Department of Food and Agriculture: resilient and higher welfare grant program.

Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law, the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995, requires the department to establish and oversee an environmental farming program to provide incentives to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their habitat. This bill would require the department to establish and administer a resilient and higher welfare grant program to support the implementation of higher standards of care and more climate-smart farming practices by providing education materials, outreach, and incentives to producers and processors seeking to improve farm animal welfare and increase capacity to meet growing demand for higher welfare and welfare-certified products, to comply with regulatory requirements, and to make necessary climate adaptations. The bill would require the department to establish an annual competitive grant application process that enables producers and processors seeking to improve farm animal welfare to apply to the department for financial assistance and to give priority to certain applications. The bill would require the department to conduct outreach and education to producers and processors with regard to the program and to publish a report on or before January 1, 2029, on its internet website summarizing the results of the program.