Contra Costa Resource Conservation District is proud to work with farmers that want to develop carbon farm plans and maximize carbon sequestration within their farm or ranch to promote soil health and enhance agricultural conservation.
Contra Costa RCD staff work with farmers and ranchers to address farm issues through management practices that also sequester carbon dioxide, providing a number of benefits to the farm, and the community. If you're interested in developing a carbon farm plan for your operation, please contact Ben Weise or Derek Emmons.
In Summer 2018, Contra Costa RCD wrote the first Carbon Farm Plan in Contra Costa County in partnership with Frog Hollow Farm. Through this document, RCD Staff worked to capture a snapshot of Frog Hollow Farm and their current estimated carbon sequestration on farm as a result of various management practices including cover cropping and compost application among others. RCD Staff site visited with Frog Hollow Farm staff to further identify potential carbon sequestration opportunities that may also address on-farm issues like weed issues, water usage, or pollinator habitat availability.
Skills: Permitting, conservation on agricultural land, illegal dumping prevention.
Fun Fact: Eagle Scout, former member of the University of California Marching Band, aspiring birder, and a Contra Costa native raised in Southern California.
Ben started working with Contra Costa RCD in January 2017 after receiving two Masters degrees from Indiana University in Natural Resource Management and Environmental Policy following undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley. Ben manages the Voluntary Local Program, the EcoStewards Program, and other conservation programs focused on agricultural lands.
Skills: Water conservation, Irrigation Audits, Data interpretation/analysis, Soil conservation.
Fun Fact: As a toddler Ishai lived on a cut flower farm. His first word was tractor. While working as a gardener, Ishai learned to backcountry ski, because being in the snow is much better than being in the rain.
Ishai has over 20 years’ experience in the landscape field, with 8 of those as an irrigation specialist. He is also a licensed landscape contractor. In 2016, Ishai returned to school as a returning adult student, first earning a Certificate of Achievement in Nursery Management at Diablo Valley College, and then transferring and graduating from UC Berkeley in 2022 with a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies, earning the departmental citation.
After graduating from Cal, Ishai worked as a Scientific Aid in the Groundwater Permitting Unit at the Regional Water Quality Control Board, reviewing groundwater discharge monitoring and reporting data.
Ishai has a deep interest in all things grass, soil and irrigation and has focused his studies on those fields.
2001 Clayton Road, Ste. 200
Concord, CA 94520
The Mission of the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District is to Facilitate Conservation and Stewardship of the Natural Resources in Contra Costa County.
