Thought you might be interested in this excerpt from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association Newsletter January 24, 2014
Pasture, Cropland Show Acreage Gains, Less Erosion
A new report on the status and conditions of America’s agricultural lands shows cropland erosion rates remained stable between 2007 and 2010, despite a growth in agricultural land use and more extreme weather events.
NRCS’s latest National Resources Inventory (NRI) summary report features data on how U.S. non-federal rural lands are being used. Data comes from 800,000 sample locations across the country.
NRI data also shows that between 2007 and 2010:
- Pastureland increased by 847,000 acres.
- Cropland acres increased by 2 million acres, this following a steady decline over the previous 25 years.
- Developed land increased by 2 percent from 111.1 to 113.3 million acres.
- Palustrine wetlands slightly increased. These include swamps or marshes, and estuarine wetlands.
- Acres enrolled in NRCS programs grew from about 17 million acres in 2007 to about 40 million in 2010.
- Fruit, nut and flower production acreage surged from 124,800 to almost 274,000.
Report may be seen at this website
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/technical/nra/nri/