Sustainable Agriculture Lands Conservation Grants
SALC Grant 2021
A project to evaluate threatened agricultural lands in Ventura County and develop strategies for protection of these lands.
The Ventura County Resource Management Agency – Planning Division and the Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures, in partnership with the Ventura County Farm Bureau and the Nature Conservancy, were awarded a Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) planning grant. On December 14th, 2021, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors authorized a consultant services contract with Cultivate LLC to develop the Ventura County Agricultural Conservation Planning Strategy (Strategy). The result has been the production of a suite of reports and assessments, culminating in the Ventura County Resilient Agricultural Lands Initiative (RALI), which received Board of Supervisors approval May 23rd, 2023.
The RALI, available at the link below, is the result of a community-led effort to support local agriculture for the future. This means securing its economic viability and preserving the lands upon which it depends. The RALI provides a strategic plan to enhance and identify interventions to minimize the impacts of climate change and risks to agriculture’s long-term viability. The foundational strategies of this effort are to strengthen the agricultural economy through conservation, land-use planning tools and policies, financial incentives, and enhanced partnerships among farmers, ranchers and members of the general public. Development of the RALI was a years-long, community effort that also resulted in the production of reports with a broad utility, also available below: the Ventura County Agricultural Economic Impact Report, Ventura County Agricultural Risk Assessment Report, Community Education & Awareness Strategy, and Stakeholder Input Report.
SALC Grant 2024
A project to build on the previous Ventura County SALC Planning Grant through the development of 3 RALI recommendations.
On July 23, 2024, The Ventura County Board of Supervisors authorized the Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures (AWM) to apply for and accept any warded grant funds for a California Department of Conservation Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservations program (SALC) grant. AWM’s application was successful and the grant agreement was approved April 12, 2024. The project aims to preserve agricultural land and build upon the previous Ventura County SALC Planning grant through three Tasks: 1) developing the structure and charter for an Agricultural Roundtable, 2) developing an infrastructure plan to strengthen the local/regional food system, and 3) developing a Rural-Urban Connections Program.
Additional SALC Information
For more information about the SALC program, please visit the California Department of Conservation’s SALC webpage.
The Project Gateway is a map-based collaborative platform built to help anyone interested in evaluating and protecting agricultural values in the county to explore, integrate and contribute data to increase our understanding on how best to achieve a sustainable agricultural future.