University of California analysts presented a data-driven look at whether small or diversified farms apply less nitrogen per acre, a central question (Question 8) for the panel's recommendations.

Eric Forrest (California Institute for Water Resources/UC ANR) introduced the Nitrogen and Irrigation Initiative and explained that the team analyzed Central Coast ILRP reporting from 2017–2024 because those records include ranch‑level identifiers that allow construction of farm size measures. Divya Prakash described methods and metrics: nitrogen applied per crop acre (intensity per crop cycle) and nitrogen applied per ranch acre (cumulative across cycles), and two size/diversity classification schemes using acreage and crop‑count or crop‑density thresholds.

Prakash summarized results: average reported nitrogen application in the Central Coast was "around 178 pound per crop acre per year" and remained relatively stable across reporting years; on a ranch‑acre basis average reported N was higher (about 406 lb/year) but has trended lower more recently. Fixed‑effect regression models (ranch, crop, year) showed that larger farms (>=50 acres or >=45 acres by the two tiering approaches) reported about 17–22 lb/crop‑acre per year more nitrogen than the smallest farms. They also reported that within the subset of large farms, higher crop diversity was associated with lower reported N (about 45 lb/crop‑acre less for diverse large farms versus non‑diverse large farms).

Analysts emphasized measurement caveats: Central Valley reporting lacks ranch identifiers that permit the same farm‑level construction, so the Central Coast provides the useful test case. The presenters said they are preparing a technical memo extending analysis and planning benefit‑cost work tied to adoption of practices that reduce applied nitrogen.

Panelists thanked the presenters and asked for follow‑up analyses by crop type and for comparisons across regions where data allow.