TY - JOUR
T1 - Landowner willingness to embed production agriculture and other land use options in residential areas of Chittenden County, VT
AU - Erickson, Daniel L.
AU - Lovell, Sarah Taylor
AU - Méndez, V. Ernesto
N1 - Funding Information:
Portions of this research project were funded by the University of Vermont, Department of Plant and Soil Science and the Vermont NSF EPSCoR program . The authors would also like to thank the members of the focus group and all of the survey participants. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their very valuable feedback and constructive criticism.
PY - 2011/11/30
Y1 - 2011/11/30
N2 - Throughout the world, urbanization is causing a loss of agricultural land as residential and commercial development expand. In Chittenden County, Vermont, U.S.A., this land use conversion has resulted in subdivision of farms into large residential parcels. Some of these residential parcels retain sizeable areas of undeveloped prime agricultural soil, yet the land is effectively removed from agricultural production. This study explored landowner willingness to enroll a portion of their land in a cooperative land management (CLM) scheme. Our results show support for embedding production agriculture and other cooperative land use options in residential parcels. Almost half of the respondents (45.6%) indicated they would enroll a portion of their land in a CLM program, while another 28.4% said "maybe" A cluster analysis partitioned the respondents into five clusters based on the following variables: percent agricultural land on parcel, parcel size, years in residence, and the population density of the town where the parcel is located. Willingness to participate in the CLM program and different land use options (livestock grazing, vegetables, fruit, field crops, biofuel, maple sugaring, wildflowers, medicinal plants, wildlife corridor, and recreational trails) varied across the clusters. A cluster containing a high percentage of agricultural land (" farms" ) had the highest support for production agriculture options, while a cluster of long term residents (old timers) had the lowest. These results are encouraging for farmers seeking access to affordable farmland and for planning efforts seeking increased regional landscape multifunctionality.
AB - Throughout the world, urbanization is causing a loss of agricultural land as residential and commercial development expand. In Chittenden County, Vermont, U.S.A., this land use conversion has resulted in subdivision of farms into large residential parcels. Some of these residential parcels retain sizeable areas of undeveloped prime agricultural soil, yet the land is effectively removed from agricultural production. This study explored landowner willingness to enroll a portion of their land in a cooperative land management (CLM) scheme. Our results show support for embedding production agriculture and other cooperative land use options in residential parcels. Almost half of the respondents (45.6%) indicated they would enroll a portion of their land in a CLM program, while another 28.4% said "maybe" A cluster analysis partitioned the respondents into five clusters based on the following variables: percent agricultural land on parcel, parcel size, years in residence, and the population density of the town where the parcel is located. Willingness to participate in the CLM program and different land use options (livestock grazing, vegetables, fruit, field crops, biofuel, maple sugaring, wildflowers, medicinal plants, wildlife corridor, and recreational trails) varied across the clusters. A cluster containing a high percentage of agricultural land (" farms" ) had the highest support for production agriculture options, while a cluster of long term residents (old timers) had the lowest. These results are encouraging for farmers seeking access to affordable farmland and for planning efforts seeking increased regional landscape multifunctionality.
KW - Cluster analysis
KW - Continuous productive urban landscape
KW - Cooperative land management
KW - Embedded agriculture
KW - Mail survey
KW - Multifunctionality
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U2 - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.07.009
DO - 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.07.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80053562857
SN - 0169-2046
VL - 103
SP - 174
EP - 184
JO - Landscape and Urban Planning
JF - Landscape and Urban Planning
IS - 2
ER -