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SACRAMENTO -- The
amount of farmland in Kern County
decreased by a small amount in recent
years relative to the increase of
urbanized land, according to a new map
released by the California Department of
Conservation.
Urban land increased
by 6,265 acres, mostly from
nonagricultural categories, during the
2000-2002 period. Both irrigated and
non-irrigated farmland declined, with
more than 1,000 acres downgraded to
grazing land.
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program (FMMP), part of
DOC's Division of Land Resource
Protection, documents land-use
conversion on 45.8 million acres of
California’s private and public land
every two years. The maps and statistics
are designed to help local governments
evaluate land-use planning decisions.
The 2002 analysis is nearly complete
statewide, while 2004 mapping is getting
underway.
“This information
helps counties and cities see the
patterns and make informed choices about
how they want to direct growth in the
future,” Department of Conservation
Director Darryl Young said. “The
population of California will continue
to grow, and it’s vital that we ensure
there’s enough room for people and
agriculture.”
The Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program surveyed more
than 5.2 million acres in Kern County,
classifying land as either farmland
(prime being the best of four
subcategories), grazing land, urban
land, other land or water. The “other”
category includes low-density "ranchettes,"
wetlands, and brush or timberlands
unsuitable for grazing. The bulk of the
new urban land in the county was
previously classified as “other” land.
The most notable
example of irrigated farmland being
urbanized in Kern County was the Seven
Oaks Country Club area, which added 250
acres of development with new homes and
an expanded golf course. Hundreds of
acres of farmland in the western part of
the county were reclassified from
irrigated farmland to grazing land due
to being idled for six or more years.
Since the 1990 FMMP
survey, urban land in the county has
increased by 29,202 acres and irrigated
farmland decreased by 76,318 acres.
Forty percent of the irrigated land
decreases affected prime soils. In
addition to urbanization, land idling in
western Kern County accounted for much
of the decline in irrigated agricultural
land. Urbanization in 2000-2002 was
somewhat higher than normal due to the
availability of detailed digital
photography in the high desert areas.
Kern County’s
agricultural land will continue to face
development pressure in the foreseeable
future. The California Department of
Finance projects that the county’s
population will increase from about
678,500 in 2000 to nearly 1.1 million in
2020.
According to the
California Department of Food and
Agriculture, the gross value of Kern
County’s agricultural production was
nearly $2.6 billion in 2002. Only
Fresno, Tulare and Monterey counties
have larger agricultural economies.
The maps have been
sent to county planning officials and
organizations such as the county Farm
Bureau, Local Agency Formation
Commission, city planners, irrigation
districts and county resource
conservation districts. Printed copies,
enlargements, or digital versions of the
maps are available to the public. Call
(916) 324-0859 or email fmmp@consrv.ca.gov
for more information.
The latest statewide
study by the FMMP, Farmland Conversion
Report 1998-2000, was released last
June. More than 91,000 acres were
urbanized throughout the state – a
30-percent increase from the 1996-98
mapping cycle – and 27 percent of that
total came from irrigated farmland.
Through the
Department of Conservation, the state
offers programs that provide financial
incentives to keep land in agricultural
use.
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