A tour of the state of the art facilities at Bar20 Ranch near Kerman has been scheduled for the morning of Monday, June 29th from 9:00-11:00.  This tour is in partnership with the California Strategic Growth Council and Department of Conservation, under SGC's Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program.  TCC funding is being used by Tranquillity RCD to develop a Long Range Plan for the Agricultural Economy and Workforce of the Future here on the west side of Fresno County.   The tour will give participants the opportunity to see first hand that the foundation for a bio-circular and resilient agricultural economy has already been established -- and that there is so much more opportunity to explore!

Please arrive a little before 8:30 a.m. at the Kerman Community Center 15101 W Kearney Blvd.  We will board a transit bus provided by the Fresno County Economic Opportunity Commission.

At the facilities we will take a tour of the milk production operations.  Then we will tour the area where  biomass materials are collected for the production of methane as renewable natural gas (RNG).  The next stop will be where the RNG is used as the fuel for advanced technologies in the production of electricity.  The final stop will be to see where another facility produces green hydrogen from water as a fuel for operating large buses and other purposes.

This tour is an introduction of the potential to process large volumes of biomass categorized as "waste" through various  "conversion technologies" into electricity, biofuels for public transportation, and other potential applications on  a large-scale basis.  The tour is also the opportunity to visualize first-hand the potential for the further development of the biocircular agricultural economy.

Please respond to Ana Erevia, District Support - (559) 567-3214/ ana.erevia@usda.gov