Assembly BillVetoedPublic Resources
AB 524: Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act.
What AB 524 does, verified March 9, 2026
The bill aims to establish a new program to support agricultural land acquisition and protection. The program will provide financial and technical assistance to qualified entities to acquire and transfer agricultural lands to farmers. The program will be administered by the Department of Conservation in collaboration with the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force. The program will be funded by the establishment of a new fund in the state treasury, and the department will contract with a nonprofit organization to oversee the program. The program's operation will depend on legislative appropriation.
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
✓Second ChamberComplete
5GovernorCurrent
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. (2026-01-22)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions37 total · showing 5
| Jan. 22, 2026 | Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. |
| Jan. 22, 2026 | Stricken from file. |
| Oct. 01, 2025 | Consideration of Governor's veto pending. |
| Oct. 01, 2025 | Vetoed by Governor. |
| Sep. 22, 2025 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m. |
Latest bill textEnrolled version, September 12, 2025 · 2,246 words
| Enrolled September 12, 2025 |
| Passed IN Senate September 09, 2025 |
| Passed IN Assembly September 10, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate August 29, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate August 18, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly April 22, 2025 |
| Amended IN Assembly March 24, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 524
| Introduced by Assembly Member Wilson (Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Jeff Gonzalez, Hadwick, Irwin, Ransom, and Soria) (Coauthors: Senators Cortese and Hurtado) |
February 10, 2025 |
An act to add Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) to the Public Resources Code, relating to agricultural land.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 524, Wilson. Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act.
Existing law, the California Farmland Conservancy Program Act, establishes within the Department of Conservation the California Farmland Conservancy Program. Existing law authorizes the program to offer financial assistance, including grants or contracts, for projects and activities on agricultural lands, as defined, that support agricultural conservation and sustainable land management.
This bill would require the department, in collaboration with the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force, to establish the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Program in the department to provide financial and technical assistance to support agricultural land acquisition and protection. The bill would require the department, subject to specified requirements, to provide financial assistance under the program to qualified entities for the purpose of acquiring agricultural lands to transfer or provide long-term leases to qualified farmer participants, as specified. The bill would establish the Farmland Access Fund in the State Treasury and would make moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for program expenditures. The bill would authorize the department to contract with one or more nonprofit organizations to administer the program. The bill would make the operation of the program contingent upon the Legislature making an appropriation for purposes of the program.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) California’s small-scale, beginning, and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers face impossible challenges when attempting to gain secure access to land.
(2) As the Governor’s Executive Order No. N-15-19 acknowledged, tribal communities have faced extensive violence, exploitation, dispossession, and the attempted destruction of tribal communities, while persisting in stewarding and protecting lands.
(3) With the combination of unattainable land prices, decreasing water availability, and the rapid rate of private investment firms buying up available land as investment properties, socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers and ranchers have increasingly limited access to farming.
(4) The Department of Conservation estimates that just under 50,000 acres of the state’s agricultural land are being lost annually. This conversion is leading to a significant loss to the state’s agricultural rural economy and undermines the state’s ability to store carbon and sustain resilient ecosystems.
(5) Meanwhile, land consolidation continues to be on the rise in the state, making land more and more inaccessible every year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2024, the average price of an acre of farmland in California was $13,400. This ranks California as having some of the most expensive farmland in the country.
(6) Socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers and ranchers face significant barriers to accessing land due to the lingering effects of institutionalized racism and limited access to farm loan programs. This problem has been documented in various publications, including the Department of Food and Agriculture’s report prepared pursuant to the Farmer Equity Act of 2017 (Article 6 (commencing with Section 510) of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code).
(7) Without access to secure land, farmers have limited stability on the land they rent, which leads to an inability to invest in sustainable agriculture practices or apply for existing programs, such as the Department of Food and Agriculture’s Healthy Soils Program (Section 569 of the Food and Agricultural Code), among others.
(8) To date, there is no state-level program designed to provide financial or technical resources to directly support farmers with accessing secure land.
(9) To address these issues, new opportunities are needed for socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers and ranchers to access land, whether through ownership or long-term leases. Financial tools like direct grants, forgivable or zero-interest loans, and certain types of easements, such as cultural respect easements and preemptive purchase rights, can help make farmland and farmer and farmworker housing more accessible, protect it from sprawl development, and create new opportunities to support sustainable agriculture practices.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this act help ensure vital opportunities for land access and tenure for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and beginning farmers and ranchers.
SEC. 2.
Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:DIVISION 10.1. Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act (FACT CA)
10100.
This division shall be known, and may be cited, as the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act (FACT CA).10102.
For purposes of this division, all of the following definitions apply:(a) “Agricultural land” means land used for the purpose of food or fiber or for the stewardship of cultural resources, or any combination of these things.
(b) “Beginning,” in reference to a farmer or rancher, means a natural person who has operated a farm or ranch for fewer than 10 years.
(c) “Department” means the Department of Conservation.
(d) “Farmer cooperative” means an entity that meets both of the following requirements:
(1) The entity is either a worker cooperative, as defined in Section 12253.5 of the Corporations Code, whose articles of incorporation identify it as such, or a nonprofit cooperative association organized and existing under Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 54001) of Division 20 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
(2) The entity is a qualified farmer participant.
(e) “Financial assistance” means a grant, forgivable loan, zero-interest loan, or any combination of these things.
(f) “Program” means the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Program established pursuant to this division.
(g) “Qualified entity” means any of the following entities:
(1) A nonprofit organization with tax-exempt status pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code.
(2) A public agency.
(3) A farmer cooperative.
(4) A tribal government.
(5) A tribal entity.
(6) An agricultural land trust, the primary purpose of which is the preservation, protection, or enhancement of land in its natural, scenic, historical, agricultural, forested, or open-space condition or use.
(7) A community land trust, as defined in Section 402.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(h) “Qualified farmer participant” means a farm enterprise, whose beneficial owners are beginning farmers or ranchers, or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers, that commits to using practices, methodologies, and techniques that improve soil health, biodiversity, conservation, and long-term sustainability in the production of agricultural crops to be sold in commerce or distributed.
(i) “Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” has the same meaning as provided in Section 512 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
10104.
The department, in collaboration with the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force, shall establish the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Program in the department to provide financial and technical assistance to support agricultural land acquisition and protection. The department shall provide financial assistance to qualified entities for the purpose of acquiring agricultural lands to transfer or provide long-term leases to qualified farmer participants.10106.
Activities eligible for funding through the program shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:(a) Acquisition planning and development, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Providing support to assist with land identification.
(2) Determining zoning and land-use restrictions and verifying water rights and access to irrigation.
(3) Inspecting soil quality, performing environmental reviews, and assessing impacts.
(4) Retaining legal services with regard to acquiring agricultural land by qualified entities and the subsequent sale or leasing of that land to qualified farmer participants in accordance with program requirements.
(5) Ensuring compliance for permitting.
(6) Supporting the transition of newly acquired tribal fee land into tribal trust land.
(7) Surveying cultural resources.
(8) Testing of water quality and assessing the condition of existing irrigation infrastructure, including well condition and output.
(b) Purchase of fee title to agricultural land.
(c) Purchase of easements, including, but not limited to, conservation easements, reserved interest conservation easements, or cultural access easements.
(d) Technical assistance, including, but not limited to, retaining the services of licensed attorneys, real estate brokers, business planning consultants, farmer cooperative management consultants, and property appraisers.
(e) Land improvements that will directly benefit the lands and the individuals managing the land and their commitment to conservation and sustainable land use. These land improvements shall include, but are not limited to, farmer and farmworker housing, on-farm infrastructure improvements, and spaces for cultural practice.
10108.
In providing financial assistance pursuant to the program, the department shall do all of the following:(a) Prioritize financial assistance for activities that benefit socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers.
(b) Prioritize financial assistance for activities that primarily benefit farms or ranches that are 500 acres or fewer.
(c) Prioritize financial assistance for qualified entities that have clearly demonstrated experience working with socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers.
(d) Prioritize technical and financial assistance to tribal governments and tribal entities to secure agricultural land or reclaim ancestral lands for sustainable food production and stewardship of cultural resources.
(e) Provide reasonable per diem and resources to members of the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force to ensure proper oversight over the development of the program.
(f) Ensure that the proceeds of future resale of land continue to be used for purposes of the program.
(g) Ensure that no more than 15 percent of financial assistance awarded under the program is used for those expenses described in subdivision (e) of Section 10106.
(h) Allocate at least 33 percent of financial assistance awarded under the program during each grant cycle to tribal governments and tribal entities.
10110.
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), a qualified entity that receives a grant for financial assistance under the program shall do either of the following within five years of acquiring agricultural land with the financial assistance provided under the program:(1) Transfer the agricultural land to a qualified farmer participant in accordance with both of the following criteria:
(A) The agricultural land is subject to an easement that meets the requirements of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 815) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code and that is recorded before or simultaneously with its transfer to the qualified farmer participant.
(B) The agricultural land is subject to any additional appropriate resale restrictions required by the department, such as affordability provisions, preemptive purchase rights, or shared appreciation, consistent with the purposes of the program.
(2) Enter into a long-term lease of the agricultural land with a qualified farmer participant in accordance with all of the following criteria:
(A) The term of the lease is at least 10 years and no more than the time period described in Section 717 of the Civil Code.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the duration of the lease may be fewer than 10 years if the initial term combined with options to renew the lease on the same or similar terms as the initial term collectively amount to at least 20 years.
(C) The lease authorizes, during the term of the lease, the qualified farmer participant to terminate the lease with advanced notice.
(D) The lease provides the qualified farmer participant with the opportunity to purchase the land at or before the end of the lease term through a purchase option or a right of first refusal in the lease agreement.
(b) If a farmer cooperative receives a grant pursuant to the program, the farmer cooperative may maintain ownership of the agricultural land if it records a conservation easement against the agricultural land that meets the requirements of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 815) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code and it records any additional appropriate resale restrictions required by the department, such as affordability provisions, preemptive purchase rights, or shared appreciation, consistent with the purposes of the program.
10112.
(a) The Farmland Access Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for program expenditures in accordance with this division.(b) The following moneys shall be deposited into the fund:
(1) Any moneys that may be appropriated by the Legislature pursuant to Section 93550 for purposes of the program.
(2) Any gifts, grants, or endowments from private sources or the federal government received by the department for purposes of the program.
(3) Any moneys collected by the department as proceeds from repayments of loans issued pursuant to this section from moneys described in paragraph (1) or (2).
10114.
The department may contract with one or more nonprofit organizations to administer the program if the department does both of the following:(a) The department determines that each nonprofit organization that it selects is a qualified entity that has demonstrated substantial experience serving socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers.
(b) The department consults with the California Agricultural Land Equity Task Force to select each nonprofit organization to administer the program.
10116.
This division shall become operative upon the Legislature making an appropriation specifically for purposes of this division.Text of AB 524 as enrolled, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions