That is the amount of farmland being lost to development in the U.S., according to Andrew McElwaine of American Farmland Trust. By 2050, just 36 years from now, the globe will need to double its food production. Do you see a problem here?
According to an editorial in today’s Lancaster Farming, the state that is doing the best in farmland preservation is (are you ready?) New Jersey. It leads the nation in percent of its farmland preserved and amount of money spent, close to a billion dollars.
Pennsylvania isn’t too bad compared to other states. We have spent $853 million on farmland preservation, and this year the state actually increased the amount of money available, although it is still 39% below 2008 levels. I guess it is still more important to give natural gas companies a tax break than to preserve our farms.
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