Explosive Growth Paves Over Farmland: During a Two-Year Period, 26 Acres Lost Each Day in Central San Joaquin Valley.

By Sanford Nax

The urbanization of farmland in the central San Joaquin Valley sped up between 2002 and 2004, with an equivalent of 26 acres converted to nonagricultural uses each day, according to newly released data.

The amount of ag land in Fresno, Kings, Madera, Tulare and Merced counties converted to other uses in 2002-04 was a record — and reflected an increase of 4,000 acres over the previous two-year period of 2000-02, the state reported.

Fresno County lost more irrigated farmland in those two years than any other county in the state, closely followed by Kern County, said Molly Penberth, manager of the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program of the California Department of Conservation.

Using the World Ag Expo in Tulare as a backdrop, the state Tuesday released preliminary data from its mapping program, which tracks absorption rates over two-year periods.

Penberth attributed the acceleration to a robust real estate and construction market.

"It very much has to do with the nature of developments that are approved," she said.

Forty-three percent of the 18,801 acres removed from farm use in those five counties was in Fresno County, the No. 1 agriculture county in production value in the nation.

The report, to be released in the next few months, noted major developments that sprouted up on former farmland, among them the Save Mart Center and associated parking lots at California State University, Fresno; Liberty Intermediate School in Kerman; and 100 acres of new houses in Selma.

The data did not surprise Ryan Jacobsen, executive director of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, who said farmland consumption was highly evident during the two years of robust growth.

"It became pretty visible because it happened rapidly over a short period of time," he said.

"We need to work together to accommodate growth, but we also need to save the economic base of agriculture. The community overwhelmingly wants to save ag land around urban areas. We need to plan for the future and slow down the rate "

Toward that end, the farm bureau is working with the Great Valley Center in Modesto on Valley Blueprint 2050, a guideline for growth in the eight counties making up the San Joaquin Valley.

And Fresno County supervisors put a hold on cities’ sphere-of-influence expansions in the so-called "Golden Triangle" region of Sanger, Reedley, Selma and Parlier for at least six months.

The roughly 90,000 acres in that area was responsible for about 50% of the agriculture production in the county last year, said Henry Perea, a county supervisor.

In December, the board directed county staff to identify farmland that should be preserved, develop more restrictive zoning and identify ways to pay for agricultural easements from willing sellers.

The recommendations are an attempt to create buffers of open space and agriculture land that would continue to allow the county’s top industry to thrive.

"There are a lot of good reasons to take a hard look at the local environment and see which land is incredible prime farmland and to … figure out a way to divert the growth," said Brian Leahy, head of the Department of Conservation’s Division of Land Resource Protection.

"Once it’s paved over, it’s gone."

Home builders say they recognize the importance of agriculture in Fresno County and support higher-density housing and other smart-growth policies, some of which were espoused in the Landscape of Choice planning guide that builders, farmers and planners developed in 1998.

"We in the home-building industry have to be cognizant of ag land and the ag industry and have to work together for good planning purposes," said Mitch Covington, president of the Building Industry Association of the San Joaquin Valley.

Department of Conservation director Bridgett Luther said her agency is particularly concerned about the fast-growing area around Fresno. "A couple of generations ago, Los Angeles County was the leading agriculture county in the nation. Not anymore. One generation ago, Silicon Valley was known as, ‘The Valley of Heart’s Delights’ because of all the agriculture production," she said.

The state also noted that Merced County’s urbanized area grew by 1,852 acres from 2002 to 2004.

Tulare County had an additional 1,715 acres of urbanized land, mostly in the form of houses around Visalia, Tulare and Porterville.

Madera County added 924 acres of urbanized property, including a new school and a driving range.

Kings County lost 972 acres of farmland to, among other projects, an expanded runway in Lemoore and a Target store in Hanford.

The reporter can be reached at snax@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6495.