RCD’s Farm and Ranch Program Area provides free, non-regulatory technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to improve soil health, water and energy efficiency, wildlife habitat, and overall farm resilience through conservation planning and on-farm practices. Step by step, field by field, these efforts demonstrate how local agriculture can help shape a more resilient climate future.
For technical and conservation planning assistance, reach out to Conor Higgins, Agriculture Program Manager, at higgins@yolorcd.org or call (530) 661-1688 ext 4.
Learn more:
CDFA Healthy Soils Program Demonstration Project – Yolo Land and Cattle
