California is investing $128 million to preserve 40,000 acres of farmland statewide — including nearly 10,000 acres of grazing land in Madera County. The funding, approved earlier this month by the state’s Strategic Growth Council, is aimed at protecting agricultural land from urban development and maintaining the state’s rural character.

In a Wired Wednesday segment on Fox 26 KMPH, GV Wire’s Edward Smith explained that the preserved land, located near Highway 41 and west of Highway 99, had been eyed by developers but will now remain dedicated to cattle grazing. The families who own the property will keep it, but with strict guarantees that it must stay in agricultural use permanently.

“The idea is to lock it in,” Smith said. “The land can never be developed — it stays farmland forever.”

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