I am looking into ways of maintain dairy farms in New England and one of the points that I want to make with decision makers is that farms are important because they provide fresh locally grown products and jobs, but beyond that they add value to the community. Farms offer open space, scenic landscapes, wild life habitats, potential carbon sequestation, reduce run-offs, provide opportunities for outdoor recreation etc. but farmers are not compensated for these values. I have read the Cost of Community Service studies on the tax benefits of keeping open space, but I am interested in determining if any studies have been done that measure the other values that farmland provides. I would like to develop a credible way to but a value of what the loss of these lands mean to a community. Everything I read indicates that it is impossible to put a value on something that is priceless.
Thank you,
Christine Rasmussen
Uncompensated Values that Farmers Provide Community
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Einstein's quote seems to apply here. "Not everything that counts can be counted. Not everything that can be counted counts."
R Forrest Smith
Victoria BC V8S 1Y4
Christine -
At the risk of being too lectury and for what it's worth, here's a perspective from mathematics and in philosophy of science. You asked about measuring the values that farmland provides e.g. open space, scenic landscapes, wild life habitats, potential carbon sequestration, reduce run-offs, provide opportunities for outdoor recreation etc. Strictly speaking, "measuring" refers to putting a numerical value on an objective property of something. By "objective" I mean something that all adult humans would agree on. If I use a tape measure in a particular way and determine that its length is two metres and I show you how to use the tape measure, you'll come up with two metres as its length too. Length is an objective property. Attributes are ways in which I value something, treating that value as though it were a property. I speak of the "beauty of the landscape", but the beauty is not in the landscape but in my experience of it. The landscape that I find beautiful may be ugly to someone who prefers cityscapes. Value, in dollar figures, is what I (or you or he or she) would be willing to pay for something, and we all may come up with a different figure. There's no way to measure the value of a landscape. As you said, it is impossible to put a value on something that is priceless. The best treatment I've seen of these issues in a practical way is Marilyn Waring's video "Who's Counting?" and her book If Women Counted (also under the title Counting for Nothing). At 22, she was elected as a Member of Parliament in New Zealand. She's written about as a feminist, but much of her concern in parliament had to do with the environment and land use issues such as you're raising. Her use of numbers is impeccable, both mathematically and humanly.
Herb Koplowitz, Ph.D.
Terra Firma Management Consulting
Tel: 416-324-9240
Fax: 416-972-1354
email: [email protected]
307 Ontario Street Toronto, Ontario M5A 2V8 Canada
Christine,
I was just reading through the September 2005 - Vol.31, No.3 issue of "Save the Bay" which is produced by a non-profit environmental organization (Save the Bay Foundation) which keeps diligent watch over the environmental condition of the world's largest estuary: the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is located in Annapolis, Maryland. There is one article in this issue, on page 5, which addresses your question directly and reads as follows:
"ON THE GROUND - The Value of One Farm - What's Lost When We Lose It.. Oregon Dairy, George Hurst's family dairy farm in Lancaster County, PA, makes an economic contribution to the local community far beyond its production of milk. While the Hurst's 400-cow herd produces $1.2 million worth of milk annually, along with $92,000 in other income, the local economic impact - through money returned to the community by purchasing local supplies and hiring local labor - of this one family farm is between $2.7 million and $3.7 million annually. Mr Hurst estimates that he spends 90-95 percent of his income in the local community for supplies and labor. Many of these same dollars are then spent again and again within the community, the impact being $2 to $3 for every $1 from the farm." In economics lingo this is also referred to as the multiplier effect. To read their entire report visit: www.cbf.org/agreport2005
Regards,
Andrea Clarke
[email protected]
The city of Pittsford, New York (a suburb of Rochester, NY) has/had a very aggressive plan to retain farmland, they may have some of the info you seek.
Grins
jsf
It seems here that we are talking about the environment, and the benefits of landscape, as aspects of social capital. In Australia the problems of urban sprawl from ever growing cities which take away green spaces and also place "unpleasant" industries under the nose of urban dwellers causing community discontent, issues of urban drift from regional centres which leaves less than critical mass for community sustainability and the consequent removal of services, viability of owner operated farms and the role of multinationals in food production and distribution are all issues causing considerable community and political debate, and heart ache for farming families. Recently there has been a wide ranging campaign, largely driven by consumer concerns about the safety of imported foods, to legislate to enforce food labeling which carries country of origin details for all foods so that consumers can make informed choices about which food they wish to buy. A rise in number of farmers markets has also been an outcome of food safety concerns, which has also created conversations and awareness of the issue of food miles. These markets are also providing commercial opportunities for creative new community ventures. These issues together with concerns about rising obesity, diabetes and heart disease across the community may well mean that food, and food production, is your next blue box. (In my city we have green wheelie bins - one for waste, one for recycling)
Kind regards
Peta Wellstead
Freelance Information Services
PO Box 368 Guildford Western Australia 6935
[email protected]