Excerpt
MILLIONS of acres of new cropland may be needed by the year 2000 to meet projected domestic and export demands for U.S. farm products (2, 7). Most research on this nation's ability to meet these demands and convert noncropland to cropland has focused on the problem's physical dimensions, the location, extent, and quality of additional cropland (3), as well as the economic relationships necessary to bring that land into production (1, 9). Little attention has been given to those people who make decisions about potential cropland—landowners.
Although landowner decisions to convert noncropland to cropland are strongly influenced by economic factors that affect agricultural price-cost relationships, some landowners may be less responsive to price than others. Small or fragmented ownership units, owner commitment to a non-cropland use, or lack of capital may mean that land with potential for cropland use may not be developed, even under relatively favorable economic circumstances.
Current estimates of potential cropland acreage are based mainly on physical and economic criteria. Consideration of ownership factors may reduce these estimates.
Potential cropland
The 1977 National Resource Inventories (NRI) updated potential cropland estimates first obtained in the 1975 Potential …
Footnotes
Linda K. Lee is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, 74078. This article is based on research conducted under a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and OSU. Journal Paper No. 3961, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station.
- Copyright 1981 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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