|
|
RURAL LAND DISTRIBUTION
|
|
|
|
Sources: USDA, NCRS, Resource Issues (Temple: USDA NCRS, 1997),
N.P. Revised in 2000
|
|
Agriculture plays an important role in the Texas economy and in protecting the state's natural
resources. At the same time, however, the condition of Texas agriculture, the loss of farmland and
agriculture's impact on the environment are issues of concern, and have given rise to both public and private investment in corrective measures, including provisions of the Farm Bills to protect and enhance wildlife on
agricultural lands, the introduction of sustainable
agriculture practices,which can slow climate change as
well as protect land and water resources, and legislation to reduce the loss of farmland.
When Congress established the United States Department of Agriculture in 1862, it also established
land grant universities in every state to help agriculture and rural communities. By that time, soil depletion was a recognized problem and pests, like the boll weevil,
were destroying cotton plantations. There was also a concern that farmers needed to engage in some uniform agricultural practices that would enhance food and fiber
production and protect the environment and the land. In particular, there was a recognized need for practices that would reduce soil erosion.
Since that time, the federal government's involvement with agriculture has greatly expanded and includes overseeing
many regulatory programs established by federal legislation and the expenditure of billions of dollars to support
production agriculture. Today's threats to agriculture include not only pests, prices and erosion, but also urban sprawl, development and land fragmentation.
|
DEFINITIONS RELATING TO RURAL LAND
|
|
Pastureland:
|
land used primarily for the production of adapted, introduced, or native species in
a pure stand, a grass mixture, or a grass-legume mixture
|
|
Rangeland:
|
land on which the vegetation is predominantly grasses, grass like plants, forbs, or
shrubs suitable for grazing and browsing.
|
|
Prime farmland:
|
land having the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for
producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oil-seed crops. Prime farmland is land on which crops can be produced for the least cost and with the least damage to the
resource base. It has an adequate and dependable supply of moisture from precipitation and irrigation, a favorable climate and growing season, and soils that have
not been excessively eroded
|
|
Forestland:
|
land at least 10 percent stocked by forest trees that will be at least 13 feet tall
at maturity. The minimum area for classification of forestland is one acre, and the acre must be at least 100 feet wide
|
|
Minor land:
|
includes farmsteads, ranch headquarters, commercial feedlots, nurseries, and land
in the USDA's Conservation Reserve Program.
|
|
Source: NRCS, Texas Summary Report 1992
National Resources Inventory [Washington, D.C., 1992].
|
|
The quality of rural land is critical for more than just the production of food and
fiber. Rural land provides wildlife habitat and affects the quality and quantity of both surface and groundwater.
While farmers are known for establishing some of the country's first environmental
organizations (county soil and water conservation organizations) and are seen as foremost stewards of the land, agriculture is also seen as the cause of major environmental problems. The
expansion of agricultural lands is one of the chief causes of habitat destruction and alteration, which results in a loss of wildlife species and biological diversity.
Agriculture practices are also responsible for the accumlation of greenhouse gases.
Across the country and in parts of Texas (Ogallala aquifer in Texas), agriculture
production has been responsible for the overdrafting of aquifers, particularly in arid lands where little surface water is available and droughts are prevalent.
In addition, herbicides, pesticides, nitrates and nutrients in runoff from agricultural lands have major environmental
impacts on surface and groundwater supplies.* Nationally, agriculture is the largest cause of non-point-source pollution
of surface water. In Texas, where 30.1 percent of the rivers and streams that have been assessed are impaired,
agriculture sources have been identified as causing ten percent of known sources of pollution.* Of the 38.2 percent of
the Texas lakes/reservoirs that have been assessed and classified as impaired, non-point source runoff from irrigated
crops have been identified as causing 14 percent of the known sources of pollution.*
Finally, since the 1930s, soil erosion continues to be a significant problem nationally and in regions of Texas and many
of the environmental problems associated with agriculture are due to the condition of land currently in agricultural
production. Soil erosion not only results in pollution runoff into rivers and lakes but it requires producers to use more
and more fertilizers to enhance soil quality, which is not only costly to the farmer but which also has adverse environmental impacts.
In 1997, the USDA's state office of Natural Resources Conservation Service listed these problems with agriculture land
in Texas:*
- Twenty-four percent of the rangeland in Texas is considered in poor condition. (This land might not be
considered highly productive for beef cattle but it might be productive for other classes of livestock and very good for certain wildlife.)
- Sixty-eight percent of cropland in Texas could benefit from some form of conservation treatment to preserve the
soil's productivity and prevent erosion.
- Thirty-seven percent of pasture land needs better grazing management.
- Seventy-two percent of the forestland could benefit from conservation treatment to preserve productivity.
A more recent issue for agriculture has been the use of genetically engineered crops, those plants that have been
genetically modified to resists pests and their effects on the environmental and human health.
|
