Land use1 Northeast Lake States Table 1.1.3-Major uses of land in the contiguous 48 States, by region, 1992 Corn Northern Appala- South- Delta Belt Plains chian east States land area of the contiguous United States) in 1945 to 194 million acres (10 percent) in 1992. In response to expanding U.S. population, land in urban uses-for homes, schools, office buildings, shopping sites, and other commercial and industrial uses increased 285 percent from 15 million acres in 1945 to an estimated 58 million acres in 1992. While the U.S. population nearly doubled, the amount of land urbanized almost quadrupled. However, urban uses still amount to only 3 percent of total land area (table 1.1.2). (See "Preservation of Agricultural Lands," later in this chapter, for a more detailed discussion of recent urbanization of land in the United States.) Land in transportation uses (highways and roads, railroads, and airports in rural areas) increased by 4 million acres (17 percent) between 1945 and 1982. Transportation uses declined by 2 million acres from 1982 to 1992 (table 1.1.2) due to the abandonment of railroad facilities and rural roads, and the inclusion of some transportation uses into urban areas. Land used for recreation and wildlife areas expanded 285 percent from 1945 to 1992 (86.9 million acres) mostly from conversion of Federal lands to meet greater public demand for such areas. Land in defense and industrial uses declined 25 percent from 1945 to 1992 (18.6 million acres), with some conversion to urban use. Miscellaneous farmland uses declined 9 million acres between 1945 and 1992 (6.2 million acres). Behind this decline were fewer farms; a trend toward larger, consolidated farms; and an increasing tendency for farm families to live off the farm. Miscellaneous other land uses changed very little during 1945-1992. These uses include marshes and open swamps that have very little surface use and comprise only a small portion of the Nation's wetlands, which are distributed over other land uses. Table 1.1.4-Net change in major uses of land in the contiguous 48 States, by region, 1945-92 Land use1 States 1 See the Glossary, p. 24, for definitions of land-use categories. 2 Distribution may not add to totals due to rounding. Totals of net change do not add to 0 due to periodic remeasurement of the U.S. land area (see table 1.1.2). Source: USDA, ERS, based on Krupa and Daugherty, 1990; and Daugherty, 1995. Regional Changes in Land Use While land in every use occurs in all 10 regions of the contiguous States, some uses are more concentrated in some regions than others (table 1.1.3). Regions with the largest cropland acreages are the Northern Plains, Corn Belt, and Southern Plains. Grassland pasture and range is concentrated in the Mountain and Southern Plains regions. Acreages in forest-use and special uses are highest in the Mountain region. Some regional shifts in total cropland and cropland used for crops have occurred since 1945. The largest increases occurred in the Corn Belt, Northern Plains, and Mountain regions with smaller increases in the Delta States, Southern Plains, and Pacific regions. The Northeast, Appalachian, Southeast, and Lake States regions lost cropland between 1945 and 1992 (table 1.1.4). Eastern regions lost cropland because of climatic and geographic constraints; inability to capture economies of scale (that is, prevalence of small farms); and increased urbanization, which drives up land prices and reduces agricultural profit margins. Western increases resulted in part from federally subsidized irrigation water. Eight of the 10 regions lost grassland pasture and range between 1945 and 1992. These losses ranged from 2.3 million acres in the Pacific region to 35.7 million acres in the Mountain region (table 1.1.4). The Northeast region lost more than 70 percent of its grassland pasture and range, the Appalachian and Corn Belt regions more than 50 percent. The Northeast and Appalachian regions saw the natural reforestation of grassland on abandoned small farms, loss of grassland to urbanization, and concentration of the dairy industry. Decreases in the Corn Belt, Northern Plains, and Mountain regions were likely associated with the conversion of some grassland pasture or range to cropland as demand for grain intensified. In most regions, the changes in forest-use land were relatively small. The Northeast and Appalachian regions gained 7 million and 8 million acres of forest land, mainly from farm fields reverting to forest. The Pacific and Mountain regions lost forest-use land to recreation and wildlife areas. One-quarter of forest-use lands were grazed in 1992, down from over half in 1945. The proportional decline was greatest in the more heavily forested Northeast, Lake States, Appalachian, and Southeast regions. The decline in grazing derives from an increased emphasis on improving and managing farm woodlands. In the 1940's and 1950's, the Cooperative Extension Service encouraged farmers to fence livestock out of farm woodlands and to manage these areas for increased productivity of timber and other wood products. In some areas, such as the Appalachian region, many small farms ceased crop and livestock production and became forested. These reforested areas were generally not grazed. The reduced grazing of forest-use land also reflects major changes in livestock production, including increased emphasis on improved grassland pastures; greater use of controlled, rotation grazing; and increased concentration and specialization in the dairy and beef cattle industry (as opposed to earlier general farming practices). Byproducts of other industries such as beet and citrus pulp-now substitute for forage. Also, some of the larger, more concentrated dairy farms have moved to confined animal operations, where the cows are not pastured during their production cycle. The location of special-use lands shifted considerably during 1945-92. Urban-use lands expanded most rapidly in the warmer Sunbelt States of the South and Southwest. Land in rural transportation uses increased in 8 of the 10 farm production regions, while land in recreation and wildlife areas increased in all regions. In contrast, land in national defense areas and miscellaneous farm uses declined in all regions. Cropland Use and Programs Total cropland consists of cropland used for crops, cropland idled, and cropland used for pasture (tables 1.1.2-1.1.4). While total cropland has varied up and down and generally declined since 1969, even greater shifts have occurred between cropland used for crops and cropland idled, mostly because of Federal programs. Cropland used for pasture has shown less variation. 1 Includes the 48 contiguous States. Fewer than 200,000 acres were used for crops in Alaska and Hawaii. 2 Preliminary, subject to revision. 5 Numbers are gross before subtracting CRP terminations which, by the end of 1996, totaled approximately 1.5 million acres. 6 Does not include cropland pasture or idle land not in Federal programs that is normally included in the total cropland base. Source: USDA, ERS, based on a variety of published and unpublished data from FSA (formerly ASCS), ERS, and NASS. 2 3 Sum of indicated crops for contiguous 48 States. Percentage distributions may not add to totals due to rounding. Bearing acreage of oranges, grapefruit, K-early citrus, lemons, limes, tangelos, tangerines, and temples. 4 Bearing acreage of apples, apricots, berries, cherries, cranberries, dates, figs, grapes, kiwifruit, nectarines, olives, peaches, pears, plums, prunes, and strawberries. 5 Bearing acreage of almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, and walnuts. 6 Area harvested of artichokes, asparagus, lima beans, snap beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloups, carrots, cauliflower, celery, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, escarole/endive, garlic, honeydews, lettuce (head, leaf, romaine), onions, bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, and watermelons. Includes processing total for dual-usage crops (asparagus, broccoli, and cauliflower). 7 Area harvested of lima beans, snap beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers, green peas, spinach, and tomatoes. 8 Determined as a residual. Source: USDA, ERS, based on NASS, 1996a, 1997a, 1997b, 1997c. Wheat 19.3% Soybeans 6.6% 19.4% Corn for grain 22.4% 3.9% Cotton 9.7% Hay 18.7% All other crops Other feed grains Source: USDA, ERS, based on NASS, 1996b, 1997a, 1997b, 1997c. Cropland Used for Crops Most cropland used for crops is harvested, but typically 2-3 percent experiences crop failure and 7-10 percent is cultivated summer fallow (table 1.1.5). In 1996, farmers harvested an estimated 326 million acres of crops (314 million acres of principal crops). About 12 million acres of the total harvested were double-cropped. When double-cropped land is counted only once, the cropland harvested estimate rounds to 314 million acres, up 12 million acres from 1995 as a result of no land idled in annual Federal programs and a larger acreage planted. The 346 million cropland acres estimated to have been used for crops (cropland harvested, crop failure, and summer fallow) in 1996 were up about 14 million (just over 4 percent) from 1995 (table 1.1.5). This is the largest area used for crops since 1986, the year in which the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) began. The increase in cropland used for crops reflects higher plantings and less land idled in Federal programs. The decrease of about 21 million acres in cropland idled in Federal programs from 1995 was a result of elimination of annual commodity prgrams and of changes to the CRP. Four crops corn for grain, wheat, soybeans, and hay-accounted for nearly 80 percent of all crop acres harvested in 1996 (table 1.1.6 and figs. 1.1.2, 1.1.3). The additional 15 "principal" crops accounted for another 16 percent of harvested area. Vegetables, |