Eight years since its last iteration, the 2026 Agricultural Land Use Survey update assesses land use both within and outside of the county’s Agricultural Production District, giving us a clearer, current picture of how farmland is being used today.
This year’s survey aimed to fill gaps in data on land changes: What land is still in production, what’s been lost, and what could be brought back into use. This recent iteration also streamlined the data collection process to make this survey more cost efficient and replicable in the future.
The survey reports on acreage used for agricultural activities such as animal operations like dairy farming, land used for food production, and land that isn’t farmed both within and outside of Agricultural Production Districts.
The majority of farmland in King County is dedicated to livestock production and the total farmland acreage and crops grown on individual fields have shown to be relatively stable over the years.
“With this survey, we have a much better assessment of how agricultural land is being used in the county,” said Agricultural Land Use Survey Project Manager Emily Brady. “We now expect to have about 95% of agricultural land in King County accounted for in the data.”
While the survey results indicated little change in land use, a large number of acres were identified as idle land that could potentially be restored to production. This is a key area of focus as these lands can be activated to support farmland access efforts where staff attempt to match farmland owners who have underutilized land with farmers looking for land to launch or expand their farm businesses.
The survey also highlights the continued importance of farmland preservation and protection efforts. Agricultural Production Districts are major agricultural areas in the county, but nearly half of King County farms are located outside of APDs. Additionally, of the 45,000 or so acres of active farmland in King County, about a third of it is protected from development through the Farmland Preservation Program Easements and other efforts. Having the most up-to-date data offers an opportunity to prioritize lands that are actively farmed but unprotected.
“Only about 3% of King County land is used for farming,” said Agriculture, Forestry and Incentives Unit Environmental Programs Managing Supervisor Richard Martin. “It’s important for people to be able to farm on that land have space to grow healthy and culturally relevant food.”
The agricultural sector contributes upwards of $100 million to the local food economy and the strength of this sector continues to have implications for our health and environmental sustainability. With this new and improved data collection protocol, the Agricultural Land Use survey can more efficiently tell the most up to date story of the status of agriculture in King County and the results of which more useful for decision-making.
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