The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“HONORING THE DIXSON RANCH” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1965 on Oct. 31, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THE DIXSON RANCH
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HON. LOIS CAPPS
of california
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, October 31, 2001
Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to celebrate the consummation of placing the Dixson Ranch property in a Conservation Easement. This easement will ensure that the Dixson Ranch, which has been farmed for over a hundred years, will be in agricultural use in perpetuity.
The Dixson Ranch was purchased by Mr. A.W. Dlxson on October 2, 1905, for $12,000 in gold coins. The property consisted of 41 acres, and a farmhouse that was built in 1894. The Dixson family grew row crops on the farm, including several different varieties of lettuce, and eventually leased the ranch to the Kingo Kawaoka family, who farmed it until they were removed to the Japanese internment camps during World War II. In 1941, A.W. Dixson's son Gordon, Gordon's wife, Wilma, and their two young daughters, Sara, age 6, and Molly, age 4, moved to the farm.
After the war ended, Kingo Kawaoka's family moved back to continue farming in the area. A cousin of the Kawaokas, Noriharu ``Bill'' Kawaoka, managed the Dixson Ranch from 1954 until his death in 1992. In 1975 the ranch was designated as an agricultural preserve through a land conservation contract with the City of Arroyo Grande. This contract stated that the land would be used for farming purposes rather than property development. Additionally, the Coastal San Luis Conservation Resource District awarded the first annual Soils Stewardship Award to Wilma Dixson at age 89.
Today, the Ikeda Family leases and manages the farm, while Jim Dickens, the son of Sara Dixson, and his family live in the farmhouse, making them the 4th generation of Dixsons to live on the ranch.
The Dixson family is committed to soil conservation and agricultural land stewardship as well as sound economic planning. In order to ensure that they would be able to permanently protect their productive farmland, the Dixsons were awarded a grant through the State of California's Farmland Conservancy Program. The program promotes cooperation between government, non-profit organizations, and individual landowners in order to purchase agricultural conservation easements. This was augmented by a federal grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I believe this easement is a prime example of the public and private sector working together to ensure agriculture remains viable while simultaneously preserving open space, I am honored to have the Dixson Ranch in my congressional district.
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