VALUING AGRICULTURE INITIATIVE

Valley Vision's Valuing Agriculture Initiative brings resources and data to the discussions of preserving our agricultural lands in the Sacramento Region. Valley Vision seeks to engage the agricultural community to ensure that preservation strategies reflect their input and are attractive for implementation. Our 2004 series of forums, discussion groups and the Agricultural Summit will seek to expand the tools available to preserve working landscapes, and will provide multiple opportunities for collaboration between agricultural, civic, educational, environmental, and policy leaders throughout the six county region.

Supporting Agriculture in the Sacramento Region
2004 Focus Areas

• Discussions with Ranchers, Farmers and Landowners
  Valley Vision is hosting a series of conversations with the agricultural communities in each of the six Sacramento area counties to capture their perspectives regarding agricultural preservation. These meetings are cultivating innovative thinking and encouraging agriculturalists to guide policy makers to the most appealing agricultural preservation strategies. Through these meetings, Valley Vision aims to support the agriculture community in adopting a proactive nature to address regional agricultural issues.
• Meetings with Policy Leaders and Decision Makers
  Valley Vision will communicate the feedback from the discussions with the agricultural community to local policy leaders and decision makers. Valley Vision will ascertain how some of the recommended strategies from the agricultural community can be implemented and assist in identifying pilot projects where applicable.
• Regional Agricultural Summit
  Valley Vision will sponsor a summit in partnership with the University of California Agricultural Issues Center, for policy officials, farmers, ranchers, representatives of agricultural and open space organizations, and business and civic leaders. This event will encourage participants to interact while learning about the latest data on agriculture in the Sacramento region. Attendees will also explore the mechanisms to implement the innovative ideas for agricultural land conservation that emerge from the meetings with agriculturalists and policy makers. Valley Vision anticipates that this event will catalyze action on one or more pilot projects to showcase updated agricultural preservation strategies.