Farm Acreage
Average Farm Size Decreases, but Total Acreage Remains Stable
Why is it important?
Farmland adds to the rural feeling residents and visitors experience in the foothills and highland valleys. While the average acreage of farms in the United States has increased more than 50 percent since the mid-1950s, average farm size in California has increased roughly 13 percent in the same time. This is partially due to a trend toward smaller farms throughout the state, unlike in other parts of the nation.2
Farm acreage in the Sierra Nevada includes cropland as well as rangeland. A farm is defined as an operation that generates $1,000 or more in agricultural products in one year.3 As pressure for future development increases, farm acreage may remain relatively stable while productivity decreases due to anticipation of development or land conversion, as demonstrated in the Williamson Act Natural Capital indicator.
How are we doing?
The South Central Sierra comprises approximately 50 percent of all farm acreage in the Sierra Nevada and has remained relatively stable since 1987. The North Central Sierra, with less land utilized for crop production, has seen a six percent decrease in farm acreage, largely because of urban encroachment in the Roseville/Lincoln area. Development pressure also results in land remaining idle in the anticipation of future development, particularly in the North Central and South Central Sierra. The average farm size in the North Central Sierra decreased 30 percent in the same time, partially due to the introduction of organic farming practices. This was particularly prevalent in the area of Placer County that lies within the Central Valley.
The East and North Sierra have more rangeland, resulting in a larger average farm size. Farm acreage in the North Sierra has increased 64 percent since 1987, although the value of agricultural productivity has actually decreased. This is mostly due to expansion of existing ranches into less productive lands.
2 Retrieved May 10, 2005 from http://are.berkeley.edu/extension/giannini/Chapter3.pdf
3 National Agricultural Statistics Service. January 22, 1999. Retrieved May 10, 2005 from http://www.nass.usda.gov/mt/pressrls/misc/cenfarm.htm
