SALC 2.0 Gap Analysis Report - Open for Public Comment
In December 2022, the San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), in partnership with the County of San Diego’s (County) Planning & Development Services Department, was awarded a $450,000 Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation (SALC) planning grant as a major extension of the previous SALC grant work. The SALC 2.0 project aims to support existing and emerging farmers through timely market research and, in doing so, curb the premature conversion of agricultural lands. The project will also serve to inform local agencies’ decision-making to further aid, preserve, and maximize the vital contributions – economic, environmental, and public health benefits – that small-scale farms offer the region. You can learn more about this effort and previous engagement on the project website.
The SALC 2.0 Gap Analysis Report analyzes costs and returns for four focal commodities: avocados, lemons, strawberries, and tomatoes. The primary data sources consisted of relevant University of California Davis cost & return studies combined with detailed financial records provided by local producers. Other sources included personal interviews with producers, direct observations made at farms and other locations, and a review of key documents such as water bills, receipts, permits, and other farm records. The results detail costs, revenues, and net returns across various scenarios for each of four focal commodities.
If you’d like to explore alternative scenarios, you are invited to do so using the Agricultural Profitability Assessment Tool (AG-PAT). Produced as part of the SALC 2.0 project and available to public, AG-PAT is a simple Excel-based instrument that allows users to adjust costs for water, labor, and more than a dozen other expenses, as well as yields and prices. The results instantly show how those changes affect profitability (returns per acre) for an individual farm and countywide based on the total acreage of a given crop.
Available for Public Review Now through May 2nd, 2025: