31.02.115 Agricultural resource land inventory and issues.
(1) Agriculture in Clallam County has played a vital role in the heritage, culture, and economy of the area. The County’s temperate climate, good soils, and irrigation system provide a strong basis for commercial agriculture. Clallam County was once a major producer of a wide variety of agricultural products such as milk and butter, potatoes, apples, and vegetables. At its peak in 1950, Clallam County had over 75,000 acres in agricultural production; the current acreage is much lower.
In the 2002 USDA Census of Agriculture, Clallam County’s agricultural production was valued at $17.8 million. This production value was based on 455 farms including 22,372 acres. (The USDA definition of farm being “any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold during the census year” (USDA 2002).) These farms employed 1,190 persons with a payroll of $4.6 million.
During the period of March to September 2006, the Clallam Conservation District partnered with the County to perform an inventory of farms throughout the County. Conservation District personnel drove all County roads to visually inventory and characterize farms, using aerial photographs and parcel maps to determine parcel size. For the purpose of this inventory, land was classified as a farm not by value of products produced or sold as defined by the USDA but whether horses or livestock were present (even if at limited numbers) or whether an agricultural product was produced (hay, grain crops, wineries, produce, nursery crops, etc.). Small backyard operations were not inventoried unless there was evidence that they were selling an agricultural product. A total of 1,252 farms were inventoried, totaling approximately 22,224 acres: 805 farms had horses; 404 farms had livestock such as cattle, goats, pigs, sheep, and llamas; and 232 farms produced an agricultural product.
This latest inventory shows the continued decline of farms in Clallam County. Factors contributing to this decline include, but are not limited to:
(a) Regions of larger scale agriculture with lower unit costs have developed, such as in Eastern Washington, against which Clallam County is not competitive;
(b) Developments in transportation, storage, refrigeration, and processing technology allow remote producers to service local markets that small local farms used to dominate;
(c) Changes in USDA regulations and policies have favored large-scale industrial agriculture to the detriment of small-scale agriculture commonly found in Clallam County. For example, there is no USDA-approved slaughter and processing facility near enough to Clallam County to make marketing local beef viable;
(d) As farming has declined, so too have agricultural suppliers, processors, and other agricultural infrastructure needed to maintain a healthy agricultural industry;
(e) Global agricultural corporations have dominated agriculture and the food industry to the exclusion of areas like Clallam County;
(f) Clallam County has become a highly desirable place to retire, vacation and live, and the residential real estate market has driven farm land prices beyond the point of financial viability for most farming activities; and
(g) Effective public policies needed to support the significant change in local agricultural industry from large commercial farms to more high-value, unique agricultural products and services on smaller farms.
(2) Agricultural Land Protection Programs. Clallam County has demonstrated its willingness to provide for long-term preservation of agricultural resource lands through several agricultural land protection programs:
(a) Designated Agricultural Retention Lands. The Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA) requires counties to designate agricultural lands of long-term significance for the commercial production of food or other agricultural products (RCW 36.70A.170). Clallam County has designated and zoned approximately 6,194 acres of land as Agricultural Retention (AR), as the County’s GMA designated agricultural lands of long-term significance. All of this acreage is located in the Sequim-Dungeness Planning Region. The AR designation is intended to conserve and maintain agricultural lands through limitations on allowed residential density and uses, and incentives for new development that conserves a minimum of 75 to 88 percent of the property as an agricultural reserve. Clallam County has adopted disclosure provisions that designate agriculture within the AR zone as a favored land use that will not be considered a nuisance when conducted consistent with current best management practices and other applicable regulations.
(b) Rural Zoning. Outside of designated and zoned agricultural retention lands, exist numerous small to moderate size farms scattered throughout the County that are involved in raising livestock, crops, and/or other agricultural activities. These farms are an important part of the County’s rural character and economy. Clallam County supports agriculture as an allowed land use within rural designated and zoned lands. It is estimated that approximately six percent of the County’s 103,000 acres of designated rural lands is associated with agricultural land uses.
(c) Purchase of Development Rights. Conservation of agricultural land through private and/or public purchase of development rights (PDR) is a tool being used to preserve local farmland. An agricultural PDR program acquires all or some of the development rights attached to a particular property, while the owner maintains the right to utilize the land for agricultural purposes. The value of a development right is generally the difference between the market value for development versus farmland. Clallam County and other project partners have purchased the development rights on 44 acres of farmland through a combination of County, private, and federal funds. As of 2006, approximately 170 acres of eastern Clallam County farmland have been protected through private and/or public PDRs.
(d) Transfer of Development Rights (TDR). The County has had a TDR program in the Sequim-Dungeness region since 1998, but to date no one has chosen to participate. The TDR program allows for transfer of development rights from land designated and zoned Agricultural Retention (AR), or TDR sending area, to designated TDR receiving areas within the unincorporated Sequim Urban Growth Area. Receiving area landowners can obtain higher residential densities through acquiring development rights from AR lands. Similar to PDR program, the value of a development right is generally the difference between the market value for development versus farmland.
(e) Tax Incentives. Clallam County continues to support agricultural land conservation, whether designated for long-term commercial significance or not, through property tax incentives (current use assessments). Participation in this program can provide landowners with lower property taxes. In 2006, there were 1,366 parcels in the tax incentive program, equating to approximately 12,333 acres.
(f) Other. Clallam County supports the efforts of the Clallam Conservation District, WSU-extension and 4-H programs, Master Gardeners, and the North Olympic Land Trust (NOLT). These agencies and organizations support agriculture. For example, NOLT has arranged for approximately 400 acres of land to be conserved by agricultural easements. The County also supports continued agricultural activities and education at the Robin Hill Farm County Park.
(3) Benefits provided to Clallam County citizens by farms and farmland include:
•Improved food security, selection, and quality through diversified local production geared to local markets;
•Preservation of the rural character, local culture, and quality of life;
•Creation and maintenance of a visually pleasing landscape;
•Preservation of valuable historic and cultural resources;
•Preservation of biodiversity and wildlife habitat;
•Improved watersheds/reduced likelihood of flooding (compared to development);
•Recharging of aquifers through irrigation;
•Economic diversification;
•Attraction of tourists and tourism dollars to the County; and
•Preservation of options for future generations.
Despite the problems faced by our agricultural industry, Clallam County retains many attributes that can support continued agriculture:
•A moderate, temperate climate that is ideal for the production of caneberries (e.g., raspberries, blackberries) and brassica crops (e.g., cabbage, cauliflower), and which makes year-round production of some vegetable crops possible;
•Excellent agricultural soils, some of them unique to Western Washington;
•An irrigation system that mitigates impacts to production in drought years;
•Unique microclimates – varied rainfall patterns, elevations, and temperatures across the County make crops such as mushrooms, rhubarb, and artichokes ideal for the West End of the County, while the East End has microclimates suitable for other types of crops such as caneberries and brassica crops;
•High tourism draw from the combination of farms, mountains, and sea, all in close proximity; and
•Access to a large progressive market in the greater Puget Sound that is receptive to high quality, high value products that can be grown here.
Most importantly, Clallam County still has many resilient, innovative, and committed farmers and farm families who want to retain their agricultural lifestyle and livelihoods. These farms include both traditional, large-scale commercial enterprises and new small-scale, intensive agricultural ventures producing alternative farm products such as high value vegetable seeds, lavender, flowers, berries, and organic vegetables.
(4) Family Farms, Local Food Systems, and Food Security. The ability of an area to maintain access to enough healthy food to sustain its population through economic upheavals, natural disasters, wars, and other emergencies is referred to as food security. The concept of food security is based on sound, sustainable farms and local food systems, which have ecological, social and economic components that are in balance and that are self-renewing. Systems based on local, family farms, with access to local or regional processing and marketing of food are far more resilient to large-scale disruptions that could paralyze the international flow of food, fuel, and other resources. Maintaining at least a modicum of local family farms and agricultural infrastructure for locally produced food is critical to enhancing local food security. Additionally, locally produced and processed food can be sold to local schools and other institutions, which would further enhance the future of agriculture and food security in Clallam County.
(5) Models of Local Agricultural Success.
(a) Organic Fruits and Vegetables. The demand for organic fruits and vegetables is growing rapidly in America. Clallam County, with its temperate, mild climate, as well as some excellent soils, is an ideal area to grow a wide variety of organic fruits and vegetables. One local organic farmer who started growing and selling organic vegetables over 30 years ago in Clallam County is now one of the largest organic vegetable farmers in the State, and currently sells organic produce throughout the region and into California. Many of these vegetables can be grown and harvested essentially year-round in eastern Clallam County due to its mild climate and relatively low rainfall.
(b) Agritourism. Clallam County’s lavender industry is another example of the market niches farmers can identify and develop to make their farms profitable and sustainable. Our lavender farmers produce a wide array of value-added lavender products and have developed an agritourism industry to complement the sales of lavender products by selling the experience of visiting lavender farms and the region through festivals, farm tours, and other events. Other types of farming can also benefit by cultivating tourists on the farm such as U-pick berry farms and corn mazes that are popular with locals as well as tourists, farm stays in which visitors pay to work on farms, and farm educational events. Agritourism also benefits other local businesses such as lodging and food service, thus multiplying its economic impact.
(c) Dairy. Clallam County was once one of the major dairy farming regions in the State, but there are now only two remaining commercial dairy farms in the County, milking fewer than 500 cows between them. One of these dairies now processes and sells certified raw milk directly from their farm and in Puget Sound markets, and no longer ships milk out of the County for processing. It also supplies to local cheese producers. Other small dairy farmers around the nation are turning to organic milk production for local markets, processing their milk into artisan, farmstead cheese, yogurt, butter, and other products, or are selling certified raw milk like the Clallam County farmer. This type of dairy farming may be an option for other local farmers.
(d) Seed Production. Clallam County has a major presence in production of vegetable seeds, especially seeds in the brassica family such as cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. In fact, two Western Washington counties, Clallam and Skagit, collectively produce most of the brassica seeds grown in the world.
(6) Changes in Local Agricultural Industry. For farming to survive and thrive in Clallam County, how we view agriculture and how we develop local land use policies and implement development regulations needs to be continuously evaluated and updated. In the past our County policies have been driven by a view of agriculture as largely a producer of farm commodities such as milk, beef cattle, barley, hay, potatoes, or apples. These commodities were either processed locally or shipped out of the County as raw commodities. Clallam County can no longer compete in most of these markets. For farmers to succeed here they need to be innovative and entrepreneurial and to find markets that are not satisfied by the industrial agricultural and food industry. Products such as organic baby salad greens, gourmet lavender barbecue sauce, or farmstead gouda cheese are the high-value, niche products that many small farmers are turning to in order to make a profit.
This will require enhanced capacity to perform local processing and increased efforts to effectively brand and market Clallam County farm products. These and other new agricultural opportunities can continue and expand in the County if supported by local land use policies and regulations that allow farm entrepreneurs to explore and exploit these types of farming niches. There are a few large, commercial farms left in Clallam County that have adapted to changing economic conditions, but the future of agriculture in Clallam County will largely be determined by operators who produce high-value, unique products and agricultural services on relatively small farms.
The need to redefine and broaden what we mean by the term “farm,” and in so doing develop policies and programs that support this new vision of agriculture, exists in many places, not just in Clallam County. The Washington State Legislature passed legislation in 2004, which was amended in 2006, that essentially redefined what agriculture is; including references to “agriculturally related experiences, or the production, marketing, and distribution of value-added agricultural products, including support services that facilitate these activities” (RCW 36.70A.177). The State of Washington now recognizes that the needs of many farmers are much broader than in the past, and that small, innovative, entrepreneurial farmers require the ability to sell everything from high-dollar, value-added products to farm experiences on agritourism-oriented farms.