Steering a course to farmland protection

Abstract

If you are a farmland owner approaching retirement with a small income but a big property asset, your view of the resource quite naturally is different than if you are a suburban homeowner who likes the nearby farmland because it is pretty and adds to the rural ambience. To the extent that the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) focuses on farmland-urbanization as a subject for research and education, we must steer an independent course through the thicket of conflicting views, values and personal preferences. We appreciate the critical contribution of good land to the viability of California agriculture, and we recognize the necessity of preserving for future generations the farmland base in this rapidly urbanizing state. But, if our objective is to inform policymakers and the public in a meaningful and credible fashion, we must go beyond the images and add to the factual understanding of the farmland conversion problem. This means examining the origins and dimensions of the problem, understanding its relationship to other resource and economic issues, and evaluating the feasibility of alternative solutions. In at least three areas, DANR researchers and educators are making important contributions to resolving farmland-urbanization problems. One area is production agriculture research, carried out in laboratories and fields, which helps reduce the incompatibilities between agriculture and urban neighbors. This work includes myriad advances in integrated pest management, plant breeding and genetic engineering (leading, for instance, to disease-resistant varieties requiring fewer pesticides) and agricultural engineering to improve field spray technology, agricultural waste disposal and irrigation effiaency. A second area is public policy research and education advanced by DANR social scientists. This includes the workshops and publications produced in the past decade by the Agricultural Issues Center on land use and urban growth issues. Among them are studies of the Williamson Act, Central Valley urbanization, and conflicts at the agricultureurban edge.