Agricultural easements slow farmland crunch

Also in this issue: Red imported fire ant costs, reduced lettuce tillage

The use of conservation easements to protect farmland has grown in California in recent years, but much of the agriculturally rich Central Valley still does not have access to active easement programs, according to a special report in the January-February 2002 California Agriculture. Agricultural easements allow owners of farmland to voluntarily trade development rights in perpetuity for tax benefits or cash payments, while they continue to farm. The current issue of California Agriculture, including PDF-versions of research articles in full, can be viewed online at: http://danr.ucop.edu/calag/

In the first extensive review of its kind, UC scientists examined 34 organizations that are currently pursuing farmland easements in California. By mid-2000, these organizations had protected about 84,000 acres of farmland using conservation easements. Most protected acreage is located along the coast or the San Francisco Bay Area, where the pioneering Marin Agricultural Land Trust completed the nation’s first farmland easement in 1983. By contrast, only three Central Valley counties (Yolo, Sacramento and Fresno) have farm acreage in easements.

In interviews with 111 Central Valley leaders, UC Davis public policy specialist Alvin Sokolow found that they were “mildly positive but cautious about the merits of agricultural easements and the possibility of expanding their use in California’s premier agricultural region.�
The authors also report:
* In interviews with 46 farmland owners who sold easements, owners indicated they were motivated by a combination of cash, keeping land in the family, and conservation.
* About one-fifth of the total agricultural easement acres are in cropland (17,300 acres) and the rest are in grazing land (66,700 acres).
* Agricultural easements still make up an infinitesimal share of California’s 27 million farmland acres; a much larger area, 16 million acres, receives limited tax incentives to maintain land in agriculture for 10 years or more, under the Williamson Act.
Contacts: Alvin Sokolow, ajsokolow@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-0979; or Ellen Rilla, UC Cooperative County Director, Marin County, (415) 499-4204 or erilla@ucdavis.edu.

Also in the January-February 2002 issue:

Red imported fire ant costs: Since the red imported fire ant — a South American import that is widely established in the southern United States — was discovered in California in 1997, officials have been concerned about the spread of this obnoxious and aggressive exotic pest. Red imported fire ants live in large, mounded nests that can damage agricultural equipment, disrupt ecosystems and threaten endangered species. When disturbed, they swarm out of nests and sting people, causing burning and pustules. UC scientist Karen Jetter and colleagues calculated the estimated costs to agriculture and households if the ants become established in California as between $387 million and $989 million per year. Contact: Jetter, jetter@primal.ucdavis.edu or (530) 754-8756.

Reduced lettuce tillage: Vegetable growers have been experimenting with reduced tillage practices to increase soil organic matter, limit compaction and reduce fuel and labor costs. In a 3-year study of several minimum-tillage practices in the Salinas Valley, UC scientist Louise Jackson and colleagues found that deep minimum tillage increased lettuce yields and decreased symptoms of lettuce drop disease compared with shallow minimum tillage. Contact: Jackson, lejackson@ucdavis.edu or (530) 754-9116.

California Agriculture is the University of California’s peer-reviewed journal of research in agricultural, human and natural resources. For a free subscription, call (510) 987-0044 or write to calag@ucop.edu.
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