Agricultural Production & Protection

About this indicator: Agriculture is an important land use in the county. The production of food is a critical contribution to supporting the healthy diets of King County citizens. Farms provide important benefits such as providing habitat for wildlife and fish, improve water quality, and offer opportunities to learn about our local environment.

One major challenge to maintaining agriculture in the county is the ability of farmers to find affordable land. The Farmland Preservation Program helps preserve agriculture by purchasing the development rights from farmland. This helps reduce the cost of farmland by discouraging other non-farm uses.

Existing DNRP response: In cooperation with the King County Agriculture Commission, DNRP continues to identify and prioritize farms that could be enrolled in the Farmland Preservation Program. As funding becomes available, we work with the landowner to purchase their development rights.

We monitor and suggest updates to the County's Comprehensive Plan and Code for policies and regulations that adversely affect (or don't reflect the changing nature of) agriculture. We work to develop incentives that encourage farming in the county.

What you can do:

• Purchase local farm products. For a list of local farms see www.pugetsoundfresh.org
• Support local farm preservation efforts
• If you own land that is not being farmed, consider enrolling it the FarmLink Program. Please see www.cascadeharvest.org

More information about King County's Agricultural Produciton & Protection Index is available by continuing below for these measures:

• Acres in Farmland Preservation Program
• Acres in Production in APD

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Acres in Farmland Preservation Program

About this indicator: The Farmland Preservation Program helps preserve agriculture by purchasing the development rights from farmland. This helps reduce the cost of farmland by discouraging other non-farm uses.

Status: The development rights on 13,208 acres have been purchased through the Farmland Preservation Program

Influencing factors: The ability of the Farmland Preservation Program to purchase development rights depends on the available funding. Farmland values vary widely depending on the location of the farm in the county

Priority new actions: Continue to explore new and enhanced funding options for the Farmland Preservation Program.

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Acres in Production in APD

About this indicator: The number of acres in production is an important indicator of the health of agriculture in the county. Local food production is critical to the food security of the county.

Status: Currently there are 41,150 acres of zoned farmland in the county. Some of that land is not farmable due to wetlands, steep slopes and other conditions. Therefore, 23,000 acres are actually farmed. In addition there are 25,000 acres of land farmed in other areas of the county, mainly on RA zoned land. When taking into account the variable methods in measuring farmed properties from one reporting period to another, the amount of farmed acres has remained relatively stable.

Influencing factors: There are other uses than agriculture allowed in the APDs. One of the more popular uses is for lifestyle reasons. This reduces the ability of a person who wants to farm to compete successfully for land

Priority new actions: Continue to develop marketing and regulatory incentives to encourage farming throughout the county

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