2020 December Board Book

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Production of Dairy Manure and Almond Woody Biomass Compost for Healthy Soils BACKGROUND: California leads the nation in both dairy and almond production. CDFA has recently funded a $250K project focused on the soil health benefits of applying dairy manure compost to almond orchards. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this proposed study is to add two additional areas of research to the already-funded CDFA project referenced above. The new components will test the addition of almond woody biomass to 1) pelleted and 2) unpelleted dairy manure compost. INDUSTRY BENEFIT: Multi-stakeholder project. This project is designed to be a collaboration between CDRF, Almond Board of California, and CDFA that would improve dairy manure value and usage as compost on local almond farms. (Clear economic and environmental benefits for both dairy and almond industries.) Researcher: Ruihong Zhang, UC Davis

Year 2 of 2, project total $91,655 (2020: $46,781, 2021: $44,874 )

Timeline:

2021 CMAB Budget Request: $ 44,874

CDRF 2021 Proposed Budget and Projects