Local Dirt: Who will grow our munchies

Quaint as our rural countryside may seem, the history of Sonoma County agriculture is that of constant and dynamic change.
Last week, local archaeologist Dr. Mara Vejby recounted our ever-shifting agrarian past to a full house at the Laguna Foundation, from General Vallejo’s first grape vines, to the wine industry’s collapse under Prohibition, to its resurgence in the past few decades.
And of course the famed Gravenstein apple was nearly lost to history when global shipping rendered this delicate, early harvest crop uncompetitive. Post-gold rush wheat fields lost out to Midwestern imports, once ubiquitous hops perished in a plague of downy mildew and Petaluma’s claim as the “Egg Basket of the World” faltered when indoor factory farms rendered our poultry-perfect climate obsolete.
Some things we have little control over, such as disease, global markets and mechanization. But to say we are helpless in the face of forces larger than ourselves is to discount our community’s resilience and power to shape a landscape and economy that fits our values.
The recently voter-renewed community separators, for instance, protect us from the suburban sprawl now swallowing up much of the state’s countryside. Local regulations promote farmers’ markets, farm stands and other services that help smaller food producers stay viable, preventing the monocropping we see in our neighbor to the east. And grassroots campaigns by groups like Slow Food and Farm Trails have helped keep the Gravenstein, our local heirloom, from disappearing altogether.
So what’s next for Sonoma County agriculture? The answer is no secret. Although it was absent from Dr. Vejby’s history lesson, the next big shift has been underway for quite some time. And now, with the passage of California’s Proposition 64 legalizing recreational cannabis, cultivators of this newest crop will finally emerge from the shadows to take their place alongside Sonoma County’s viticulturists, dairymen and orchardists as part of a long agricultural legacy.
The question now is not only what impact this new breed of farmer will have on our landscape and local economy, but also on the rest of agriculture?
While last year’s Crop Report lists $24,000 revenue per acre for vegetable production — high by state and national averages — this newer crop is estimated to pull in $8.5 million per acre. Now, with cannabis legalization underway, no one believes that lofty number will remain so high. But even if prices plummet to a tenth of that, cannabis will still bring in nearly 35 times more than broccoli or arugula or even pinot noir.
Terry Garret, co-founder of the Go Local cooperative, has been following these numbers closely as well as any proposed regulations at the county level, asking what impact they’ll have on the local economy, in particular on farmers growing food. “If you want to grow 500 square feet of cannabis outdoors,” he points out, “you’ll need a minimum of two acres.” These proposed regulations, similar to those being explored in other counties, are meant to prevent overconcentration and oversized grows. Good intentioned, but that also means that inevitable “green-rush” growers will soon be competing for the same parcels of farmland sought after by food producers, while being forced to leave the majority of that land uncultivated. With the numbers as they are, even the most productive vegetable farmers will likely get outpriced.
But in the face of change, Garret, like creative solution-seekers before him, is seeking to enable the new industry without compromising others. This month, together with local food advocates and county planners, Garret is exploring ideas such as incentivizing partnerships between cannabis and food farmers, allowing cannabis farmers to meet the proposed cultivation-to-land ratio requirements by sub-leasing the remaining land to food farmers — in other words, assuring we’re not forced to import our munchies because of local cannabis.
Will it work? Will those proposed regulations even be enacted? And will the local cannabis industry compete with other counties? Other states? Corporate producers? No one knows.
But whichever way the wind blows — and it will change direction, again and again — so long as we remain proactive, flexible and confident in our ability to shape the place we call home, I truly believe that Sonoma County can uphold what we hold dear. For me, that includes viable family farms growing healthy food for our community.
To learn more about this conversation, visit www.farmersguild.org/dec-9-cannabis-impact-on-food-farming.
Evan Wiig is the Director of the Farmers Guild, a statewide organization promoting the next generation of sustainable agriculture headquartered in Sonoma County. Learn more at www.farmersguild.org