Building Healthy Soils and Balance Sheets with the California Soil Restoration Project
Feels like hard times, for a lot of California growers. Vineyard operators are watching grape prices collapse under the weight of oversupply, and some are making the painful decision to pull out vines that were established generations ago. Agricultural history literally erased by economic pressure. Orchard operators are caught in a squeeze between increasing input costs, demands for reduced water use, and almond prices that aren’t delivering an ROI. Right now, any program that offers a new revenue stream while making your land healthier and more productive deserves a serious look.
The California Soil Restoration Project is that program. Here is what it is, what it pays, and how to get in before the next season closes.
1. THE CALIFORNIA SOIL RESTORATION PROJECT IS OFF TO A GOOD START
This year, the first cohort of California Soil Restoration Project (CSRP) participants enrolled 10,000 acres of vineyards and orchards in the program. They span a wide range of operations — from small family farms to globally recognized brands and leaders — from Kern County to Butte County. These growers have committed to a straightforward management practice: keeping living roots in the soil year-round and minimizing disturbance. No complicated new equipment to finance. No dramatic change to how their cash crops. Just a commitment to supporting soil health through the use of perennial (aka “conservation”) crops at ground level.
What are they growing on those acres? Carbon.
It works like this. Plants, and especially perennial grasses, are continuously pushing carbohydrates (sugar!!) down through their root systems into the soil. Those root exudates feed an active community of soil microbes. The microbes, in turn, convert those simple sugars into more complex, stable carbon compounds that attach to soil particles and stay put. Over time, that process builds the stock of organic carbon in the soil — measurably, verifiably, so the result can be sold as a carbon removal credit in the voluntary carbon market.
Any acre that is kept in continuous living cover is eligible for the program, regardless of what the cash crop is. Annual cover crops, perennial grasses, or even well-established resident vegetation all qualify, as long as living roots are present year-round and the soil is not being regularly disturbed. Growers do not have to plant “Oakville bluegrass” to participate. That said, Oakville bluegrass has features that make it especially practical for this application: it goes dormant in summer, so it is not drawing on soil moisture during the period when vines and trees need it most, and its low growth habit means it does not interfere with harvest operations or orchard floor management. And, it’s a perennial so a grower doesn’t need to purchase and plant new seed every year.
The Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative and Recover Ag — our technology partner — measure the change in soil carbon in enrolled fields using a next-generation measurement system powered by AI and satellite remote sensing. Those measurements are used to issue carbon removal credits, which are then sold to corporate buyers. The revenue from each “vintage” of increased soil carbon is distributed back to participating growers.
That is the program in a nutshell. Now let's talk about what it means for your operation.
2. THE CSRP IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET PAID WHILE INCREASING YOUR SOIL’S PRODUCTIVITY
The central proposition of the CSRP is one that doesn't come along often: you can get paid to do something that is genuinely good for your land. The cascading benefits of perennial cover go far beyond your annual carbon credit payment.
The practice at the heart of the program — continuous living cover — is not just a carbon farming technique. It is one of the most well-documented methods to improve the long-term productivity of agricultural soils. Living roots in the ground year-round feed the soil microbiome that builds organic matter and soil structure. Better soil structure means more pore space for air and water to move through the profile. More pore space means faster water infiltration, less runoff, and greater water retention in the root zone. Better water retention means your soil holds more of the rainfall and irrigation water you depend on, instead of losing it to evaporation or runoff. Better structure also means more efficient nutrient cycling, because nutrients you apply stay in the root zone longer and do more work before leaching away. In a drought-prone state with rising water costs and expensive inputs, these are not small benefits.
The CSRP will pay enrolled growers based on how much carbon their fields actually produce, what the market pays for carbon removal credits at the time of sale, and the cost of running the program. Based on expected carbon yields from California vineyards and orchards and recent soil carbon credit deals, we project that the CSRP will be able to pay growers approximately $100 per acre. That is a projection, not a guarantee — the actual payment will be determined once we have completed soil carbon measurements and secured a purchase agreement with credit buyers.
What does it cost to participate? Less than you might expect. Once perennial ground cover is established, the ongoing management costs are actually lower than what most growers spend on annual cover crops or on the conventional practice of mowing, spraying and disking to keep the soil mostly clean and bare. Perennial ground cover does not need to be replanted each season. The main upfront cost is seed — and the OBC has secured funding to substantially reduce this barrier.
Through OBC's USDA incentive program, growers can access up to $13,750 to offset seed purchases for up to 110 acres. In addition to financial support, OBC provides a comprehensive growers' guide to establishing perennial ground cover in your specific crop system, and access to optimized planting equipment to get the job done right the first time. We aim to make trying perennial ground cover as low-risk as possible.
3. BY JOINING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY, GROWERS CAN PARTICIPATE IN CARBON CREDIT MARKETS WITH MINIMAL COST AND WORK
Carbon credit markets can seem complicated and inaccessible from the outside, because they are complicated and inaccessible! There is measurement science, regulatory compliance, registry validation, financial administration, buyer contracting, and credit issuance. Carbon markets demand a set of technical and commercial functions that would be impossible for any individual grower to manage on their own. That is exactly why the cooperative model exists.
The CSRP was designed so that growers do the farming, and the cooperative handles everything else. Here is what participation looks like from your end:
Step 1: Join the OBC. Membership is available at a discounted rate through March 31, 2026. This is the gateway to accessing the program and the seed incentives.
Step 2: Set up an account in the CSRP project portal. The portal is a simple web application where you manage your program participation.
Step 3: Tell us which fields you plan to maintain in continuous living cover. You identify your field boundaries and confirm your management practices through the portal. That is the extent of your data entry obligation.
After that, the CSRP team takes over. We measure soil carbon stocks on your enrolled fields using Recover Ag's AI-powered MMRV system. We calculate the carbon removal yield for each field. We issue the carbon removal credits and manage all financial and regulatory compliance requirements. We contract with corporate credit buyers and collect payment. And we distribute your share of the revenue.
"Co-op members can grow a new 'crop' in the form of soil carbon, and get paid for that crop by working together as a community of land stewards. At the same time, they can improve soil health and conserve water, which is necessary to make their farm productive in the future."
— Mike Costello, Regional Director, Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative
The cooperative structure also means that you are not navigating any of this alone. OBC members share experience with each other — what worked in establishing Oakville bluegrass in a particular block, how to manage the transition from annual to perennial cover, what to expect in the first season. That peer network is one of the most valuable things the OBC offers, and it is part of what will make continuous living cover the standard management practice across California's vineyards and orchards over the coming decade, rather than a niche experiment.
4. NOW IS THE TIME TO APPLY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NEXT CARBON HARVEST
Applications are open now for the next season of the California Soil Restoration Project.
If you want to participate in the program and receive carbon credit revenue from the 2027 measurement cycle, the time to act is this fall. Here is the timeline that matters:
Apply now to secure your place in the program and take advantage of the seed incentives OBC can offer. Incentive funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis and will not last indefinitely.
Plan to plant your cover crop in Q4 2026. Fall planting gets Oakville bluegrass established before the winter rains, giving it the best possible start for the 2027 growing season.
Once cover is established and your fields are enrolled, those acres will be actively "growing" carbon throughout 2027, building toward the next credit issuance.
We understand the financial pressures facing California growers right now. The CSRP is not a silver bullet, and we are not promising it will solve every challenge your operation faces. What we can offer is a real, additional revenue stream from land you are already farming, combined with agronomic practices that will make that land more productive for the next generation of whoever farms it. In a difficult market environment, that combination is worth taking seriously.
To learn more or to start your application, contact the Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative directly. We are happy to walk through the program in detail, answer questions about your specific operation, and help you determine whether the CSRP is a good fit for your fields.