New Sub-division or Food on Your Table
Does it seem every year we have to drive a little farther out to find some real farmland? Right here in my own area I am seeing several different areas of farm land that have been here for generations, being developed for new sub-divisions. I ask myself….what are we going to do for food when developers buy up all the farmland? So, I did a little research….
Are we needlessly wasting one of the world's most important resources? Less than one-fifth of U.S. land is high quality, and we are losing this finest land to development at an accelerating rate. Farmland means much more than food. Well-managed farmland shelters wildlife, supplies scenic open space and helps filter impurities from our air and water. These working lands keep our taxes down and maintain the legacy of our agricultural heritage. It makes no sense to develop our best farmland. Instead, we have a responsibility to protect this most valuable resource for future generations.
Do you realize that 400 acres of pasture and cropland might bring $4,000 an acre if sold to a farmer for farming, but it would fetch at least two or three times that if sold to a developer for housing? Developers can make more money selling an acre of housing once than farmers can sell an acre of corn over their lifetimes. If you’re a farmer, ready to retire and you face a choice between handing it down, or selling your only asset — your farm — for $2 million or $6 million, what would you do? And developers are jumping on it!
In America, we've been losing more than an acre of farmland per minute. In just five years, between 2002 and 2007, 4,080,300 acres of agricultural land were converted to developed uses—an area nearly the size of Massachusetts. During a 25-year span up to 2007, every state lost prime farmland. Our own state of Texas had the biggest loss of 1.5 million acres.
Wasteful land use is the problem, not growth itself. Wasteful land use puts America's valuable fertile productive farmland at risk. From 1982 to 2007, the U.S. population grew by 30 percent. During the same time period, developed land increased 57 percent. 91% of our fruit and 78% of our vegetables are produced in urban-influenced areas. Agricultural land should provide our nation with an unparalleled abundance of food.
Our food is increasingly in the path of development.
Sherry Scales, REALTOR®
CLHMS, GRI, SRES, ABR designations to serve you better.
Austin Texas Homes, LLC
512.925.8928 Cell
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