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4 <br /> What are the concerns or emerging issues your board has identified for the <br /> upcoming year that it plans to address, or wishes to bring to the <br /> Commissioners' attention? <br /> • The APB supports the concept of establishing a permanent Orange <br /> County Agricultural Trust Fund, in collaboration with the Orange County <br /> Food Council. Such a trust fund could provide a dedicated source of <br /> revenue to better support the County's existing successful land protection <br /> programs — the Lands Legacy Program that funds conservation <br /> easements, and the Agricultural Economic Development Grant Program <br /> that provides small cash grants to support and expand existing farming <br /> operations. <br /> • Dairy farming continues to disappear in Orange County, after being a <br /> major source of farm income and prosperity since the 1920s. There are <br /> now 3 active dairies in Orange County, representing a precipitous drop <br /> from a high of 117 active Grade A farms in 1954. Commodity milk prices <br /> are too low to support our local dairies through conventional production <br /> strategies. The APB believes it can play an important role by initiating a <br /> feasibility study to explore ways to create a local market for our Orange <br /> County dairy products, with goals of encouraging new small scale dairy <br /> farms and keeping our existing ones active. Dairy farming once <br /> represented a significant percentage of the County's active open farmland. <br /> • Agritourism continues to be an important way for farm owners to maintain <br /> their farms and diversify. The APB will explore ways to increase <br /> opportunities for educating existing and prospective farmers about the <br /> many new agritourism opportunities now available for enhancing farm <br /> income and bringing visitors into rural areas. <br /> • The average age of our farmers continues to increase, causing concerns <br /> about retirement and farm succession planning. This is an ongoing issue <br /> despite the rising numbers of young people taking up farming. Our "senior" <br /> farmers control and farm a large percentage of the County's prime open <br /> farmland, thus creating the potential for a significant decline in active farm <br /> acreage over the next decade. <br /> • The majority of the new farm operations now being started in Orange <br /> County are small market crop farms, where crops are grown intensively on <br /> smaller parcels, to be sold locally at markets. The APB supports efforts by <br /> Orange County Economic Development to promote and build facilities to <br /> provide essential processing facilities and cooperative marketing <br /> opportunities to support these small farming operations. <br /> 4 <br />