California is steadily losing some of its most productive agricultural land to development at an average rate of 40,000 acres per year.

In the past 40 years, the Department of Conservation reports the loss of 1.6 million acres, about the size of Ventura County.

Their last farmland conversion report for the years 2016 to 2018 found that two-thirds of developed agricultural land during that time period was lost to housing, commercial, or industrial uses (most of it in Southern California) and a bit less than one-third was converted to solar facilities.