LEAF Partnership

Biologically Integrated Farming Systems

Type: active

Purpose: The goal of the revitalized Biologically Integrated Farming Systems (BIFS) grant program isto provide outreach of innovative, biologically integrated plant-based farming systems thatreduce chemical pesticide inputs.This includes efforts to:1) Enhance knowledge, research, and technical assistance2) Align pest control advisors (PCAs) with SPM3) Reduce economic risk for growers transitioning to SPM

Agency/Department Name: CA Department of Food and Agriculture

Application Close Date: 6/30/26 12:00

Estimated Available Funds: $2,000,000

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is seeking stakeholder input to help inform the upcoming Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) solicitation. Your feedback will help them better understand industry priorities, emerging challenges, and opportunities to support California’s specialty crop sector through future grant funding.

Survey Link: https://forms.office.com/g/T304jL0wp2

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is hosting a virtual workshop to share draft findings from the state’s Energy Resource and Reliability Outlook. This session includes analysis relevant to land-based energy systems, forest and biomass resources, agricultural energy use, and rural grid reliability. All key topics for LEAF partners working at the intersection of land, energy, agriculture, and forestry.

This is a useful touchpoint for tracking how statewide planning is aligning with forest health, biomass utilization, and rural resilience efforts.

Event details: Tuesday, June 9, 2026 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Join the workshop: https://energy.zoom.us/j/84648488019

Meeting ID: 846 4848 8019 Passcode: 875795

Full notice and agenda

Thank you all for contributing to robust attendance at our LEAF Workgroup meeting that took place yesterday. We were glad to hear your updates, concerns, and feedback about the tools we have developed. We continue to welcome that feedback as you familiarize yourself with the tools, so please don't hesitate to reach out to myself (skaufman@mljt.org) and Rose (rday@mljt.org) with any questions or comments.

For those who were unable to attend, you can click here to the Zoom recording. You will need to use the following passcode to access the recording: y$GpHqa7. You can also review the meeting transcript and chat log via this link.

A few highlights from the discussion:

• Partners provided valuable feedback on the Central Sierra Regional Partnership Funding Coordination Matrix, including recommendations to incorporate additional datasets, project mapping layers, funding programs, and implementation resources. Some feedback was captured in our live poll results below: