Agriculture can survive in Volusia County, but not without help.

Long a staple of West Volusia's identity and its economy, farming faces increasing pressure on several fronts.

Because of market changes and increasing regulation, it is easier and sometimes more profitable to sell land for development than to farm it, those in the business say.

Agriculture's struggle to survive was the focus of a four-hour workshop March 26 at Stetson University.

"How to Preserve Agricultural Lands" was sponsored by the Boardman Foundation. Named for the late Walter Boardman, a noted Volusia County conservationist, the foundation's mission is to raise awareness of regional ecosystems and encourage conservation, restoration and education, and to initiate enhancement projects.

Help is needed

Workshop presenters agreed agriculture needs help to deal with encroaching development, environmental concerns and a changing marketplace.

Volusia ranks 19th among Florida counties in value of its agricultural products, which was $106 million in 2005, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture.

In 2007, 225,523 acres of Volusia County were devoted to agriculture.

Timber, with 135,865 of those acres, was the biggest crop, according to Dave Griffis at the University of Florida Extension Office in DeLand. Cropland accounted for 3,693 acres, and citrus has 1,580 acres. Ornamental crops use 11,990 acres, and 4,257 acres are devoted to horses and livestock.

How do we do it?

How do we preserve agricultural land in Volusia County?

Presenter Clay Henderson, a land-use attorney and comprehensive-plan specialist — and a sixth-generation Floridian — said, "When I talk to most farmers, they don't want to be preserved. They want to know how to stay in agriculture and survive."

That may include new patterns of development, with rural clusters of development, leaving farm lands and conservation lands intact.

In the future, developers may have to pay farmers to transfer the development rights from farm land to land closer to urban areas.

It will take innovative land development techniques to develop lands, Henderson said.

For example, the City of Bunnell annexed 80,000 acres of land into the city, with an agricultural overlay that encourages "rural villages." The villages are surrounded by green space that allows agriculture, lumber operations, conservation and hunting.

Endangered species: farmers

Presenter Greg Harden, assistant director of Farm Bureau Field Services, said, "The No. 1 thing we've got to preserve is the heritage of agriculturalists."

He called the American farmer "an endangered species."

The heritage of the family farm, such as the one where Harden grew up, is threatened by land-use zoning and development rights, which must be examined carefully.

The biggest threats to farmers earning a living, he said, are land-use and zoning regulations, which often address the rights and concerns of developers, but not farmers.

Other points:

The expenses of relocating endangered species from farm land should be shared by the community, not borne by the farmer alone, he said.

And, agriculture products shipped into U.S. ports should be vigorously inspected, to cut down on new, invasive species and diseases that can wipe out farms.

"Agriculture should be considered part of our national security," Harden said.

The best way to preserve agriculture? He said, "Enable it to be profitable."

He sees the growing of renewable energy sources — biomass — as one possible lifeline for farmers. By 2025, he noted, 25 percent of our energy will come from renewable resources.

Unintended consequences

More and more restrictions on the permitted uses of agriculturally zoned land are making it difficult for small farmers, said Gerald Feiser, who runs a small dairy farm in Volusia County.

Regulations to control industrial operations, such as stormwater ordinances, for example, put extra loads on farmers, whose lands have "natural" stormwater systems, he said.

Feiser sees the cost of water, of labor and environmental regulations as future concerns, and sometimes conflicts.

There is a difference between agricultural land and green space. Feiser's not sure how well clustering residential development in rural areas will work. That would bring homes next to agricultural operations that generate noise and smells residents might find distasteful.

Smaller farmers and hobby or niche farmers will probably fare well in "value-added markets" — growing organic and specialty produce for people who want locally grown foods, for example, and biomass, he said.

Feiser, like Harden, doesn't want to see farmers sell themselves too cheaply in transfer of development rights.

Possibilities

Commercial horticulturist Dana Venrick of the University of Florida's Agricultural Extension Service in DeLand, said cut foliage, such as fernery, has been Volusia's largest niche crop.

He sees the demand growing for that crop, and suggested smaller farmers look into growing organic foods and other new crops.

Venrick suggested:

• Biofuels — grasses and produce that can be turned into energy sources,

• Bamboo — the clumping type, not the invasive type — which he called the "fiber of the future," which is used as timber in many parts of the world,

• Organic vegetables, including tomatoes, strawberries and peppers,

• New crops, such as Caribbean favorites of Cuban corn, malanga, yucca, casava, chayote, along with avocados, onions and Florida highbrush blueberries,

• Wildflower seed,

• Free-range chickens,

• Beekeeping and honey.

"The possibilities are great, if you take advantage of them," Venrick said.

What about land-use regulation?

Most of the questions from the audience had to do with land-use regulation.

The panel was questioned about the 1980s comprehensive-plan. It was supposed to protect agriculture. Why didn't it work?

"It became more about the process, not the outcome," said Henderson, a former member of the Volusia County Council.

Also, he said, the comprehensive plan focused more on urban areas and development patterns than on agriculture.

Volusia County Comprehensive Planning Manager Terry James said creation of the comprehensive plan had unintended consequences on farmers.

For example, he said, requiring that new developments not add traffic to already crowded roads pushed development further and further out of town, where less busy roads could support newer levels of traffic.

"Look at the future land-use map," County Environmental Manager Steve Kintner said. "It shows we were able to protect the central part of the county. The challenge will be to protect it in the future."