Coordinated Rural Opportunities Plan (CROP)

The Coordinated Rural Opportunities Plan— or ”CROP”— project will create a regional strategy for supporting agricultural lands rooted in the local planning and expertise existing in rural and agricultural communities throughout the region. The project will: 

1. inventory SACOG’s previous RUCS research related to agriculture along with all of the agricultural plans, strategies, and programs throughout the six-county region and distill that information to understand the challenges facing agriculture today and the current strategies to address them, 
2. identify general themes and geographies where existing strategies are not working as planned or where no strategies have been identified, 
3. create a framework for implementation that identifies and coordinates the unique infrastructure investments that are needed to support the continued viability of agriculture in our region. 

Why CROP?

Agriculture has deep roots in our region’s history and future as we have some of the most productive farmland in the world. In our region, agriculture is a $2 billion industry. Much like urban areas, rural economic viability is fundamentally derived from land use decisions and investments in supportive infrastructure. Our region has demonstrated a commitment to agricultural preservation and investment at the local level. SACOG has identified the need to create a regional view of the economic and infrastructure (land, transportation, water, broadband) investment challenges and solutions that will affect agriculture over the coming decades.

How can I get involved?

Work is anticipated to start in April 2021 and will carry on through Spring 2023. If you know of a local strategy that should be included in the plan, let us know at rucs@sacog.org.