The Almond Board of California (ABC) is making it easier for growers to access incentive opportunities. ABC Senior Specialist of Industry Communications, Taylor Hillman said they have redesigned their Almonds.com/Incentives webpage to be more user-friendly. The key priority was to improve the functionality of the online resource so that growers can find what they are looking for with ease. “Everything is sortable now. So, a grower can come to this page, they can select eligibility as a grower and it filters out the handler, the research, the utility districts, all of the extra stuff that isn’t eligible to growers. They could also look at focus areas,” Hillman explained.
There are about 10 different focus areas, such as emission reductions, irrigation, and groundwater recharge. The updated webpage also makes it possible to sort by individual agency. “You can sort by agency specifically to figure out who’s offering what and be able to sort through this mass amount of information to at least get you started in the right area for what you’re trying to do,” said Hillman.
The focus on industry outreach for incentive opportunities will also be carried over to the Almond Conference. An incentive and grower support zone was established at last year’s conference, serving as a one-stop shop for a variety of grower resources. That will be returning to the 2023 Almond Conference, December 5-7 in Sacramento. The grower breakfast on December 6 will also feature a conversation centered on opportunities available to growers.
“There will be about an hour’s worth of information from people that can help growers with incentives, TSPs, equipment companies that help growers fill out applications, and others up there that will be able to give some information to growers on how to get started,” Hillman explained. “Then after the grower breakfast is concluded, basically the growers can walk out to the incentive zone and talk to these organizations. So, it should be a great opportunity.”
Listen to Hillman’s interview below.
Brian German
Ag News Director / AgNet West