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4 <br /> 43 <br /> better support the County's existing successful land protection programs — <br /> the Lands Legacy Program that funds conservation easements, and the <br /> Agricultural Economic Development Grant Program that provides small <br /> cash grants to support and expand existing farming 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 supports the concept of a feasibility study to explore <br /> ways to create a local market for our Orange County dairy products, with <br /> goals of encouraging new small scale dairy farms to produce value-added <br /> products, as well as 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, and thus open space, 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 />