Agriculture has long been a mainstay of Marin’s economy.

Over the past decades, some sectors have boomed and faded. Marin’s reputation as a high-tech hub, as a so-called CD-Rom capital, has faded. These days, biotech has grown, joining longtime strengths such as construction, real estate, health care and government.

But a constant has always been agriculture, from Marin’s historic cattle and dairy ranches to the rise of aquaculture.

Since 1972, Marin has had strict zoning over ranch and farm lands designed to protect productive agriculture from being lost to suburban sprawl. Those rolling ranchlands that are a treasured part of West Marin are vital to this economic sector.

Every year, the county produces a report detailing local changes in local agriculture, including estimates of the value of its products.

This year, the county took its annual assessment a step further, estimating the ripple effect local agriculture has on Marin’s economy. Those multiplier effects include the purchase of supplies and services the farms and ranches rely on and spending by employees who hold jobs in the sector.

According to the consultant Fernando De Paolis’ analysis of 2023 data, agriculture’s total contribution reached $257.2 million — a significant sum. During 2023, the sector employed 750 workers. Another 331 people held jobs that relied on the economic health of the industry.

Based on the county’s report, local agricultural production slipped during 2024 by about 2%.

The closure of 12 historic dairy and cattle ranches inside Point Reyes National Seashore set the stage for further decline.

Those ranches, which have for years held leases to operate within the park, are being closed after taking a buyout by the Nature Conservancy. Some have already closed and their livestock sold off. Others face a deadline to leave over the coming months.

This report sheds a strong light on the real-life economic ramifications of that change. There will be effects felt beyond the park’s more than 71,000 acres. There’s already been focus on the farm and ranch workers who are losing their incomes and housing. Businesses that rely on them are going to feel some pain. Suppliers and service providers that have benefited from those farms and ranchers are also losing business. Their employees could take a hit, as well.

If those ramifications were evaluated before the buyout plan was approved — after being hammered out in private and overhauling the park’s much-debated update master plan called for the continuation and improvement of the ranches — there has been little proof they were carefully weighed.

A detailed analysis would have been beneficial to those deliberations before removing productive acreage from the Marin economy.

The county’s annual report again emphasizes the importance of the diversification of Marin’s agricultural production. That diversification may be even more important now.

Poultry and egg production, crops, wine grapes and aquaculture are also big contributors to the health of agricultural productions across Marin.

Marin consumers’ support of those local products when shopping at farmers markets or Marin stores or supporting “farm-to-table” offerings at local restaurants are also key to supporting the local agricultural economy.

Time will tell how the dairy and cattle industry will endure the loss of productive acreage. It will have an effect, creating short- and long-term economic challenges — change that will likely be felt before it shows up in the county’s annual report.