Washington, D.C., October 3, 2002—Eighty six percent of America's fruits and vegetables and 63 percent of dairy products are grown on farmland that is increasingly at risk from sprawling development, according to a new study by American Farmland Trust.

Farming on the Edge: Sprawling Development Threatens America's Best Farmland finds that between 1992 and 1997, the U.S. paved over more than 6 million acres of farmland, an area approximately equal to the size of Maryland.

"The problem is getting worse," said American Farmland Trust President Ralph Grossi. "America developed twice as much farmland in the 1990's as it did in the 1980's. The scary part is that we're losing our high quality farmland-the land best suited for growing food-the fastest. It just doesn't make sense, and it's unnecessary."

The study finds that Americans' wasteful use of land rather than economic growth is causing the problem. From 1982-1997, the U.S. population grew by 17 percent, while urbanized land grew by 47 percent. Over the past 20 years, the acreage per person for new housing almost doubled and since 1994, 10-plus acre housing lots have accounted for 55 percent of the land developed.

The study includes national and state maps of farmland in the path of development as well as a ranking of the top 20 states by acreage of prime farmland lost to development. Texas is losing the most high quality land, followed by Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia and Illinois.

"Every state is losing some of its best farm and ranchland," Grossi said, "along with the agricultural economy, wildlife habitat and water recharge that the land supports. At this rate, working lands we treasure in some of the nation's renowned agricultural areas-like Texas' Rio Grande Valley, New York's Hudson Valley and Virginia's Shenandoah Valley-could disappear."

In September, 32 states were allocated a total of $50 million in federal Farmland Protection Program spending from the 2002 Farm Bill, but that fell short of covering the $254 million in requests. The Farmland Protection Program leverages the commitment of states and communities by providing matching dollars. As of January, more than 5,000 farmers were waiting for funding from state and local farmland protection programs to permanently protect their land.

"State and local farmland protection programs are doing a great job, but there is so much more to be done," Grossi said. "And we know which actions will make a difference. We must increase funding for agricultural conservation easements at all levels of government. We must target conservation funds to our best, most threatened agricultural areas. We must support effective planning and smart growth to steer development away from our best farmland. It's our responsibility to safeguard this irreplaceable resource for future generations."

The Farming on the Edge study, along with maps identifying threatened farmland in all states, is available on American Farmland Trust's Web site, http://www.farmland.org/.

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American Farmland Trust is a private, nonprofit farmland conservation organization founded in 1980 to stop the loss of productive farmland and to promote farming practices that lead to a healthy environment. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.farmland.org/.