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r2 3 "This is a ray of hope. A program like this is needed because there are very few reasons for rational people -- even those who love agriculture -- to continue to go against the odds," said Michael Dimock, executive director of Select Sonoma County, organized in 1989 to market the county's farm products. Membership has drastically declined and the group has been struggling for survival. Public land on the urban fringe gives farmers access to valuable ground that otherwise would be out of their financial reach, Dimock said. "It makes land more affordable and makes farming economically more feasible," he said. "It's one more reason for farmers to hang on." Wayne James, an organic vegetable farmer from Windsor, is among the 20 farmers who have expressed interest in leasing part of the county's green belt. James and his sister, Lee James, have been farming for 20 years by leasing small parcels of ground, moving from one piece to another as the land was developed or converted to vineyards. "We can't afford to buy land in Sonoma County the way prices are today. We want to remain in this area, but if we can't find land, we will either have to move out of the county or quit farming altogether," said James, 45. The Jameses want to lease the 17 -acre parcel near the airport. They envision growing an array of vegetables on the land's Yolo loam soil and fencing off a portion of the property to graze their small flock of Shetland sheep, which produce fine wool for spinning. If the county approves, they would put up a stand on Airport Boulevard to sell their organic produce during the summer and fall harvest season. "We've been dreaming about something like this and are quite taken with farming on a larger piece of ground," Lee James said. "We've been farming for a long time and are pretty good at it. We've developed a lot of loyal customers." The land near Rohnert Park will be leased for $100 an acre a year and the land near the airport will be leased for $125 an acre. A survey by the Open Space District found market rate is $100 to $200 an acre for land used for small -scale vegetable farms. The land will be leased for a minium of five years but longer leases could be negotiated. The Open Space District will develop irrigation wells on the properties. Steve Schwartz, executive director of California FarmLink, a statewide organization that works to get young people into farming, praised the district's efforts to match farmers with available land. "This is cutting -edge work," he said. "It's taking farmland protection to the next level by actually putting producing farmers on land that has been protected." Mackenzie said the Open Space District isn't trying to make money on land that it has already bought with taxpayer money. Rather, she said, it's an effort to utilize land for -food production and retain the small family farms that are so closely linked with Sonoma County's identity.