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California's economy was built from a deep and rich history of agriculture.
Today, in California's Central Valley, we boast of over 350 crops grown.
And let's not forget, 15 to 20 of those crops are only grown here in California.
This valley, with its ideal combination of climate, soil, and water,
is like no other agricultural region in the world.
You cannot carve it out and move it somewhere else.
Now we know it's inevitable that California's population will continue to grow.
We must provide housing and jobs for those folks seeking to live in the Golden State.
The question is, do we have the will to use every tool in our toolbox
to minimize the growth impact on the most agriculturally productive natural resource in the world?
Back in the early 2000s, a group of like-minded agriculturalists
and conservationists got together in the Central Valley to discuss that very issue.
And that led to the creation of the Central Valley Farmland Trust in 2004.
Another tool in the toolbox.
Today, the Central Valley Farmland Trust is not just a viable tool in the effort to preserve prime farmland in the Central Valley.
Acquiring ag conservation easements from willing landowners not only permanently protects farmland,
it facilitates succession planning and a farming family's desire for a legacy of the land.
Well, it's a combination of things.
First of all, we have plentiful snowmelt, which is very low in salinity.
So you have to have water. That's the primary requirement.
We had soils that are excellent from the standpoint of permeability and adsorption characteristics, fertility.
And then we have the climate.
We have enough cool weather in the wintertime to produce chilling,
which is needed for cherries and a number of fruits.
And yet we have warm enough winters that we don't restrict the citrus, for example, except for really sensitive citrus trees.
So we've got a marvelous situation.
Weather, water, and soils.
The combination is extremely rare.
Farmland is our factory floor for ag for food.
Food is our main staple that we need to sustain ourselves.
And without farm ground, we can't have food.
With increasing populations and more pressure for more food, it's very important we keep our farmland here.
And this farmland in California and Central Valley is very unique, very special, and very scarce.
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to do something to help agriculture.
Our family farm was struggling.
I saw my aunts and uncles struggling in their family farm.
So I knew that there was an important thing that had to be done with regard to protecting family farms.
And in order to do that, we've got to protect farmland.
We provide much of the nation's fruits and vegetables.
We provide products for world markets that depend upon us.
And in order to produce that, we must produce and protect family farmland.
We're going to be dependent upon foreign countries for food, just like we are for food.
And that's not something that I want to see happen.
The primary motivation that my two sisters and I had after my mom and dad passed away was as a tribute to them.
We always had a great affinity for ranching, farming.
Knowing our family wants to become a farmer, we wanted it always to remain in agriculture.
So we did it as a tribute to them.
The process of completing all the paperwork and farms with legal guidance was a real challenge.
In fact, my sister, who's an elementary teacher, said,
Jimmy, about every now and then I want to say stuff this whole process.
But, you know, it was thorough. It protected them and it also protected us.
Steve Bell, who farms our ranch, was very skeptical initially.
You sure you know what you're doing? Would your dad, mom really want you to do what you're doing?
I said, well, we think so.
And now he knows and sees the protections that it offers him as a farmer on this 300 acres.
Over time, we've been able to preserve some very nice farms, working farms here in the San Joaquin Valley.
These are farms that are still actively producing food, fiber and forage for our industries here in the San Joaquin Valley.
Let's not kid ourselves into thinking that an agricultural conservation easement is all that needs to be done.
There is an inherent lack of understanding or appreciation for why California agriculture is not only important to the state, but the world.
Why? Many believe that because we operate within an unmistakable world economy,
there's very little concern for what goes on in California agriculture.
We run out of farmland here in California, no big deal.
Just get our not-so-fresh fruits and vegetables from Spain, Australia, Chile or China.
It doesn't seem to matter how much energy is required to ship commodities around the world,
whether or not proper food safety or security protocols are in place,
or that some of California commodities are only grown here in California.
We were in the process of the state planning and we were trying to make a decision
whether to liquidate or to preserve the overall farming operation for our grandchildren,
and we decided that that was our real desire, and so we looked into the preservation of the land.
On a daily operation, it has not changed the way we do farming.
The overall mentality of the family and of the operation has made us much more conscientious of farming
and the preservation of agricultural ground.
Growing up more than 60 years ago in a small farming community in Merced County,
almost everyone was involved in agriculture.
There were a lot of small family farms, medium-sized and even larger family farms.
But today, very few people are involved in agriculture correctly.
Everybody depends on agriculture, although they may not realize it,
but now the farms have gotten larger, there's more partnerships,
but still most farms are owned by a family operation, even if they are a corporation,
but it takes a much larger scale to maintain a profitable operation in agriculture.
My family's been farming since the 1860s.
They were grain farmers, and they raised grain and then cattle and sheep.
We're sitting on land that my grandfather struggled to buy during the Great Depression,
and we want it to stay in agriculture beyond our years.
We know that we will be passing this down to our children and their children in generations to follow.
It's really important to us that this happens.
It hasn't really changed the way I do business.
It's just comforting to know that it's going to be agland.
It's given us a lot of peace of mind.
The impact of the Central Valley Farmland Trust is going to be very gradual
and in small but significant increments.
I think it's really important to realize that transactions take a long time to put together
and make them happen, and it's difficult raising the money for these types of transactions.
But probably the real benefit that we're having is that we are proving to California
that paving over the Central Valley is not a foregone conclusion.
As everyone knows, there's so many more people coming into the state.
Immigrants as well as just the population growth from other states coming into California.
Those people need resources.
They take up land for houses, for shopping centers, for roads, and the best land is what we try to farm.
And too many of our cities have grown up over the top of the best land.
We look at the Santa Clara Valley.
There was one time when LA County was the number one ag producing county in the country.
And that's in my lifetime.
Now we don't even think of LA County as producing agriculture, although they do still have quite a bit.
But we are rapidly expanding in the Central Valley and we can see that good farmland being covered over.
It's important that if we're going to be able to produce food for ourselves, as well as what we might export,
we have to protect the farmland.
Once I got here and started planning and growing all the fruits that I enjoyed,
then I began to think that we really need to be thinking long term.
And it's so easy. The average person is so busy trying to make a living.
They don't think long term.
I'm unusual in some ways and I think that we have an obligation in our generation to look after the future generations.
Much more so than most people do.
The unmistakable truth is we're all connected to the land, whether we're working on it or benefiting from it.
It's our home, our sense of place. It's our connection to our natural environment.
We want you to consider supporting the Central Valley Farmland Trust so we can carry this farming legacy onto the next generation.
It's part of your legacy, the legacy of the land, not just for the farmers,
but for the bounty these open and thriving lands provide us throughout California and the world.
Become a member. Help us raise awareness about the loss of farmland.
You too can be a steward of the land.
Thank you.
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