Wisconsin Lost Nearly 5% Of Its Farmland 2000 - 2005 - Boston Globe

[hatrack]

MILWAUKEE --Wisconsin's cropland is shrinking faster than any other state in the region, a loss that could affect the state's economy. The loss could jeopardize Wisconsin's ability to profit in the growing biofuels industry, which uses plants like corn to make fuels such as ethanol, said state Agriculture Secretary Rodney Nilsestuen.

"This is the biggest opportunity for rural development I've ever seen," he said. "But we can't have biofuels, biopower, bioproducts without working farmlands and working forestlands."

Wisconsin lost almost 5 percent of its cropland from 2000 to 2005, according to a recent study by the nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development. That's equivalent to 30,000 acres of cropland a year, or nearly two townships, Nilsestuen said.

Seven other states, none of them in the Midwest, lost a larger percentage of their cropland during the five-year span, the group said. Those states were: California, Georgia, Vermont, Nevada, Massachusetts, Hawaii and Delaware.

EDIT

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2007/01/29/wis_loses_almost_5_percent_of_cropland/

[jpak]

1. But I simply MUST have my McMansion in the Exurbs

I must!! I Must!!!

And my cute SUV too...

[Mrspeeker]

2. yeah more and more people =

more and more development like here in california, sunnyvale used to be orchards now its a freaking city, as a matter of fact alot of the bay area was farm land and now its silicon valley.

[Arger68]

3. I just love this comment:

"You can't impose an iron ring around a city because there happens to be farmland there," he said. "If cities don't grow, they die, but growth can be done in a responsible way."

Yes, the only way possible for a city to grow is sprawl all over the place. I think this guy needs to take a trip to Europe once.:eyes:

[fed-up]

5. Chico, CA has a "Green Line" to preserve farmland and may have a "Gold Line"

to preserve the foothills

[phantom power]

6. Its funny how "responsibly" is always used to mean "exactly how we're already doing it"

If you propose that our current economy isn't sustainable, you are clearly the enemy of Responsible Growth(tm). As long as we continue to call it Responsible(tm), it must, by force of our will, be so.

Clap harder, goddammit.

[hatrack]

7. It's kind of like the inevitable calls for "balance" when power plants are built

When was the last time you heard about a coal-fired plant being canceled for the sake of "balancing economic needs and the environment"?

Funny how it always seems to work the other way, isn't it?

[phantom power]

8. Why yes, kind of like bipartisanship always favors Republicans.

Or "alternate viewpoints" always favor creationism. I can't recall any megachurches volunteering to teach evolution in sunday school, to make sure their kids are exposed to "alternate viewpoints."

[Strelnikov_]

10. Well, Mr. Eggleston, there is this little problem with petroleum . . .

you know, the oil supply, you may want to check into.

[sybylla]

4. The farmland wouldn't even come up for sale if milk prices

were based upon a global market instead of the archaic system we have now. Price controls/supports on raw milk, unless things have changed very recently, are still based upon an ancient formula that calculates its value based upon the distance from Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Which means farmers closer to Eau Claire receive a lower price for their raw milk than those further away. Definitely very outdated and arbitrary formula considering raw milk is now transported across the continent to be processed and sold rather than it was in the "old days" - merely across the county or state.

This has the effect of killling farming in Wisconsin, making it harder for young farmers to take up the vocation and more profitable for struggling farmers to sell their land for development.

Attempts have been made in various dairy compacts to fix the pricing formula, but population heavy states like California and New York like it just the way it is and have the clout to oppose any changes that might appear to hurt their dairy farmers. Until it changes, farming in Wisconsin will slowly die and agricultural land will be subdivided or turned in to rural "McMansion" estates and hobby farms.

I live in Wisconsin in one of the few counties that still has more cows than people, but it's changed drastically in the last 30 years. Any farming done here now is in large part either oversized corporate entites taking advantage of immigrant/migrant workers or Mennonite/Amish-owned. With their lean lifestyle, they are about the only population able to survive on family farms here and they can usually buy them up pretty cheap from the bank/auction block.

[Dead_Parrot]

9. It's probably down the back of my sofa. nt

[Nihil]

12. Newsflash: Kiwi found guilty of stealing US farmland ..

"... bombing commences in five minu.. hey, is this thing on?"

Just give it back and I'm sure no-one will mention it again.

While you're at it, there are some islands in the Pacific
that would like their topsoil back and Lake Chad needs the
water you "borrowed" too ...

:evilgrin:

[Dead_Parrot]

13. I'll empty it out...

Hey! I've found Jesus! Plus that $500 billion they lost on Black Monday. Think I'll buy a new sofa.

[Nihil]

14. "Three days? I'll be back in three days??" "Sorry Mum, I got lost"

Tell you what though ... whatever you do, *HANG ON TO THE SOFA* ... you'll need it as a source
of income (even if it is in the form of American Airlines derivatives ...)

[Dead_Parrot]

15. The rate we're going, I'll be using it as a food source. :( nt

[NMDemDist2]

11. when I attended Jr College back in the mid 70's our biology teacher

went on weekly rants about the loss of farmland around Stockton CA

he was a man before his time