Research on OSALT Lands
The lands under OSALT protection are used for research and/or education.
The research is generally done by growers (farmers, ranchers, nursery workers, foresters, etc.) operating real commercial operations. Their operations generate income and expenses, all of which are the operators'. They pay taxes and operate as do other agricultural operations, with the exception that they integrate into their operations research guided by OSALT. In this manner OSALT builds a body of research that is applicable to real situations for real growers - experience that is transferable to other operations, not just theoretical approaches and practices that do not transfer from university or corporate fields to commercial operations.
It is a great benefit to the growers, because in good years it allows the growers to save and invest the difference between what they pay for access to the land, and what they would otherwise pay for access to the land. In bad years (or early years of the operation) they are not forced off the land, or into greater debt, because their income will not support the high payments necessary to amortize the inflated values of agricultural land. It allows growers to build funds for retirement. This bypasses the common situation where growers are forced to sell their only asset, their land, in order to retire, which is normally the case, and a major roadblock in the inter-generational transfer of agricultural lands. The lands are not lost to agriculture at the point of transfer, because the ownership of the land is not transferred.
OSALT benefits greatly by having a long-term relationship with researchers who are experienced growers in the specific fields they are researching, with a high motivation ot develop successful methods, a high motivation to realistically record and evaluate the results of the research, and a strong desire to stay on the same lands for decades, thereby making long-term research, which is nearly impossible in other situations, a reality.
If you are interested in supporting research on OSALT lands, contact us at research. If you are interested in being a researcher on OSALT land, contact us at researcher.
