The Agriculture Preservation Working Group, coordinated by the Lahontan Valley Environmental Alliance, has been meeting monthly to develop strategies that will help to keep farmers farming while the community continues to develop at a fast rate of speed. 

The working group includes farmers, ranchers, landowners, developers, realtors, representatives from the Navy, Farm Bureau, Natural Conservation Resource Service,  Western Nevada Resource Conservation and Development, Lahontan Valley Land and Water Alliance, University of Nevada Reno Extension Office, Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, Churchill County, the City of Fallon and interested public. 

The working group is attempting to identify options for the landowner who wants to keep his land in agriculture. At the same, the group keeps in mind the importance of private property rights. 

Agriculture is one third of the economy of Churchill County with the Navy contributing one third and other businesses making up the final third.  

A great deal of the produce from Lahontan Valley agriculture is sold outside of Churchill County bringing outside money into the community. 

Agriculture provides the rural atmosphere and viewshed so valued by the new residents moving into this area. 

Due to irrigation, agriculture is responsible for making recreation possible at Lahontan Reservoir, for providing wildlife habitat, hydroelectric production, and positive contributions to providing clean drinking water.   

With out agriculture, the quality of life in the Lahontan Valley would not be what it is today. 

To maintain Lahontan Valley’s agriculture and rural atmosphere, the Agriculture Preservation Working Group is working to develop options such as transfer development rights, traditional conservation easements, cluster developments, as well as other programs and incentives. 

Currently there are 12 cluster developments in Churchill County where landowners have developed small sections of their property and have agreed to maintain the remainder in agriculture.   

There are also several farmers that have sold or are in the process of selling agriculture conservation easements on their land.

If initiated, a transfer development rights program would allow a farmer, in a sending area, to sell his development rights to a developer who would transfer those rights to his development in a receiving area and increase the density in the number of homes he could build.

The only restrictions on the farmers land would be that water rights stay on the land and no development takes place.  These restrictions would be in perpetuity.  

The transfer development rights program would allow the farmer flexibility in that he could sell part or all of his development rights or keep them for later use. 

The Question 1 Resource Conservation Grant Program has two sources of funding available for traditional conservation easement projects.  

One source of funding is limited to farm lands in the Carson River corridor and requires a 50% match.  This funding source attempts to preserve agricultural lands on the river, to conserve the flood plain and encourage restoration of the river corridor.

The other Question 1 funding source accepts applications for conservation easements in any portion of the county and has a 25% matching requirement.  Several conservation easement projects submitted to this program have used the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Act funding as a match source.   

The Question 1 conservation easements would require that only agricultural production be allowed on the land designated in the easement.  

These conservation easements carry more restrictions than do the transfer development rights, are in perpetuity and are agreements with the County and the State of Nevada. 

An additional conservation easement program is being developed with the Navy that would be available for agricultural lands located in the Navy buffer zone.  These easements would require that the land remain in agriculture in perpetuity and no development take place.

As Mario Peraldo, chairman of the Agriculture Preservation Working Group, has said, “The future of Churchill County is in your hands.  Let’s make sure agriculture is a part of it.” 

Your are encouraged to attend the Agriculture Preservation Working Group meeting held the third Thursday of each month, at 7:00 pm, in the Churchill County Administrative Building, Room 102.  Your ideas and comments are important. 

For more information or to comment call LVEA at 423-0525