Campaign for Jalama 

Redesigning grazing patterns for greater soil health, water infiltration, and long-term carrying capacity will require an increase in fencing at Jalama Canyon Ranch.

The expansion of oak woodlands, improvement of oak regeneration, and management of oak understories will increase carbon storage, fire resilience, biodiversity resilience, and the ranch’s hydrologic health through improved water infiltration.

Current Barrier: Regional Hubs and Regenerative Agriculture at Scale

<li>Siloed information and cultural stigmas create rifts and friction within social networks and between generations.</li>

“The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists expected. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity.”

- Journal BioScience, endorsed by 11,000 scientists from 153 nations.

A truly evolutionary project aimed at the food and fiber systems, land management, ecosystem health, and human health.&nbsp;

Current Barrier: Limited Scientific Research

<li>There are few examples of scientists studying the integration of working agricultural lands and ecological restoration and conservation.</li>

The world needs topsoil to grow 95% of its food.

<li>Land managers engaging in regenerative agriculture often feel isolated. </li>

Join us in acquiring Jalama Canyon Ranch where we will create a critical center for regenerative agriculture; leading to a healthier food system, drawing carbon from the atmosphere, increasing biodiversity, strengthening communities, and improving farmer and rancher livelihoods.

Campaign for Jalama Canyon Ranch

These pasture layout changes will allow deliberate, science-based management of livestock across the ranch; optimizing cattle operations for soil health, sustainable forage production, and profitability.

The two silvopasture areas on the ranch will demonstrate two versions of a regionally appropriate silvopasture system - one based on oak woodland expansion, and one based on tree fodder for expanded livestock nutrition.

1,000 Acre Center for Regenerative Agriculture

start

Phase 1 // $6,000,000 by December 2020.

If we continue to degrade soil at the current rate, the world could run out of topsoil in about 60 years.

The movement is taking hold nationally and globally. White Buffalo Land Trust is a leader in the space and Jalama Canyon Ranch will be a quantum leap in the growth and evolution of the movement; elevating the Central Coast to a position of leadership.

All of which lead to the cessation of soil loss and the building of new top soil.

Biodiversity in the county is rapidly declining and at risk.

Soil carbon sequestration has the potential to reverse our climate crisis.

With diverse business, operational, and technical expertise, and over 25 years of combined experience specifically in regenerative agriculture, our team is well qualified and highly effective.

White Buffalo Land Trust has attracted leading regenerative agriculture, science, and conservation partners who are contributing research, educational, technical, and business support to expand and broaden the success of Jalama Canyon Ranch.

White Buffalo Land Trust is a 501(c)3 organization.

<li>Increased soil organic matter </li><li>Increased water infiltration rate and depth</li><li>Increased water holding capacity</li><li>Complex microbiology and biodiversity in the soil</li>

Orchards are planned in areas with good access for irrigation and from the property core, with low pasture value, and where the addition of woody perennials will reduce erosion risk and increase carbon sequestration.

Regenerative agriculture soil principles, practices, and techniques have the following outcomes:

In addition to the on-the-ground benefits, regenerative agriculture positively impacts fire and flood resiliency, the nutrient density of food, the remediation of toxins in the environment, and farmer and rancher livelihoods. 

The transition to regenerative agriculture includes practices and techniques that stimulate biodiversity in the soil as well as above ground biology. These practices include: 

Jalama Canyon Ranch will model regenerative agriculture at scale in a financially viable way; serving as a center for education and training, scientific research, and removing the barriers to rapid and broad adoption of regenerative agriculture locally, regionally and globally.

Explore our design for the transition of Jalama Canyon Ranch and its evolution into a thriving model of regenerative agriculture.

<li>High diversity cover crops<li>Multi-species cropping systems</li><li>Year-round pollinator forage</li><li>Water infiltration earthworks </li></li>

<ol><li>Rehabilitated Vineyards and Orchards<li>Oak Woodland Restoration </li><li>Reconnected Riparian Corridors </li><li>Revitalized Pastureland </li><li>Integration of Tree Crops and Animals</li><li>Center for Regenerative Agriculture</li><li>- 10. Redesigned Animal Fencing, Paths, and Roads</li></ol>11. Increased Water Holding Capacity</li>

Jalama Canyon Ranch is 1,000 acres just 8 miles from&nbsp;the Point of Conception. It shares over 1 mile of boundary with the&nbsp;Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve and sits at the epicenter of some of the largest contiguous ranches in Santa Barbara County.

White Buffalo Land Trust is committed to the broad and rapid adoption of regenerative agriculture and unlocking its power and potential to address the environmental and public health crises we are living through. We believe change begins on the ground and we believe our local solutions lead to regional and global impact through shared data, models, and linking practices to outcomes.

<li>This will allow for infrastructure development and implementation of the education, training, and science programs.<li>As of April 30, 2020 we have commitments of $250,000 towards Phase 2.</li></li>

The existing habitation area will be enhanced to harmoniously integrate science, education, training, and gathering into the landscape. The development plan includes added farm worker and guest housing as well as meeting, work, and research spaces. These infrastructure investments will advance both the mission and the long-term economic viability of Jalama Canyon Ranch.

We will offer educational and technical training courses, as well as facilitate a local social network of producers and consumers engaging in land regeneration.

Over time, transitioning to organic production and improving soil health in vineyards will improve fruit quality, open access to new markets, and increase the long-term viability of the enterprise.

Our Capital Campaign Includes 2 Phases:&nbsp;

This early investment will:&nbsp;reduce labor and management costs over the lifetime of the project; modify pasture size and access to support optimized rotational grazing; and protect appropriate areas for oak woodland regeneration, riparian restoration, and other sensitive area preservation.

11 - Increased Water Holding Capacity

<li>Farmers and ranchers need to see local examples of regenerative agriculture at scale to understand how soil regeneration can work on their land.</li>

1 - Rehabilitated Orchards &amp; Vineyards

<li>This will purchase the land, ensure its perpetual protection, and establish a maintenance fund.<li>As of April 30, 2020, the campaign has raised $2,875,000 thanks to a collaborative effort including private donors, foundations, The Nature Conservancy, and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County.</li></li>

Jalama Canyon Ranch will be a 1,000 acre example of regenerative agriculture for other producers to learn from. Our financials and ecological outcomes will be shared allowing producers to learn from our model. We will invest in shared processing infrastructure currently unavailable in the region.

The Power and Potential of Regenerative Agriculture at Scale

Phase 2 // $4,000,000 by December 2021.

Call now at<a href="tel:805-699-6058" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> (805) 699-6058</a>‬ or <a href="mailto:campaign@whitebuffalolandtrust.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">email us</a> to discover how Jalama Canyon Ranch and the Center for Regenerative Agriculture match your giving priorities.

Current Barrier: Education &amp; Training 

Transitioning to regenerative agriculture addresses the planet's climate, biodiversity, and food security challenges.

<li>There is key infrastructure missing to support regional growing networks and primary processing of raw ingredients.</li>

The coastal curve that bends south from Santa Barbara through the Los Angeles metroplex to the arroyos along the Mexican border is warming at double the rate of the continental United States.

Existing roads in revegetation zones are allowed to revegetate towards foot and livestock paths, while double-fenced roads run through the middle of abutting pastures for the efficient movement of livestock.

The addition of small earthen ponds represents a key strategy at Jalama Canyon Ranch for increasing the landscape’s water-holding capacity. These ponds are sited high in their respective drainages and in grasslands that currently produce excessive overland runoff. 

With our collaborative team of science and research based organizations, we will study the deeper links between regenerative practices and outcomes; adding to the body of scientific research on the integration of agriculture and conservation.

Additional reports with similar&nbsp;findings have been released by Project Drawdown and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

<li>Lack of access to knowledge and training for farmers and ranchers to support their transition to adopting regenerative principles and practices.</li>

- United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization

A Global Imperative With a Local Solution

Like the majority of California's grasslands and oak woodlands, Jalama Canyon Ranch is suffering from land degradation and species loss. But, this is where we see the greatest opportunity for impact.

Quantis released a lifecycle analysis last year of White Oak Pastures, a ranch in Georgia. The LCA was commissioned by General Mills and it found that the ranch's total carbon footprint, including a significant grass-fed beef operation, was negative.

Creating silvopastures through adding trees into existing pasture and grassland systems is one of the most effective strategies to increase carbon stocks, provide livestock shade access, and expand biodiversity in a ranching system.

- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

5 - Integration of Tree Crops and Animals

Land Degradation and Chemical Use<h2></h2>

According to the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Santa Barbara County is in 1 of 35 global biodiversity hotspots.

<li>There is a lack of research on how soil carbon functions, how holistic ecosystems function, and the dynamics of small water cycles.</li>

This redesign provides the additional benefit of protecting and revegetating instances of major erosion, shallow soils, and exposed bedrock which will reduce future site damage and expenses from slope failure and large erosion events.

As European settlers took over lands originally managed by indigenous peoples, land was cleared and keystone species were eliminated or greatly reduced. The grasslands were tilled and over-grazed, and in the last hundred years heavy chemical use was introduced; leading to a rapid deterioration and loss of top soil.

They can be used to efficiently irrigate orchards, water livestock in downhill pastures, and decrease erosion and gullying from major rain events.

To implement the full array of principles, practices, and techniques of regenerative agriculture for positive ecological outcomes.

The major changes to the current vineyard are in understory management. Eliminating the use of herbicides and establishing perennial ground covers will improve soil health and water infiltration rates while significantly decreasing erosion.

Recent data from farming systems and pasture trials around the globe show we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO 2 emissions with a switch to widely available and inexpensive management practices, which we term “regenerative organic agriculture.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

These silvopastures will improve livestock health outcomes and ultimately increase site carrying capacity and revenues.

Quantis Study finds Ranch Carbon  Negative

We need to overcome these challenges in order to drive rapid adoption of regenerative agriculture regionally, nationally, and globally.

We are facing major environmental and public health crises.&nbsp;

The redesign of fencelines excludes riparian areas from active pasture use, and creates further opportunities to enhance the appropriate vegetation and wildlife communities in each area.

The County sits at a unique confluence of four different eco-regions and these diverse landscapes support an equally diverse range of plants and animals.

Pastures are reduced in size both by the addition of new internal fencelines and by the revegetation of riparian corridors on the ranch. Pasture layouts have been redesigned to match watershed dynamics and seasonal moisture patterns. For example, the pastures near “8” above are wetter and more suitable for late season grazing than the mid-slope steeper pastures to the north and west. 

<li>There are limited number of economically viable examples of farming with positive ecological outcomes in alignment&nbsp;with ecosystem conservation. </li>