Assessing Prospects for the Adequacy of Agricultural Land in the United States

This paper reviews current information on the supply of and demand for agricultural land in the United States. It describes the size and composition of the agricultural land base, discusses shortcomings of data by which use of this base is measured, and evaluates various estimates of future demands for the resource. Available data and analysis provide only a limited body of verifiable information on the future supply and demand of U.S. agricultural land. This lack of adequate data and analysis permits widely differing perceptions of the situation. How. ever, available empirical information supports the conclusion that a sufficient supply of agricultural land will be available through the year 2000 to meet both agricultural and nonagricultural demands.