Transcript Land Use in the US Dana Constantine Lesleigh Dexter Rick Howard

Land Use in the US
Dana Constantine
Lesleigh Dexter
Rick Howard
Major Land Uses
Grassland, pasture, and range
• 31% of land use – 578 millions acres
• Decline since mid 60’s of 636 million acres
• Reasons for decline:
– improved forage quality
– Increased productivity
– declining numbers of domestic animals
Major Land Uses
Forest land
• 29% of land use in US
– 553 million acres allowed for timber
production
– 65 million acres that prohibit timber production
(i.e. wilderness areas, state and federal
parks)
Major Land Uses
Cropland
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24% of land use – 455 million acres
Designated for crops, pasture and idled cropland
Lowest amount - 1964 with 444 million acres
2 major peaks of
cropland:
– 1949: 470 million acres
– between 1978-1982
Major Land Uses
Special Uses
• 11% of land use – 207 million acres
• Includes:
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Urban areas
Rural transportation
Rural parks and wildlife
Defense and industrial uses
Farmstead/farm roads and lanes
Other misc. non-farm uses
• Increased 328% from 15 million acres in 1945 to
64 million acres in 1997
Major Land Uses
Miscellaneous other land uses
• 6% of land use – 102 million acres
• Consists of:
– marshes and swamps not included in other
land uses
– bare rock areas, deserts
– other uses not inventoried
• Decreased until 1964 but now increasing
Regional Changes in
Land use
Cropland:
• Increased in the Northern Plains, Mountain,
Corn Belt, Southern Plains and Pacific regions
• Decreased in the Northeast, Appalachian,
Southeast, Delta and Lake States from:
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Failing small farms
Increased urbanization
Increased taxes
Decreased profit margin
Regional Changes
in Land use
Grassland:
• Increased in the Southern Plains and
South East
• Decreased in all other areas
• Decreases due to:
– reforestation of abandoned small farm
– urbanization
– concentration of the dairy industry
– conversion to cropland
Regional Changes
in Land use
Forest land:
• Increased in the Northeast and
Appalachian regions
– Due to reforestation of farmlands
• Decreased in the Pacific and Mountain
regions
– Due to conversion to recreation and wildlife
areas
Regional Changes in
Land use
Special Uses Land:
• Increased in all areas except the Northern
Plains
– Due to recreational and wildlife use,
urbanization, and transportation
• National defense areas and miscellaneous
farm uses decreased in all areas
Crop Land Usage
• Crop land: idled crop land, crop land in pastures
and crop land in crops
Typical harvest:
- 2-3% crop failure
- 5-10% summer fallow
Corn, soybeans, wheat
and hay account for
80% of harvested crops
Federal Programs for
Idle Crop Land
• Acreage Reduction Program required
participants in USDA commodity programs
to idle a percentage of crop acreage
– Eliminated in 1996 Farm Act
• Conservation Reserve Program:
– current program has 30 million acres of idle
crop land
Federal Lands
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563 million acres of U.S. are federally owned
BLM manages 264 million acres
FS manages 192 million acres
Both BLM and FS manage land for:
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Grazing
Timber
Oil, gas, and minerals
Recreation
Conservation practices
• FWS and NPS manage the remainder for
recreation and conservation
Use of Federal Lands
Conflicts can arise
when dealing with the
management of federal
lands
Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act -1960
- Federal land must be
managed for multiple use
- Timber, grazing and mining
vs. conservation and recreation
Federal Restrictions on
Public and Private Land Use
• Government Regulations:
– Endangered Species Act
– Clean Water Act
• Conservation Easements:
– Wetlands Reserve Program
– Federal Tax Codes
• Conservation Contracts:
– Conservation Reserve Program
Urbanization
• Land converted to urban use comes from
several different land uses
• Conversion to urban use is mainly irreversible
• Urbanization impacts many facets:
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food and fiber production
open spaces
rural lifestyles
local rural economies
unique farmlands
infrastructure costs
watershed protection
Urbanization
• Most urban areas are surrounded by prime
farmland and expansion must occur on the
surrounding land
• The main concern is that all prime
farmland will be converted into urban use
areas
Wetlands
• Wetlands provide:
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Wildlife habitat
Storm-water storage
Groundwater recharge
Pollution control
Recreation
• 1780 – 221 million acres of wetlands
• Currently - 124 million acres of wetlands
– 80% of wetlands lost were converted to agricultural
lands.
– 90% of current wetlands are on non-federal rural
lands
Protection of Wetlands
• Agriculture policies are increasingly
emphasizing wetland conservation
• 1990 & 1996 Farm Acts:
– Swampbuster
– any conversion of wetlands means loss of
eligibility for all farm program benefits
• Wetlands Reserve Program
– encourages wetland restoration with
payments and cost shares to farmers
Farm Land
• Farm real estate is the main source for
collateral for farm loans
• In 2000, 54% of total farm sector debt was
real estate debt
• Avg. farmland values have increased from
$599/acre to $1,130/acre
Cash Rents
• Cash rent:
– amount of cash paid by a tenant to a
landowner for the use of a parcel of farmland
• Approximately 41% of farmland is
operated under some form of lease
• To tenants, cash rents represent a major
expense
• High value crops tend to bring high cash
rents (ex. California, Midwest)
Land Tenure
Rental Advantages:
• Access to more land without capital
• Avoid risk of asset depreciation
• Flexibility of size and types of land
use
Grazing Fees
• Grazing fee:
– the use of pasture or rangeland where
payments are based on “grazing units”
instead of acres
• Grazing unit  Animal Unit Month
– One cow or cow-calf pair OR seven
goats/sheep
• Avg. $12.60 per AUM in 2000
• Fees have been rising over the last
decade
Agricultural
Real Estate Taxes
• Property taxes are a direct cost to
landowners
• But when landowners rent farmland, those
taxes are passed on to the tenant  cost
of production for all operators
Encouraging Farming
• All 50 states have laws on preferential
land-use assessment
• These laws permit farmland devoted to
farming be assessed based on it’s use as
farmland
– Extremely beneficial to farmland owners near
urban areas
– Reward farms and ranches for providing open
space, habitat for wildlife, and environmental
amenities
Determining Farmland Value
• Intrinsic value to farmers
• Recreational purposes
– Fee-hunting/fee-recreation
– Wildlife viewing
• Interest rates
– Higher interest rates  lower land values (mid to late
1970s)
– Lower interest rates  higher land values (19811985)
Determining Farmland Value
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Conversion of farmland to non-farm uses
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Biggest influence on farmland values
Non-farm influence – 25% of the market value of US
farmland
Happens near urban area
Government policies
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Federal commodity support programs
Farm credit programs
Habitat protection laws
Environmental regulations
Infrastructure development (roads, dams)
Non-market Public Goods
of Farmland
• Farmland provides non-monetary benefits
– “rural amenities” like recreation, aesthetic
enjoyment
– Areas high in amenities grow much quicker
than other areas
• Amenities can’t be bought or sold
– Need social actions (i.e. legislation) to offset
the market’s inability to account for these
valued non-market goods
Non-market Public Goods
of Farmland
• State and local land use policies – primary
means of preserving “rural amenities”
– Encourage the retention of private land as
undeveloped or “open space” land
• Federal role is limited but expanding
– Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act
(FAIR) protects prime/unique farmland from nonagricultural uses
– Farmland Protection Program (FPP) matches funds
from state and local farmland protection programs
U.S. Land Ownership
& Farm Structure
U.S. Land Ownership
9% 2%
29%
60%
Owned Privately
Owned by Fed. Gov.
Owned by State & Local Gov.
Owned by Indian Reservations
Privately Owned Land
Farm Numbers:
• Maximum: 7 Million – 1935
• Major decline between 1940 – 1960
• Numbers of farms decreased but the
amount of farmland did not
Farm Types:
According to USDA’s
Economic Research
Service (ERS)
 Small Family
2%
3%3%
- limited resource
- retirement
- residential / lifestyle
- farming occupation – low
sales
- farming occupation – high
sales
92%
 Large Family
 Very Large Family
 Non-Family
S Family
L Family
VL Family
Non-Family
Distribution of Conservation
Program Payments
• Farming occupation – High sales small farms,
large family farms, and very large family farms
• 75% of WRP & CRP commodity payments
• Farming occupation – Low sales small farms,
residential / lifestyle, and retirement farms
• 25% of WRP & CRP commodity payments
Land Use
Retirement
Residential / lifestyle
Farm-occup. – low sales
Non-family
50% grazing land
25 – 33% cropland
Large
Very Large
50 – 60% cropland
30 – 40% grazing land
Three Keys to the
Tenure / Conservation Relationship
• Tenure’s impact depends on timing & magnitude
of costs/returns from the conservation practice
under study
• Different lease arrangements influence renters’
conservation decisions
• Land characteristics vary between land operated
by renters and owners
Concentration of Production
• Concentration of Production = more livestock on
fewer farms
• 1997 – 50% of farm sales came from 2% of U.S.
farms & only 15% of the land
• Higher concentrations raise environmental
concerns:
– Large livestock farms
– Land absorption ability – 23% nitrogen and
phosphorous
– Overgrazing
Are there any questions?