U.S. farmland disappearing

U.S. farmland disappearing

Farmland has also been disappearing in the U.S. due to urban development. Farmland has been used to create new highways, industrial parks, and housing developments. . The American Farmland Trust estimates thatbetween 1992-1997, more than six million acres of agricultural land, an area the size of Maryland, was used for urban development.

There has been a 5% decrease in farmland in the tri-state area of Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia from 1987 to 2007. Wisconsin's farmland has decreased by 19% from 1978 to 2008. Virginia lost 521,000 acres of farmland from 2002 to 2007.

The decline in farmland has lead to the U.S.'s food supply being grown in smaller areas with a higher concentration. The high concentration of crops is dangerous because of the risk of: drought, floods, insects, disease among crops, and depleting quality of soils. The U.S. food supply could be at risk as any unexpected interruption in the food chain such as flood, disease, or drought, could wipe out a significant portion of food production.

http://farmlandforecast.colvin-co.com/2009/06/18/global-farmland-disappearing.aspx

by Colvin & Co.

Demand to Set Another Record

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

By: Linda H. Smith, Top Producer Business and Marketing Editor

In less than two months, as Russia burned literally and figuratively in its worst drought in history, we transitioned from an ample world supply situation to one in which supply and demand are much more in balance. "The U.S. is an island of supply in a world that needs supplies," says Dan Basse of AgResource. "With crops being trimmed worldwide, we will be the reliable supplier."

Domestic demand for corn promises to be firm, pegged at 50 million bushels above this past year and carryover equaling less than 10% of use. The soybean outlook isn’t quite as rosy, with ending stocks climbing from this past year and equal to 11% of demand. However, "soybeans and meal could be the bigger story in the long term," says Jerry Gulke of the Gulke Group. "USDA has China’s bean imports at 49.5 million metric tons [mmt]. Some say the total could be as much as 58 to 60 mmt. They’d have to import roughly a million tons a week."

Corn ethanol use, pegged at 4.7 billion bushels, is up 200 million bushels, just about offsetting feed use, which fell 175 million bushels. Total grain-consuming animal units are up a touch from 2009. Both dairy and beef cattle are down for the third year in a row, squeezed by red ink. Hogs, on the other hand, are up, and poultry is up modestly.

The July 1 cattle and calves inventory fell 1% from this past year. With the smallest calf crop in 50 years, the question is, "When will herd rebuilding start?" Traditionally, the cycle includes six to eight years of increasing numbers followed by three or four years of liquidation.