A Feasibility Study for Urban Edge Agricultural Parks - SAGE

45%, from 5,347 in 1997 to 7,771 in 2002. The All Operator category 2 , whichincludes up to 3 operators per farm, shows 12,083 SHL operators in 2002,representing nearly 10% of Total Operators in the state. Nationally, SHL principaloperators grew 51% for the same period, while the All Operators categoryregistered 72,329, representing only 2% of Total Operators in the country.These Census of Agriculture figures paint analarming picture of U.S. agriculture in which smallfarms (whether categorized by size or farm sales)are decreasing in numbers, yet farm operators ofSpanish, Hispanic or Latino descent, those mostlikely to operate small farms, are increasing.Compared with other demographic groups,Hispanic farmers have a higher proportion of“very small farms” (less than $10,000 FarmSales) and a high proportion of “small farms”(less than $250,000 Farm Sales). The share of high-value specialty crops producedby SHL farmers is much higher than for U.S. farms overall. Only 12% of SHLfarmers specialized in traditional commodity crops such as corn and grain. 3 Thissituation begs the question of what the future holds for small, limited resource,socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers in California and the U.S. Are theyentering a particular sector of an industry that is only destined to continue tocontract? Will there be land available to meet their demand?As reflected in recent figures issued by the Social Sciences Institute of the NaturalResources Conservation Service, limited resource and beginning farmers, asclassified by USDA, represent a significant proportion of total farmers in the CentralCoast region of California. In Monterey County alone, out of a total of 1,209 farms,672 (56%) are considered limited resource, having less than $100,000 in annualsales. Moreover, 390 (32%) of the total number of farms are considered beginningfarmers or ranchers, with less than 10 years experience on their present farm. InSanta Cruz County the figures are similar – out of a total of 722 farms, 507 (70%)are considered limited resource, while 222 (31%) are operated by beginningfarmers or ranchers. San Benito County, with 722 total farms, demonstratesequally significant numbers of limited resource farmers (441 or, 79%) andbeginning farmers and ranchers (185 or, 33%). 4 In an environment of budget cutsand increasing demand for the products which these farmers produce, there is a2 2002 was the first year this category existed,thus there is no comparative data.3Ibid.4 www.ssi.nrcs.usda.gov/CustomData/dataLRF.html.DRAFT 1.6.05 17