While small farms in California produce just 10 percent of the state's food and fiber, they play an important part in the state's agricultural industry, according to a new report by the UC Davis Small Farm Center. California's small-scale producers sell more than $1 billion of food and fiber annually, pay 38 percent of agricultural property taxes, and own more than half of the industry's tractors and pickups, researchers found. Defined as farms with between $2,500 and $100,000 in annual production, small farms frequently ring urban areas, providing a buffer between residential communities and large-scale corporate farms. Small farms can meet consumer demand for unusual specialty fruit and vegetables and delicate or heirloom varieties of familiar produce, which are generally not economical for large-scale production. U-pick operations and special on-farm events also offer urban residents a link to California's agricultural past and to modern food producers. "Many of these advantages cannot be measured in dollars, but Californians should be aware of small farms' important role in agriculture and support them by buying their fresh, locally grown produce," says report co-author Shirley Humphrey.