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01 he site is unimposing. Forty acres of farmland with a small building, all within range of the sprawling city of Fresno. Yet this place houses the hopes and dreams of farmers who come here to learn how to make their living work- ing the land. American Farmland Trust bought the 40 -acre parcel at the burgeoning Central California city's southwest boundary two years ago, a move that set in motion a successful multi -group effort to establish the Small Farm Resource and Training Center. This "incubator" farm center and training facility —the first of its kind in the San Joaquin Valley —was opened this spring with a festive, cross - cultural celebration of ethnic foods, exotic crop displays and field tours. Its purpose is to provide the area's underserved population with a low -risk opportunity to try their A M E R I C A N F A R M L A N D S U M M E R 2 0 0 1 From left to right: Greg Kirkpatrick, Richard Molinar, Chuko Thao, Michael Yang gather at the new Small Farm Center. hand at farming and to learn all aspects of the business —budg- eting, production techniques and marketing. Greg Kirkpatrick, AFT's land protection representative in California, recalled during the center's opening that Fresno's rich farming history is based on "wave after wave of immigrants getting a foothold and becoming successful farmers." The coun- ty is the nation's top ranking agricultural producer, but its loca- tion in the San Joaquin Valley gives it another distinction: the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, both encapsulated in the large Central Valley, comprise the top most threatened agricul- tural area in the U.S. Fresno County's farmlands were first settled in the late 1800's under a colony system in which a speculator would acquire a few sections of land and parcel them out in minimums 15