Yolo County AFA: Taking action to improve agricultural viability
Yolo County is known for both its successful farms and for its progressive, city-centered development pattern. Both may be in jeopardy as development pressures, government fiscal concerns, and a variety of mitigation programs threaten to take ag land out of production.
The Yolo County Ag Futures Alliance has identified ag land mitigation as a significant opportunity to affect public policy and improve the results for agriculture and the environment. The group has developed a set of Migration Principles to guide policy and has made detailed recommendations to the County on its 2006 Ag Conservation Easement Ordinance (YAFA Ag Ord Recommendation.pdf).
In addition, the group has been working closely with the county on its update of the General Plan to ensure that policy supports local agriculture to the greatest extent possible. AFA members speak regularly in public hearings to promote smart ag policies and the group has worked to promote adoption of its recommendations throughout the process. Some of its proposals, including the creation of farmland conservation zones, the development of a farmland mitigation bank and the creation of a farmland prosperity fund are outlined in the group’s General Plan recommendations submitted in September 2007. YAFA 2008 General Plan Update
The Yolo AFA is also addressing a range of other key issues related to agricultural prosperity in the county. A major focus for the coming year will be to research the obstacles to agricultural processing and develop an action plan to attract the value-added activities necessary to support farmers’ viability.
Yolo AFA History
Yolo County is blessed with a mild climate, relatively ample water, and close proximity to two of California’s biggest markets—San Francisco and Sacramento. These same blessings make Yolo County an ideal site for additional population growth. As a result ag finds itself caught in the middle between its desire to become economically and environmentally sustainable and the pressure to convert land to non-farm uses. This backdrop made Yolo County one of the high-priority locations for the expansion of the AFA process beyond Ventura County.
The leader of the effort to introduce the AFA process in the County was Rick Landon, Yolo Co. Agricultural Commissioner. In the spring of 2004, Rick helped organize a series of introductory meetings about the AFA. Calling his contacts in farming, ranching, the environmental community, agriculture support agencies, and community leaders, Rick encouraged them to consider a building a new coalition to support agriculture. Several meetings later, a core group agreed to launch the Yolo AFA.
The first formal Roundtable Meeting of the AFA was held in October 2004 with 24 participants invited representing production agriculture, environmental and civic organizations, and support agencies.
You may contact the group directly by emailing them at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Yolo Regional Food Forum
July 2010 The Yolo Ag Futures Alliance hosted a Regional Food Forum in July to assess the challenges and barriers to building a strong regional food infrastructure. More than 65 participants, comprising 40 farmers/ranchers and 25 ag support representatives from Yolo and Solano Counties, gathered to recommend specific actions towards enhancing the local economy and viability of regional agriculture. Attendees included the Yolo Ag Commissioner, Cooperative Extension, Economic Development, bankers, distributors, a farmer’s market manager and the Health Department. Recommendations targeted strategies for keeping regionally produced food in a regional supply chain, to regional consumers.
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