THE PLANNING WINDOW IS OPEN — BUT NOT FOR LONG

March 31st is a deadline that matters for orchard and vineyard owners. 

There's a version of this story that plays out every growing season across California. You’ve heard about a promising opportunity — a new practice, new program, new revenue or new grant funding. You’re interested, so you file it away for later. Then twelve months of “tomorrow” slip past, and that window of opportunity quietly closes.

Don’t let this happen to you. 

Oakville Bluegrass Cooperative is currently enrolling our founding member cohort, and the campaign closes on March 31. If you've been watching from the sidelines, this is the moment we've been building toward — and timing is more consequential than it might appear.

THE FOUNDING MEMBER RATE: 50% OFF FOR THREE YEARS

The most straightforward reason to join before March 31 is to lock in founding member pricing — 50% off the standard membership rate for the next three years. This isn't a promotional gimmick. It reflects our genuine commitment to rewarding growers who take action early, before the proof points pile up and the decision becomes obvious.

Three years of half-price membership is real money. But more importantly, it's three years of full access to OBC's collective buying power, shared agronomic knowledge, carbon credit programs, and USDA incentive support — at a cost that makes the math even easier to justify.

After March 31, the opportunity for 3 years of discounted founding member rates closes. The growers who joined in March will have locked in a competitive advantage that compounds over time.

CARBON CREDITS: 2027 “growing season” STARTS NOW

This one requires a little explanation, but it's worth understanding.

OBC's California Soil Restoration Project is a carbon farming program that will pay members up to $100/acre (annually!) in carbon removal credit revenue. The program is operated in partnership with Recover Ag, who handles all the soil sampling, credit verification, and buyer negotiations — growers simply utilize perennial or permanent cover in their orchard or vineyard, to get paid while also improving soil health.  

Carbon credit programs operate on cycles. Growers who enroll now are positioned to begin earning revenue from the 2027 vintage of carbon credits. That pipeline starts with baseline soil sampling, which has to happen before the growing season gets underway. The earlier you join, the more likely you are to get in on the 2027 vintage of carbon credits. The longer you wait, the more you’re looking at the 2028 vintage instead. Waiting a few weeks today could delay your first carbon “crop” revenue by more than a year! 

On 100 acres, at $100/ac per year, that's $10,000 that early members will have earned before later members receive their first payment. The program doesn't wait.

AMP GRANTS: PROCESSING TAKES TIME

The USDA's Advancing Markets for Producers program is one of the most straightforward financial incentives available to specialty crop growers right now. Through OBC's enrollment, members can access full seed cost reimbursement on their first 10 acres of any perennial cover seed (or mix) of their choice, plus a $100 per acre incentive on up to 100 additional acres — totaling up to $13,750 in cost savings.

Grant processing takes time. Applications need to be submitted, reviewed, and approved before planting season. If you're planning to get perennial cover seed in the ground next fall and want our grant funding to offset your costs, the processing clock has already started ticking.

Joining OBC now gives us time to work through the application process with you — without the pressure of a fast-approaching planting window. We prioritize our founding cohort and joining after March 31 puts your farm 2nd in line. 

THIS IS WHAT FOUNDING MEMBERSHIP ACTUALLY MEANS

We're young. We're building. The growers who join now aren't joining a finished institution — they're helping to shape one. They'll have more influence over what this cooperative becomes than any grower who joins two or three years from now.

We’re not stopping at perennial cover cropping. So that means input on which practices we evaluate next. Members have a seat at the governance table, and they have access to grant support and grant funding. And when perennial cover cropping becomes standard practice across California's vineyards and orchards, you’ll be able to say you were there at the beginning.

Founding member pricing closes March 31. It takes less than five minutes to get started.