|
PROPOSED
MEASURES: GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS AFFECTING CROPLAND USE
|
Acreage idled
by various federal programs. Such programs can remove a significant
percentage of croplands from production. (Fig. 1)
Location of
lands where farmers must use approved soil conservation practices to
receive federal funds, to identify those lands where specific conservation
practices have been encouraged.
(Fig. 2)
Acreage in state
and local farmland preservation programs, as a measure of the land
subject to long-term legal restrictions against conversion to nonfarm
use. (Fig. 3)
Federal programs
idled an average of 51 million acres a year (about 13 percent of U.S.
cropland) from 1982 to 1997, with a peak of 78 million acres. This compares
to the idling of about 42 million acres a year (roughly 11 percent of
cropland) from 1955 to 1970, with a peak of 39 million acres. Only one
such program is currently operating (the Conservation Reserve Program),
and it is capped at 36.5 million acres.
On about 30 percent
of U.S. croplands, farmers must implement approved soil conservation
practices to receive USDA program benefits (primarily funding).
Local and state
governments purchased farmland preservation easements on 728,000 acres
in 1999, an increase of 18 percent over 1998.
|
|
|
 |
This graph
shows the acreage idled by various federal programs since 1948.
Federal programs have a variety of objectives, from manipulation
of production levels to conservation. Conservation Reserve Program
enrollments are currently below the 36-million-acre cap. The amount
of land idled by these programs is a key factor in the total land
cropped in a given year (see Cropland
Extent and Location) |
|
Source:
USDA, Farm Service Agency
|
|
|
|
This
chart shows areas in which farmers must use approved soil conservation
practices to qualify for USDA funding. Federal law also denies benefits
to farmers who drain wetlands and restricts the filling of wetlands. |
 |
|
Source:
USDA Economic Research Service
|
|
|
| |
Thousands
of Acres
|
| |
Local
|
State
|
Total
|
|
1998
|
155
|
460
|
615
|
|
1999
|
161
|
567
|
728
|
|
Source:
American Farmland Trust
|
|
Local
and state governments sometimes purchase easements that restrict
nonagricultural use of cropland. Some of the funding for these easement
purchases was provided through the USDA Farmland Protection Program,
which provides matching funds to state and local governments. |
|
STATUS
OF DATA & OTHER NOTES
|
Information
on federal set-aside programs and soil conservation restrictions
is from continuing USDA programs.
No consistent
national information is available on purchases of easements for
farmland preservation purposes by private, nongovernmental organizations.
Information on local and state farmland preservation programs
is from an ongoing program of the American Farmland Trust, a private,
nonprofit organization. This measure would be improved if annual
easement purchase information could be supplemented with information
on total easements protected.
Please see
the Technical
Notes for additional information.
|
|
