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DRAFT/March 27,2026 <br /> Appendix 2. Recommendations for Criteria for Identifying Farmland for <br /> Protection in Orange County <br /> Overview <br /> The foregoing Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board (APB) Farmland <br /> Stewardship Subcommittee recommendations for criteria for identifying <br /> farmland for protection in Orange County are intended to inform land use <br /> planning decisions in the County. The recommended criteria constitute a simple, <br /> objective, easily applied framework for identifying the resource to be protected. <br /> The framework lends itself to supplementation, when needed, with secondary <br /> farm-unit-based criteria that can guide development of specific land use <br /> policies and administration of farmland stewardship programs. <br /> Background <br /> In formulating its recommendations, the Subcommittee reviewed various <br /> county, state, and national frameworks for identifying and prioritizing agricultural <br /> land for protection. Two approaches to framing agricultural land protection <br /> were identified: resource based and farm based. The resource-based approach <br /> centers on protecting the land that is best for farming (i.e., the soil resource). In <br /> the resource-based approach, agricultural lands are designated for protection <br /> based on measures or assessments of the suitability of the soil for agriculture---for <br /> example, the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) "Prime Farmland" <br /> and "Farmland of Statewide Importance," the NRCS Land Capability Classes, <br /> and the American Farmland Trust's Productivity/Versatility/Resilience index <br /> (PVR). The farm-based approach centers on protecting the total (individual) <br /> farm unit, which in addition to its association with the soil resource has <br /> geographic, historic, ecological, and cultural characteristics that affect its <br /> conservation value. In the farm-based approach, agricultural lands are <br /> designated for protection based on the suitability of the soil for agriculture as <br /> well as additional measures or assessments such as tract size, development <br /> pressure, adjacency to developed areas, presence of or adjacency to critical <br /> environmental areas or unique natural resources, adjacency to other protected <br /> land including wildlife habitat, adjacency to other farmland, and potential for <br /> climate-change mitigation. <br /> The APB recommends adopting a resource-based approach based on <br /> agricultural suitability of the soil to guiding County land use decisions and <br /> policies involving farmland. A resource-based approach delineates highly <br /> productive farmland more effectively than a farm-based approach: The <br /> agricultural productive capacity of rural landscapes varies depending on <br /> geology, soils, and topography. Each farm is a unique combination of these <br /> characteristics with landscape units that can range from highly productive to <br /> nonproductive farmland. Furthermore, the resource-based approach lends itself <br /> to objective, durable land use decisions that are less easily supported by a farm- <br /> 42 <br />