The value of much of California’s farmland declined from 2023 to 2024, according to figures published last month by the state’s chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. Authors of the ASFMRA chapter’s annual Trends report attributed the declines in farmland value to multiple factors, including low commodity prices, high inflation and interest rates, overall high operating costs and regulatory impacts. Since the adoption of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, appraisers have noted a divergence in the value of farmland with two reliable sources of water and so-called “white area” farmland that depends entirely on groundwater. That trend accelerated last year, according to the report, with white area orchards in parts of the San Joaquin Valley losing more than half their value in the space of a year. 

Other SGMA news:

• The Sentinel (Hanford, Calif.): Sustainable Groundwater Management Act may worsen dust storms​
• SJV Water: Kings County Farm Bureau event Wednesday to discuss state groundwater law