According to data late released by the National Resource Conservation Service , U.S. farming area is diminishing at an alarming rate .
The 2007 National Resources Inventory , which tracks and documents the nation ’s natural resource weather and movement , read that 4,080,300 acres of combat-ready tilled land ( roughly the same size of it as Massachusetts ) were transformed for ontogenesis and commercial usance between 2002 and 2007 . This number was add to the more than 41 million acres of farmland , forest and other rural land that has been originate since the NRI was first conduct in 1982 .
Although the NRI look only at country cover and land use when collecting its data , the 2007 Agriculture Census showed that the routine of humble farm increase by 1 percent during this time full point ( 2002 to 2007 ) .
“ It ’s encouraging to see the growth in small farm , ” says Jennifer Dempsey , programme director for the Farmland Information Center , a partner of the NRCS . “ To have more small farm follow on line of products means those businesses can uprise and we can restore some of the middle husbandry . ”
Prime farmland , which can include forested land but contains territory and water suited for grow harvest , has seen a major red ink according to the NRI Summary Report , with a 13,773,400 - Akko declination from 1982 to 2007 . Every commonwealth lose choice cultivated land during this time period . country lose the biggest land area were Texas ( 1.5 million Accho ) , Ohio ( 796,000 Akka ) , North Carolina ( 766,000 acres ) , California ( 616,000 acres ) and Georgia ( 566,000 acres ) . More specific data regarding state - level estimates will be free to the populace in the coming week , according to American Farmland Trust .
keep remaining farming area is a top antecedency for the USDA .
“ One of the many element being examined in the assessment is the capableness and limitation of the res publica ’s rude resources , such as farmland , to encounter current and next demands for food , fibre and fuel , ” USDA spokesperson Caleb Weaver says .
According to Dempsey , look at land ’s factory farm viability is one way DoS can protect their farmland and natural resources .
“ I look at it as the growing of businesses nationwide , ” she says . “ If the land is being farm and is engender income , it is less vulnerable to development . ”
The USDA is put through a number of resource - protection and preservation - assistance programs , including the fresh Transition Incentive Program . This programme was set up last week under the 2008 Farm Bill to help retiring farm owners or operators transition their land to unexampled or disadvantaged farmers .
On the local level , citizen worry about the decrease of farmland nationwide can get involved with biotic community preparation to make trusted ontogenesis design support the efforts of local Department of Agriculture , sound out Dempsey . She also recommends supporting local farms to help them generate income .
