Point Reyes Light - April 10, 2003

West Marin ranchers increasingly diversify

By Ivan Gale

A new survey of Marin’s farmers and ranchers has found that nearly a third of them diversified their forms of agriculture in the last five years.

Perhaps the most noteworthy find is the number of farmers and ranchers who have diversified into organic production. In fact, 1,928 acres in Marin County is now devoted to organic agriculture. A total of 46 percent of those who responded to the UC Cooperative Extension Service survey said all or part of their operation is organic.

The survey asked ranchers and farmers what they need most from county government, and 62 percent said they need help in securing various permits. "Four respondents commented that it was difficult, if not impossible, to obtain permits and [that] they are too costly," noted the Extension Service’s summary of the survey.

The Extension Service survey had asked 186 ranchers and farmers about their operations, and 95 responded; their holdings amount to nearly 73,000 acres of the 169,000 acres in Marin County being used for agriculture.

Here are some of the highlights of the Extension Service’s findings:

• Families own a majority of ranches and farms in Marin County.

• The average age of Marin’s ranchers and farmers is 54.

• The average size of their farms is 777 acres, ranging from a 1.5-acre, native-plant nursery to a 4,800-acre ranch used to raise sheep and replacement heifers. Replacement heifers are sold to dairies that lose a cow. At 777 acres, the average operation is 50 acres smaller than what a 1997 survey found.

• Among the types of operations here, 53 percent raise beef; 25 percent produce milk; 21 percent raise sheep; 14 percent grow row crops; and 10 percent grow grapes.

Smaller forms of agriculture in Marin County include growing hay and silage, tree crops, poultry and eggs, oysters and mussels, cut flowers, and nursery plants.

The smallest group of survey respondents included goat, honeybee, rabbit, and horse-breeding operations (although horses are not counted as agriculture under the Countywide Plan, which agricultural operations to those producing "food and fiber.")

• Agricultural easements, such as those paid for by Marin Agricultural Land Trust, prevent 27 percent (of the ranches and farms responding) from being developed for commercial or residential purposes. Another 19 percent are considering selling MALT a conservation easement.

• Most of those surveyed, (all but two percent) intend to remain in agriculture, and 71 percent reported having family members interested in continuing their operation when they retire. However, the survey notes that farm succession is a "topic of concern" throughout the nation as the average age of farmers keeps increasing. A US Department of Agriculture study found "the number of California farmers under the age of 35 declined 51 percent between 1987 and 1997," the Extension Service report noted.

Although conservation easements and restrictions on development help keep much of Marin’s agricultural lands in open space, the question of who will succeed today’s farmers and ranchers looms large. The survey found:

• Sixty-three percent of agricultural operations are unprofitable or only marginally profitable.

• Forty-four percent of those surveyed lease from other owners. Of the respondents that leased land to others, 50 percent leased more than 360 acres to another producer, mostly for range livestock operations like beef and sheep ranching operations that rely on natural forage from an extensive area.

• Sixty-four percent consider farming to be their principal occupation while 48 percent also work off the farm. Among those that worked off the farm, a majority worked in agriculturally related jobs.

• Seventy-eight percent own their land. Among those who own their land, the length of ownership in their family ranges from three years to 168 years and from one generation to five. The average length of ownership is 53 years.

• Eighty-six percent have one to four other family members involved in their operation. Only eight percent have no other family members involved.

• Sixty percent are working on plans to eventually pass their farms or ranches to relatives.

• Ninety percent have no plans to sell any of their property within the next five years. Nine percent plan to sell part of their land while one percent plan to sell all of it.

• Twenty-nine percent have added new products or businesses to their operation during the past five years. Among the changes, seven producers began row cropping, 5 began raising beef, and 4 started growing grapes. One respondent began dairy operations.

• Although 46 percent operate organically, only 1,928 of their acreage (out of 169,000 acres zoned for agriculture here) is certified organic.

• Twenty-four percent make "value-added products," such as wine, olive oil, grass-fed beef, range-fed poultry, natural wool, dried herbs, garlic braids, herbal lotions, organic milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, salad mixes, and another 47 percent would like to start making such products.

• Out of the 64 beef ranchers who responded, only 11 sell their beef for the Marin or Bay Area markets. Most beef, the report notes, is shipped to feedlots in the Midwest and fattened on corn and similar feed. "A small but growing number of Marin beef ranchers," the report notes, "are growing their beef to ‘slaughter weight’ on pasture and selling directly to consumers, bypassing large feedlots."

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