Kane County Government
How Do I

​​FA 5: Protect and preserve agricultural land while increasing its resilience to climate shocks. ​

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​​FA5-1 Conduct, or hire a consultant to conduct a survey of the community's agricultural land with special care to note its potential for water reclamation, watershed protection, habitat preservation, and capacity to neutralize careless suburban sprawl so as to establish a benchmark of regional agricultural resilience practices, establish a benchmark, and practice adoption goals especially as it relates to rezoning and permitting of alternative land use.

FA5-2 Collaborate with partners to develop a comprehensive farmland conservation plan that prioritizes food production while taking into consideration other greenspace and climate adaptation priorities. The plan could also include specific maps or areas prioritized for farmland conservation or identify those areas most at risk from development or climate change impacts.  Program should focus on exploring increased local food-to-table, local food utilization, and local development of cultural food products in support of underserved communities.

FA5-3 Establish and promote incentives to plant native prairie grass and wildflowers and other edge of field practices for treating tile water to mitigate nitrate runoff and reduce N2O.

FA5-4 Support, identify, and promote compatible programs to strengthen revenue streams and protect vitality of the community's agricultural land, such as through combining agricultural tourism (agritourism) with agricultural production land.

FA5-5 Continue to promote farmland conservation to increase agriculture operations’ economic resilience to potential decreases in revenue and costs increases associated with climate change.

FA5-6 Collaborate with partners to provide educational resources such as featuring films, "fact sheets" and educational​ content. Use these partnerships to create field trips for students and others to visit farms and urban agriculture sites to see food production, meet farmers and animals and promote consideration of farming and local food production as a career.  Communications, events, and field trips to prioritize racial/cultural diversity among participants.

FA5-7 Collaborate with partners to provide information and support to farmers on implementing or expanding tile drainage to mitigate climate change driven impacts on precipitation and support earlier crop planting.

FA5-8 Collaborate with partners to provide information and education to farmers on the advantages of earlier crop planting for reduced fertilizer use.