Agricultural land use in Solano County, California: Three essays utilizing Geographical Information Systems to improve agricultural land use decisions

The dissertation explores how high resolution spatial agricultural land use information can be used with a Geographical Information System (GIS) to analyze agricultural land use patterns. Chapter 2 provides a concise understanding of agriculture in Solano County California by presenting the agricultural geography, production history and current County agricultural land use policies. The research methodologies that lead to the development of a unique fine-scale agricultural field level Geographical Information System used throughout this dissertation are presented in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 uses the unique GIS presented in Chapter 3 to measure rural land development in Solano County over a thirteen-year period. The chapter develops a research methodology to quantify the size, shape, and extent of rural land development; the first step in better understanding the interaction between exurbia and agricultural production. Chapter 5 uses a GIS-based methodology to capture the gradient of agricultural land use in exurban areas. Census block group demographic data are combined with spatial soil data and my unique field-by-field GIS spatial dataset on agriculture in Solano County. This Chapter incorporates the heterogeneity of the urban areas based on census block groups and the heterogeneity of agricultural and soil type found in the agricultural areas. This chapter shows that improving the detail and accuracy of agricultural information can improve the understanding of the agricultural-urban edge.;Chapter 6 presents case study analysis of a hypothetical ethanol plant located in Dixon, California which would draw feedstock from the diverse agricultural geography of Solano and Yolo Counties. I consider three scenarios: ethanol shipped from the Midwest, ethanol produced in Dixon using feedstock imported from the Midwest, and ethanol produced in California using locally grown feedstock. Currently, most ethanol used in California is supplied from the Midwest, and even much of ethanol produced in California uses Midwest corn. Consistent with the focus on spatiality, my cost comparisons shows that using detailed transportation costs and geographical information that are supported by GIS data, one finds much higher costs of producing ethanol from local feedstock.;Chapter 7 presents conclusions and future extensions of the research.