Documenting Changes in Agricultural Land Use Since 1984
The Department of Conservation Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program (FMMP) prepares, updates, and maintains Important Farmland Series Maps (Maps) as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 65560 of the Government Code, and prepares and maintains an automated map and data base system to record and report changes in the use of agricultural lands every two years on even numbered calendar years. Agricultural land is rated according to soil quality and irrigation status; the best quality land is called Prime Farmland. In preparing Maps, the Department considers all information collected or received on the amount of land converted to or from agricultural use, and between agricultural categories.
The Department shares changes to Maps with counties, which have 90 days to request corrections of discrepancies or errors in the classification of agricultural lands on the maps. The Department makes corrections of discrepancies or errors requested by counties, as required by statute (see Gov. Code, § 65570, subd. (c)). Corrections need to be supported with evidence of land use or irrigation status.
Although the Department will always accept and independently consider all information regarding land use and conversion from any source, the Department will not discuss Map designation changes with non-county parties whose interest it is to seek changes to the Maps.
Next presentation is scheduled for March 20, 2025. Archived presentations can be accessed using the link above to download a PDF of the virtual session.
SEARCH FOR MAPS, REPORTS, AND STATISTICS
New! 2020 Important Farmland data is now available in Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Lake, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra Valley, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba Counties.
2018 Important Farmland data is available in Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra Valley, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo, and Yuba Counties.
CALIFORNIA IMPORTANT FARMLAND FINDER
An interactive version of the Important Farmland map data. Locate your area of interest, calculate acreage, and other useful features, using this online tool. Information on usage is available.
IMPORTANT FARMLAND TIME SERIES
An online tool to view the Important Farmland map data as a time series, from 1984 to the present.
MAP AND FEATURE SERVICES
An online tool to view and download Important Farmland data directly in ArcGIS systems.
Information on access is available.
GIS GEODATABASES and SHAPEFILES
Downloadable
Important Farmland GIS data in the form of ESRI Geodatabases and Shapefiles, zipped by update year, from 1984 to the 2020 update currently in progress.
Information on access is available.
CALIFORNIA FARMLAND CONVERSION REPORTS
New! The
2016-2018 Farmland Conversion Report is now available.
The
2012-2014 and
2014-2016 Farmland Conversion Reports are now available.
FARMLAND REAL ESTATE DISCLOSURE LEGISLATION
Important Farmland status must be disclosed on certain real estate transactions--read about it here.
Some files on this site are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) or compressed (ZIP) format. Utilities to read both are freely available on the Internet. Spreadsheet information is formatted in Excel 2016 for Windows.
