The Solano Agricultural Futures project (Dec. 2007, 4 pdf files). Al Sokolow and Kurt Richter. The Solano Agricultural Futures project is a comprehensive examination of the county’s farm and ranch sector. The research focuses on obstacles and prospects for future development of the economic base of Solano County agriculture, with particular attention to the land use and the production and marketing of specific commodities and products.

A National View of Agricultural Easement Programs

Are Agricultural Easement Programs Working?
American Farmland Trust and the Agricultural Issues Center have conducted the most in-depth and comprehensive analysis of agricultural easement programs undertaken in the United States.

Report 1 - Profiles and Maps
Report 2 - How Programs Select Farmland to Fund
Report 3 - Easements and Local Planning
Report 4 - Measuring Success in Protecting Farmland with Easements - to be released soon.

Conserving Agricultural Land through Compensation
A Guide for California Landowners
Alvin D. Sokolow, Mica Bennett, December 2004
83 pages, 8.5 x 11, softcover . Order from AIC by e-mail <agissues@ucdavis.edu>, fax or telephone.
Download Chapter 1 - Compensatory Objectives: Public Wants, Landowner Needs (.pdf 3235 kb)
Download Chapter 2 - Introducing the Programs (.pdf 4420 kb)
Download Chapter 3 - Landowner Rewards and Risks: Financial, Conservation, Family Considerations (.pdf 3999 kb)
Download Chapter 4 - Financial Rewards: What Programs Compensate Landowners (.pdf 2630 kb)
Download Chapter 5 - Preferential tax Programs: The Two Versions of the Williamson Act (.pdf 1386 kb)
Download Chapter 6 - U.S.D.A. Cost-Sharing and Reserve Program (.pdf 5093 kb)
Download Chapter 7 - Cash for Development Rights: The Agricultural Easement Process (.pdf 2507 kb)
Download Chapter 8 - The Future of Compensatory Programs in California (.pdf 638 kb)


Compensating Landowners for Conserving Agricultural Land
Compensating landowners is an increasingly important approach for maintaining working landscapes, especially in the face of urban expansion. As an alternative or supplement to government land use planning and regulation, landowner payments recognize the multiple public benefits of keeping farmland in the hands of farmers. The papers included in this collection (products of an April, 2003, conference in Sacramento) describe, evaluate, and suggest variations in a range of compensatory techniques, including: (1) property tax preferences for farmland allowed by state governments; (2) federal cost-share conservation payments administered by USDA; (3) federal payments for the temporary retirement of cropland; and (4) agricultural easements created through the acquisition of development rights from landowners.
261 pages, 8.5 x 11, softcover edition, $15. Order from AIC by e-mail <agissues@ucdavis.edu>, fax or telephone. Pay by check, Visa or Mastercard; price includes tax and postage. Download book in .pdf format (large file size)

California's Future: Maintaining Viable Agriculture at the Urban Edge
The publication provides the views of a dozen experts in fields ranging from biotechnology to local government and legislative policy. A concluding chapter is by Alvin D. Sokolow, extension public policy specialist, UC Davis.

California Farmers and Conservation Easements: Motivations, Experiences, and Perceptions in Three Counties (pdf)
By Ellen Rilla and Alvin D. Sokolow, with the assistance of Robin Kozloff and Cathy Lemp. Research Paper #4 in AIC's California Farmland & Open Space Policy Series, December 2000. (50 pps., $10. includes tax and shipping). (order form in .pdf)

Agriculture in the Sacramento Region, Trends and Prospects
This link provides a detailed portrait of agriculture in the lower Sacramento Valley, and of the economic and policy trends that are shaping its future.

Volume 16, No. 4, 2002 (pdf)
Farmland protection provisions

Volume 16, No. 3, 2002 (pdf)
Study explores conservation options for farmland

Volume 15, No. 4, 2001 (pdf)
AIC joins national agricultural easement study

Volume 15, No. 2, 2001 (pdf)
GIS Adds New Light on Farmland Conversion
"Edge" Document Reprinted

Volume 15, No. 1, 2001 (pdf)
AIC Proposes Larger State Farmland Total
Farmland Loss is Publication Topic
Right-to-Farm Ordinances Reviewed

Volume 14, No. 4, 2000 (pdf)
Conservation Easements' History in Three Counties

Volume 14, No. 3, 2000 (pdf)
New Center Publication Portrays Regional Ag
The Federal Role in Farmland Conservation
State Updates Data on Farmland Conversion

Volume 14, No. 1, 2000 (pdf)
First Step in Saving Regional Farmland

Volume 13, No. 4, 1999 (html)
Perceptions and Realities about Farmland Conversion

Volume 13, No. 2, 1999 (html)
New Center Volume Looks at Urban/Farmland Issues

Volume 12, No. 2, 1998 (html)
Farmland Publication

Volume 11, No. 3, 1997 (html)
AIC Rural/Urban Program

Volume 11, No. 1, 1997 (html)
California's Future: Maintaining Viable Agriculture at the Urban Edge

RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS

A Factbook About our Agricultural Working Landscapes (pdf, 8.76mb)
Edited by Alvin D. Sokolow, John Speka and Jeff Woled. Community Studies Extension, University of California, Davis. October 2004, 34 pages.

Modeling Farmland Conversion with New GIS Data (pdf)
Nicolai V. Kuminoff and Daniel A. Sumner use an analytical and econometric approach, and new GIS data, to analyze the farmland conversion process, including the effects of the agricultural-urban edge, farm returns, real estate markets, population growth, and development restrictions.

Modeling Farmland Conversion with New GIS Data (pdf)
Slides from the presentation by Nicolai V. Kuminoff at the annual meetings of the American Association of Agricultural Economists, Chicago, August 7, 2001.

Agriculture in Urbanizing Communities (pdf)
Outline of the presentation given by Alvin D. Sokolow to the USDA Policy Advisory Committee on Farmland Protection during the July 21, 2000 listening session at UC Davis. Also available in pdf format from thelistening session is testimony by Solano County farmer and rancher, Albert G. Medvitz.

Farmland, Urbanization, and Agriculture in the Sacramento Region (pdf)
A paper prepared by Alvin D. Sokolow and Nicolai V. Kuminoff for the Capitol Region Institute, Sacramento Regional Futures Compendium. This paper uses recent data on land use, agricultural production and population growth to discuss the future of agriculture in the Sacramento Region.

VIDEOS

Farmers and Neighbors at the Edge (10 min)
An overview of the challenges facing the growing urban/suburban interface with regards to the use of pesticides, ag and land use practices and policies. 1995

Great Central Valley: Confluence of Change (33 min.)
The first in the Central Valley series, it highlights the historical cycles of economic, social and political change in California and the Valley and explores the Valley's physical and economic legacy, land and land use problems, and other constraints. 1990

Great Central Valley: Portrait of the Valley (15 min.)
Introduction to the Central Valley series, a brief look at the Valley and its resources. 1990

Great Central Valley: Room for Whom? (36 min.)
Growth pressures and population trends in the Valley are examined in this video including demographic trends involving traditional valley residents, new immigrants, and commuters. Population density versus mass transit, and alternative development patterns are explored. 1990

Governing the Valley: County/City Interactions (33 min.)
Examines growth-related problems faced by local governments in the Valley including differences between county and city approaches to development and their financial consequences. 1990


RELATED LINKS

AIC Associate Director Alvin D. Sokolow's University of California, Davis, Human and Community Development Faculty Webpage

California Department of Conservation, Division of Land Resource Protection

California Department of Conservation, Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program

United States Department of Agriculture